Advice for First Time Mom

aybaten

I just received some advice that I think was great. I have not really been around babies or small children and I don't think my husband or I have ever changed a diaper! We are super excited to have our first child together and have agreed to grow our family to a total of 4-6 children!! I am looking for any advice or tips that you might have for us. 

 The tip that I received was to start buying diapers now (I am only about 6 weeks) every time I go to the store. For the first month by size 1 and the next month size 2 and that way when the baby comes you don't have to worry about buying so many diapers at once. So I have been looking at prices for disposable diapers and trying to figure out the best deals! 

1momma

I wouldnt, because you never know what brand of diaper youll be using. You could have a stockpile of Pampers, and your baby could have a reaction to them, you'd be stuck with a sh!t ton of diapers you cant use.

Allycat11

Just a heads up, not every brand of diapers works for every baby.  It would suck to stock up on something that really didn't work well for your child. My SIL said Huggies never worked for her kids and always leaked but she loved Pampers, other people have opposite experiences.  If you decide to go this route, I would look into the store's return policy on un-opened diapers. 

Another option is to put "x" amount per week or paycheck on a Target or Wal-mart gift card for expenses like diapers and wipes.  Some people really like this way of saving.  

jobiann

Allycat11:

Just a heads up, not every brand of diapers works for every baby.  It would suck to stock up on something that really didn't work well for your child. My SIL said Huggies never worked for her kids and always leaked but she loved Pampers, other people have opposite experiences.  If you decide to go this route, I would look into the store's return policy on un-opened diapers. 

Another option is to put "x" amount per week or paycheck on a Target or Wal-mart gift card for expenses like diapers and wipes.  Some people really like this way of saving.  

All of what Ally said. Just save the money in a diaper fund so then you'll have it when you know what brand and what size of diapers will work for your baby.

MrsNiner

I wouldn't buy diapers yet. Some work well for once weight, others work better the next. We made the choice to cloth diaper DS1 and most disposables that were purchased for us ended up being donated.

MamaWelch

Allycat11:

Just a heads up, not every brand of diapers works for every baby.  It would suck to stock up on something that really didn't work well for your child. My SIL said Huggies never worked for her kids and always leaked but she loved Pampers, other people have opposite experiences.  If you decide to go this route, I would look into the store's return policy on un-opened diapers. 

Another option is to put "x" amount per week or paycheck on a Target or Wal-mart gift card for expenses like diapers and wipes.  Some people really like this way of saving.  

 

That is such a great idea!!!! I'm totally going to have to try that!  

MamaWelch

Allycat11:

Just a heads up, not every brand of diapers works for every baby.  It would suck to stock up on something that really didn't work well for your child. My SIL said Huggies never worked for her kids and always leaked but she loved Pampers, other people have opposite experiences.  If you decide to go this route, I would look into the store's return policy on un-opened diapers. 

Another option is to put "x" amount per week or paycheck on a Target or Wal-mart gift card for expenses like diapers and wipes.  Some people really like this way of saving.  

 

That is such a great idea!!!! I'm totally going to have to try that!  

amatistajoy

If money is an issue.. then put aside a something for a diaper fund. I wouldn't want to be stuck with diapers I couldn't use because they didn't fit right or LO grew out of them. 

nattn

I got that same advise and ended up with a lot of diapers to return/exchange. Huggies, Pampers, Up & Up, HEB, and others all leaked horribly on DD. Luvs was by far the very best, but it's different for every baby. We finally ended up switching to cloth after getting covered in baby poo while not at home one too many times.

Also, it was amazing how fast DD grew out of newborn diapers and we had WAY too many! Loading money on a gift card every month to use towards diapers/baby stuff is a much better idea.

aybaten

Thank you!, that really helps, I didn't even think of reactions to diapers (sigh) I have so much to learn

jle625

I can buy pampers from work at an extremely discounted rate but only 1 case a week. They are good enough for the hospital so I'm going to stock up a little once I get further along.

cindiesheart

My husband and I were able to take parenting classes thru the crisis pregnancy center.  It was an awesome experience and we learned a ton!    That may be something to look into if you have the time.  We also want 6 or more children, were currently on #3.

mest1215

buy them at a place like walmart or target...they have a great exchange policy, so that if you need to return them for a different size/brand when baby comes, you can. I did this with my first two, and doing it so far with this one also!

