Ask a STM week of July 2nd

disneybaby84

This is a forum for first time moms to ask any and all questions to second time moms and second time moms to third time moms. Remember each mom has their own opinion, experience, methods and perspectives.  

disneybaby84

For those of you who are already buying baby clothes, just a warning that while there are general guidelines of when baby growth spurts happen, your baby might very well not follow them and have their own growth spurt schedule. Which means if you buy a million things of a particular size, your baby might not stay in that size long enough to wear everything you bought. Then again, some babies like to stay in one size clothing for a long time and you might find you need more of that size. 
In addition, for those with twins or multiples, some of the twin moms in my old bump group shared that one baby was bigger or smaller than the other baby and they had to buy clothes in different sizes. Like one baby was wearing preemie size clothes and the other newborn size clothes.

ruby696

Great point @disneybaby84. And to add to that thought, not all sizes are treated the same. Your baby might be a certain size in one brand and a totally different size in another. It's harder to predict future size for different seasons than you would think.

kayjay44

@disneybaby84 - this is why I love being team green. We buy a few neutral things (and supplement with what we have saved from our two older kids) and I don’t buy anything else clothing-wise until the baby is here. 

Erinm278

Yeah baby sizing is so different from brand to brand.  i also stress functionality with baby clothes.  
Team green all the way, we will only have a few baby clothing items on hand when he or she is born.

smm1118

Also, in that same vein of sized, don't stock up too much on the tiny newborn diapers.  My DS was in them for like a week, and probably could have started in size ones.  If you're stockpiling diapers, they tend to be in the bigger sizes for longer periods of time.

LuLiLaEv

Excellent point @disneybaby84. I was diagnosed with a growth restriction with DD2 and she wore preemie for the first couple months and even now at a year is only in 6mo.

My oldest was a chunky baby and always wore a size ahead.

BourbonBiscuits

Totally agree. I wouldn’t buy any baby clothes actually - if anyone throws you a baby shower, you’ll get inundated with clothes. People LOVE to buy tiny baby clothes. We bought a few little things with our first (more as a celebration than anything) and he was in newborn clothes for literally 2 weeks tops. I don’t think I even did a full load of baby laundry before he was out of NB 

kayjay44

BourbonBiscuits said:

Totally agree. I wouldn’t buy any baby clothes actually - if anyone throws you a baby shower, you’ll get inundated with clothes. People LOVE to buy tiny baby clothes. We bought a few little things with our first (more as a celebration than anything) and he was in newborn clothes for literally 2 weeks tops. I don’t think I even did a full load of baby laundry before he was out of NB 

Another reason to be team green  I hate what most other people pick, so it works out. 

becks_726

Oh thanks for this! I have an overly eager MIL who is itching to buy clothes. This is ammo  her taste is... Not mine.

dogmom1118

FTM here... I’m 8 weeks today and sleeping is already uncomfortable. I’ve always been a stomach sleeper, but with how sore my boobs have been from week 5, I find that I have to sleep on my back or side. I’ve also had some real bad sciatic pain already. I’m considering buying a pregnancy pillow, but wanted some advice/feedback from you wonderful STM! Does it help? C-shape vs U-shaped? Any specific brand? Any advice is greatly appreciated (as I currently toss and turn!) Thanks in advance!! : )

disneybaby84

@dogmom1118 coupons help with the price. buybuy baby coupons are good. that’s where I bought my pillow. 
https://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/leachco-reg-snoogle-reg-total-body-pillow/225953?Keyword=snoogle

kayjay44

@dogmom1118 - I’m sleeping with a king sized pillow. I wouldn’t waste money on a pregnancy pillow - I HATED my snoogle. Get a king sized or body pillow instead. 

ruby696

@dogmom1118 I hated my snoogle too. I made myself use it during my last pregnancy because I felt like should like it. It was terrible. I also used a king sized pillow (with my first), and it was so much better. @kayjay44 is right - don't waste the money.

madreofdragons

I got a long pillow from Ross. It was flat by the time she was born but it was $12.

okayestmom12

kayjay44 said:

BourbonBiscuits said:

Totally agree. I wouldn’t buy any baby clothes actually - if anyone throws you a baby shower, you’ll get inundated with clothes. People LOVE to buy tiny baby clothes. We bought a few little things with our first (more as a celebration than anything) and he was in newborn clothes for literally 2 weeks tops. I don’t think I even did a full load of baby laundry before he was out of NB 

Another reason to be team green  I hate what most other people pick, so it works out. 

