I plan on BFing while I'm on maternity leave for 3 months. After that, I'm not sure if I will continue. I suffered from extreme PPD with my first and I think having to still handle all of the night feedings after I go back to work (and having to pump 2-3 times a day while at work) will add to me losing some of my sanity again this time. With both DH and I working does anyone have any recommendations as to how we should handle night feedings (which will be done by bottle at that point). I've heard of people who take "shifts" where one spouse handles the first half of the evening and then the other handles the second half of the night. I feel like interrupted sleep really sucks though. I'm wondering if alternating nights where one of us is "on duty" and the other sleeps might help a lot. We have a furnished guest room in the upstairs by the nursery so I would think this could work well. However, I'm worried that DH would just sleep through all the baby crying because he's such a heavy sleeper. Anybody have experience on how to handle night feeds with both parents working?
@BecauseBabyIAmPug since our master is on the first floor and our guest room is on the second floor, I may not actually hear anything since the person on duty would be sleeping in the guest room near the nursery. I could see myself getting really sick of trudging up the stairs to wake him up. I guess when I'm on duty I could just sleep upstairs as to not disturb DH, and then when he's on duty just have him sleep in the master so I can elbow jab him whenever I hear the monitor. In other words, I'm probably going to get sick of him not waking up and then just end up doing it myself. Not really looking forward to being a zombie for the first 6+ months of DS's life! Going to be rough.
@rnyland1 we alternated shifts from the first week, because my son basically didn't sleep at all unless we held him. I pumped, and we slept in 4 hour shifts so that we could both get enough uninterrupted sleep to survive. After he started sleeping, I did more of the night feedings since my husband had to get up ridiculously early for work. He also arrived home early, and has always been awesome about taking over so I can nap or get stuff done. Once I got pregnant again, he took over all nighttime wake ups (far more infrequent at this point). You kinda just have to go with the flow of life and recognize your own needs in each season.
I just made 80 cloth diaper wipes for $3. That's .03 cents per wipe. Even if we end up hating cloth diapering and cloth wipes, I still saved some money. #winning
@LDSJM123 What'd you make them from?? That's an AMAZING price! Also holy wipe stash!
You know those really nice (but kind of thin) white cotton blankets they have at hospitals? And sometimes they're warmed up when they give them to you? I found one at the thrift store for $2.99. Took it home, washed it in hot bleach water and took pinking shears to it. I just made the wipes the same size as disposable wipes. Which yielded me 80. I have some leftover fabric, so had I changed the dimensions a little I could have gotten more. But 80 seemed sufficient. We plan to keep the solution in a spray bottle.
For all the crap I give MH about having a baby not really hitting him yet... I don't think I've fully grasped it myself yet. I mean... there's going to be a PERSON that I'm RESPONSIBLE for... I've gone from "I can't wait to hold that little baby" to starting to panic slightly!
@kellz14 I can definitely relate to your panic! Every time I see a baby I think, "Aww, I want one!"
Two seconds later: "Wait a minute..."
STM and I'm getting the panic, too. How am I going to do dinner & bath time with DD... AND A BABY when DH is out of town? Or get out of the house with 2 kids for work? Seems nuts but plenty of people do it. I'll catch on! LOL
I'm still in the "I can't wait to hold him!" stage. I feel like I won't freak out until I'm literally having real contractions and realize I need to go to the hospital!
I'm still in the "I can't wait to hold him!" stage. I feel like I won't freak out until I'm literally having real contractions and realize I need to go to the hospital!
I'm at the same stage you are. I absolutely can't wait to hold him, but I think its going to really hit me like a ton of bricks when I go into labor!
I'm still in the "I can't wait to hold him!" stage. I feel like I won't freak out until I'm literally having real contractions and realize I need to go to the hospital!
That's how I feel too. As soon as I think it feels real, I realize I still have no clue what's coming!
@YeezusButters have you watched the British version of Shameless? It's on my list, and if it's anything like the American version I'm willing to bet there is lots of naked James McAvoy..
Do you really need baby powder and/or baby oil? Don't laugh at me I'm a FTM but what do you use them for anyways?
I've used baby powder on occasion to keep the diaper area dry to avoid diaper rashes but not sure what baby oil is used for as I've never had to use it.
@YeezusButters have you watched the British version of Shameless? It's on my list, and if it's anything like the American version I'm willing to bet there is lots of naked James McAvoy..
I haven't but it's definitely on my to do list now!
