For new moms

bananabellesmom · **For new moms**

What is the best advice you can give?

Mine would be to read up on a book about baby sleeping, BEFORE baby comes. There are so many little tricks and things that I never thought of... like 2-3 minutes of crying may help them go to sleep by wearing themselves out a little.

Noahsmommy · 02-25-2008, 07:58 PM

The Happiest Baby on the Block is a good book for baby sleeping.

autismmom · 02-25-2008, 10:05 PM

Take all of the advice you read with a grain of salt. Every baby is different and you will learn. My kids hated swaddling with a passion. Get a massaging chair thing for your car so if you have a fussy baby and just sit with the car running in the driveway. Have a massage and relax. Take 1 minute each day to tell yourself that you are a great mom and there is no such thing as a "Perfect" mom. Try to take time every night before bed to rub your feet with lotion, you will sleep so much better.

Annie's Mom · 02-25-2008, 10:54 PM

Wow...ok..things I wish I knew ahead of time:

Don't feel guilty about giving the baby to the nursery so you can rest!!!! Once you get home, you won't get any and you will want at least some energy to start you off running! I didn't rest and after a C-Section and 4 nights in the hospital...I have a post-pardom meltdown! It wasn't pretty! I was sooooo beyond tired and distressed! It was awful! Next time...more rest!

Also...if you bottlefeed....Don't listen to the nurses when they tell you the baby only needs 1 oz every 2 hrs! They told me I was overfeeding her and I swore I read somewhere that the average new baby ate about 1 oz per hr....over a 24 hr period. So it would be more like 2 oz every 2 hrs. They looked at the chart thingy they had me write and told me I have overfeeding her. So then I have this fussy baby and I was paranoid that I was going to make her obese or something. Ahh!! Well that is total BS!!! My daughter was 8 lbs, 7 oz....or course she wouldn't eat the same as a little 6 pounder! She was also a very good eater! For the record, she is now a year old, in the 95% for height, 75% for weight...and does not look fat or overweight..she is just big for her age and completely healthy!

You are your babies mother! Trust your instincts! If your child is hungry, they are hungry....if you think they are gassy...they are probably gassy. It's when we freak out and don't listen to ourselves that me make the most mistakes w/ newborns. Just take a deep breath and relax. It's strange...but even to this day, I can almost always tell when my daughter wants. Not sure why...it really is just a mother's instinct...I just know! You will too! Give it time! No one knows your baby better than you do!

meme · 02-26-2008, 05:13 AM

1. Nobody ever told me that your hair can fall out (not completely!) after having a baby.

2. I agree, read the sleep books and get them on a schedule! My kids all went to bed at 6:00 pm (!) when they were little. I remember feeling guilty about it but now that they are older I am glad that they are early-to-bed kids. They know how to get a good night's sleep. Make sleep a priority and you won't regret it.

3. If you want to bottlefeed, then bottlefeed. Too many mothers I know felt bullied into breastfeeding and it caused them tons and tons of stress. Do what's right for you. My husband was fed a combination of milk and Karo syrup instead of formula when he was a baby (weird, I know) and he turned out fine.

4. This is for slightly older kids. Try to get them to entertain themselves in their own home. Many of my kids' friends expect to be taken somewhere every day, whether it be to the store, to some program, to the library, etc. My kids learned to entertain themselves and never bug me to drag them anywhere. This becomes especially important when, like last week, everyone in the family was sick at different times and my kids didn't leave the house for the whole week -- and it was school vacation week! They were perfectly content here.

4. Relax and enjoy them.