Exactly why I'm excited to be Team Green this time.  I'm pretty picky with what I put on my kids so I'm glad to not have to fake excitement about what other people buy.  

okayestmom12

dogmom1118 said:

FTM here... I’m 8 weeks today and sleeping is already uncomfortable. I’ve always been a stomach sleeper, but with how sore my boobs have been from week 5, I find that I have to sleep on my back or side. I’ve also had some real bad sciatic pain already. I’m considering buying a pregnancy pillow, but wanted some advice/feedback from you wonderful STM! Does it help? C-shape vs U-shaped? Any specific brand? Any advice is greatly appreciated (as I currently toss and turn!) Thanks in advance!! : )

I have one from my first pregnancy back in 2011 so I'm not sure where I got it but it's candy cane shaped and not too big that it boots my husband out of bed.  

Erinm278

I never bought a pregnancy pillow either.

susykat77

I hated the c shaped pregnancy pillow. Agree that a body pillow will suffice. I have this one (hand me down) and love it. https://m.kohls.com/product/prd-2835427/boppy-trellis-total-body-pillow.jsp?ci_mcc=ci&utm_campaign=EC%20BABY%20NON-APPAREL&utm_medium=CSE&utm_source=google&utm_product=79361434&CID=shopping15&utm_campaignid=196833572&pid=googleadwords_int&af_channel=CSE&cid=shopping30&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvezZBRDkARIsADKQyPneInW2nJ0uV2qkW7EpLn3q_24jg5-fNkc-c766oEe0hmv8hZ1Kq14aAgZIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CLvEqaH6gtwCFYySYgodfkMCnA

allthingsgo

I think the type of pillow you get
is matter of personal preference.  It may be a good idea to start out with a cheaper body pillow and then if that doesn’t work try a snoogle or u shape. I tried a cheap body pillow but ended up getting the snoogle which I LOVED. I’m about the break it out again. 

smm1118

I really loved my pregnancy pillow. I had the c shaped one and I didn’t want to give it up. I never used the u shaped one, but I think the c shaped one was easier to use since you get up approximately 75 times a night to pee later in pregnancy. I had the opening of my pillow to the outside of the bed so I could slide out. I toss and turn a lot too but I still really liked it. 

Omie_Wise

I had a u shaped pillow and I loved it! I went out to Buy Buy Baby and pulled the pillows down to try them out so I felt really confident that I was making a good choice. I sleep on my side. 
ETA: The U pillow is super big. We have a queen and DH barely had any room. 

ThePax89

@dogmom1118 the pregnancy pillow was entirely useless for me. Instead a slept sort of on my belly/sort of on my side with pillows under my belly. Like a wedge. 

madreofdragons

Speaking of pillows, I had a My Breast Friend pillow for nursing and it was awesome for us. We had a rough first night at home, so at our lactation appt they had me use one. My H literally walked out of the room to buy one while she was still eating. 

https://www.mybrestfriend.com/

allthingsgo

madreofdragons said:

Speaking of pillows, I had a My Breast Friend pillow for nursing and it was awesome for us. We had a rough first night at home, so at our lactation appt they had me use one. My H literally walked out of the room to buy one while she was still eating. 

https://www.mybrestfriend.com/

Yes! Loved it. So much better than the boppy. 

kdrn913

I think I need to try the breast friend one this time around. I pretty much hated the hoppy! Also someone did just tell me about how great the boppy lounger was though

madreofdragons

I had the lounger and loved it. @nursemom913

kayjay44

I prefer the boppy to the mbf pillow - I’d try one out if you can. 