The artist formerly known as Butters. July BMB June Signature
Do you really need baby powder and/or baby oil? Don't laugh at me I'm a FTM but what do you use them for anyways?
It's no longer recommended to use powder on babies. I think it's due to inhalation of the airborne powder dust, but I don't remember exact details. I have no idea what the intended use of baby oil is. I've never used it on my son, but I do use it for a super cheap and excellent eye makeup remover.
Do you really need baby powder and/or baby oil? Don't laugh at me I'm a FTM but what do you use them for anyways?
I never used baby powder. The only thing I used baby oil for was to loosen up the nasty cradle cap my daughter had. I would put just a little bit on her scalp in the bathtub, and then comb off the flakes while she was still in the bath. Other than that, I never used baby oil for anything.
@Shelby00519 - My pedi never wanted us to use powder because of the inhaled particles as a poster mentioned above. I think as a whole, it's not recommended. As for baby oil, we used it for cradle cap as well. I've also used it myself after shaving as an alternative to lotion. Babies are slippery enough as is, I never felt comfortable using it on DD.
@rnyland1 I did nurse DD through the night and stay at home, but she was colicky and didn't sleep almost at all during the day, so we more or less took shifts. I did the first half of the night and DH took the second. I would nurse her and hand her off to him to get her back to sleep and deal with her screams.
Guys! DH and I got an offer accepted on a home. If all goes well we close on June 10!
this is totally helping me scratch the nesting itch since I've been holding off pending the move (LA>CO). Now I can at least plan the nursery in my head with an actual room in mind!
I had a dream last night that I offered my cousin and her husband my womb. That's right, I told them I would be their surrogate. I woke up and was like, Holy Sh*t! Please tell me I didn't really do that because you can't take that sort of thing back....
Don't get me wrong, it is amazing that people do that. But no way in hell am I doing this a 3rd time and I don't even reap the benefits!
Does anyone remember how far along @MamaBish is? Little Savannah is so tiny! Hope you're both doing well if you see this, I hope you'll fill us in on the birth story when you're ready!
@theshannondee If you check the PGAL thread for this past week, she mentioned she was around 29.5 weeks a few days before. Looking forward to the birth story also!
Re: Week of 5/9 Randoms
I plan on BFing while I'm on maternity leave for 3 months. After that, I'm not sure if I will continue. I suffered from extreme PPD with my first and I think having to still handle all of the night feedings after I go back to work (and having to pump 2-3 times a day while at work) will add to me losing some of my sanity again this time. With both DH and I working does anyone have any recommendations as to how we should handle night feedings (which will be done by bottle at that point). I've heard of people who take "shifts" where one spouse handles the first half of the evening and then the other handles the second half of the night. I feel like interrupted sleep really sucks though. I'm wondering if alternating nights where one of us is "on duty" and the other sleeps might help a lot. We have a furnished guest room in the upstairs by the nursery so I would think this could work well. However, I'm worried that DH would just sleep through all the baby crying because he's such a heavy sleeper. Anybody have experience on how to handle night feeds with both parents working?
And if the person who 'shift' it was didn't get up, the other person woke them up.
@BecauseBabyIAmPug since our master is on the first floor and our guest room is on the second floor, I may not actually hear anything since the person on duty would be sleeping in the guest room near the nursery. I could see myself getting really sick of trudging up the stairs to wake him up. I guess when I'm on duty I could just sleep upstairs as to not disturb DH, and then when he's on duty just have him sleep in the master so I can elbow jab him whenever I hear the monitor. In other words, I'm probably going to get sick of him not waking up and then just end up doing it myself. Not really looking forward to being a zombie for the first 6+ months of DS's life! Going to be rough.
ETA this gif because I love Party Monster and Chloe Sevigny
July BMB June Signature
@PootsDragon
Two seconds later: "Wait a minute..."
STM and I'm getting the panic, too. How am I going to do dinner & bath time with DD... AND A BABY when DH is out of town? Or get out of the house with 2 kids for work? Seems nuts but plenty of people do it. I'll catch on! LOL
July BMB June Signature
July BMB June Signature
July BMB June Signature
this is totally helping me scratch the nesting itch since I've been holding off pending the move (LA>CO). Now I can at least plan the nursery in my head with an actual room in mind!
(edited because it posted incomplete)
Don't get me wrong, it is amazing that people do that. But no way in hell am I doing this a 3rd time and I don't even reap the benefits!