ThePax89

I loved the mbf because I was able to eat at the dinner table with a kid on my boob. I have a nursing pillow on every floor of my house. It was *that* necessary for me. 

susykat77

I had both MBF and boppy. I really liked the mbf during the newborn days and the boppy later on. 

catwoman8731

I second @ThePax89 about using several pillows as a wedge. I found two behind my back (I’ve never been able to sleep on my back, but later on in pregnancy you’re not supposed to anyways), plus one under my belly and one between my legs was most comfortable. It was quite a contraption. I am looking into two body pillows this time around though - one for front, one for back. I said toward the end of last pregnancy (right around the point where I really wanted one but felt it was too late to be worth it) that I’d buy one as soon as I got a BFP this time. But all of your posts are making me wonder if it’s worth it!

dogmom1118

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on the pillows! 

PurplePoppy424

I echo @ThePax89. I never owned a special pillow and did exactly what she described. Plan on doing the same this go-round. 

As for for the Boppy and MBF, I have both and have loved them both for different reasons. The Boppy is more versatile and can be used for more than just a breastfeeding pillow. MBF was perfect for my tiny first child, not so great for my monster second child. 

megpants209

How much traveling did you do once baby got here? What was it like? How much did you travel before baby?

susykat77

@megpants209 We are big travelers and have continued to do so but it has ebbed and flowed. DD does not love sleep as much as I do so we didn’t do much traveling in the early days. Before they are mobile it’s easier because you don’t have to worry about constantly watching them in a space that’s not kid friendly. The schleping of the stuff always gets to me but making a master list to reference is helpful. It’s not really a relaxing experience anymore but still enjoyable. It’s just parenting in another location. We’ve spent a lot of time at the in-laws and them having extras of stuff like pack n play, toys, bibs, etc was helpful.  Flying definitely more difficult because of the limited packing space  but we’ve survived.  Road trips take so much longer but we just plan to stop a ton. I think as long as you adjust your expectations you can continue to travel as much as you’d like. 

BourbonBiscuits

@megpants209 echoing what @susykat77 said - it’s all about managing your expectations. We took a road trip to visit family when my son was 6 weeks old, and I think what saved us was actually expecting it to be a nightmare lol. He ended up doing great! We just try to be as flexible as we can with him now (DS is 16 months) when we do travel. He’s a super adaptable kid, but I’ve heard of a lot of people who find it helpful to really maintain a strict schedule when traveling - I think (as with most parenting stuff actually) if you pay attention to what your kid needs (whether that’s a strict 14 hours of sleep per day, or a flexible schedule while traveling) you’ll be great!

disneybaby84

@megpants209 i flew on an airplane with my 3 month old. it was easy, he fell asleep on the plane no problem. he fit in the baby carrier just fine.  

Omie_Wise

@megpants209 My son had completed 15 segments his first year. We started when he was two months and took him to Hawaii, which is far for us but a place we’ve been too many time. That was probably the easiest trip looking back but it was the hardest too because it was the first time. My BFF got married that year and DS and I traveled up to the east coast 3x for that event. We traveled a lot before we had my son. I was gold and my husband platinum with AA. It’s definitely different now and much more challenging but doable. You just have to stretch yourself and be brave! If you are planning on traveling a lot with an infant look into getting a Doona. It’s the best, definitely worth the extra expense IMO. 

conchispita

 @megpants209 I would prepare for the worst. When DD was 10 mo we flew to Europe on a red eye flight. She pretty much slept and nursed the entire flight. In the row in front of us there was another couple, also with a 10 month old, but thier baby screamed literally the entire flight. They did everything I would have done, they were as prepared as they could have been, their baby just hated the change in elevation. Once baby is here and you get a sense of thier temperament, you’ll know if traveling is a good idea or not.

kayjay44

We travel with our kids but haven’t been out of the US. DD flew for the first time at 3 months. It’s easiest to fly with a LO before a year and gets easier at 3/4 again. 

megpants209

Wonderful, this is so, so helpful!