PrimRoseMama

I wouldn't buy diapers just yet. DD had a reaction to Huggies and we had to donate a bunch of packages because she couldn't use them. It was money spent when we could have waited.

Don't worry about not being experienced. You will figure it out.

Products that really helped me:

Lanolin cream (for your nipples if you plan on breast feeding)

Swaddles (they make different ones for different sizes) and sleep pods for baby.

A white noise maker (we use the sleep sheep)

Burp cloths and other towel/swaddle blankets (we use them for everything from diaper changes to wiping messy hands to creating a pillow during diaper changes)

Pacifier clips (if your baby loves their bink, you can clip it on to their clothes so it won't fall on the floor a lot. Useful for teethers too later. Just don't let them sleep with them)

Baby washcloths. You can never have enough for various reasons.

Plain onsies in white, black and beige. Easy to wash, and easy to change.

Things I wish I hadn't had so much of:

Baby hats -- DD refused to wear them even when she was first born. She would pull them off.

Baby socks- DD figured out how to kick, roll and pull those off too. The onsies with the footies is what worked for us.

Two-piece PJ sets - We have a lot of them and are still trying to use them. Now DD has figured out how to pull those up and down and generally tries to get naked at every turn. They are cute, but we use the bottoms way more than the tops.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there is more. Don't worry about a lot of things in the beginning. You will figure it out and be fine, I promise!

Rocklandholly

my advice:

-grab what you can from the hospital.  we had a pack of newborn diapers, but never opened b/c we used the hopsital ones (pampers brand) and DS grew out of them before we needed what we had.  Take recieving blankets - DS didn't like being swaddled, but I heard the hospital kind are better for this than the ones you buy (IMO you can never have enough of them...we used them when we run out of clean chaning pad covers, for blankets in the car, to put on top of changing pad if its cold when we are out).

-don't be afraid to register for the "little stuff" b/c you want the big stuff.  You can go on line and read reviews and order the big stuff.  I spent so much time running to babies r us or target for the little things.

-buy small bottles of lotion, shampoo, etc. Like diapers many don't work b/c babies skin is so sensitive.  We took a class before DS was born and the nurse recommended J&J baby shampoo and a bar of dove unscented soap.

CupcakeKaper

My tip is to not plan on things.  I didn't want to bed share (I was afraid I would roll over on the baby) and I did it until DD was 6 months old.  I was going to wear DD everywhere - she hated every carrier I tried (and I tried plenty).  I was not going to give her a paci...she still uses one to sleep. I planned to breastfeed my first two for a year and only made it 4 months...so my goal with DD was to breastfeed for 6 months and I made it 15.  I think once you become parents, all plans go out the window and you have to do a lot more flying by the seat of  your pants.  If you're Type A and like everything a certain way, good luck because babies don't quite fall into that.  

aybaten

Wow!!! Thank you for all the information, I will use all of it

aybaten

Can you please elaborate on which part is terrible and why? I would appreciate it, thank you!

drpayne

I would have some on hand but I would get too many.  We never had issues with specific brands but I hear some babies do (as the other ladies mentioned).  Also, we skipped newborn diapers entirely.  It's tough to predict how many of each size to buy.  As far as brands go, I've found the Target brand to be the best deal by far.  Pick up some 1's and 2's (like maybe a box of each) and maybe tape the receipts to the boxes in case you have issues with them.

LovinTim912

I agree.  We used Pampers and tried Huggies, but DS always peed through them.  We later found that the Diapers.com brand ones were good too, but they had a weird smell to them when they were wet.  

DEFINITELY do not stockpile diapers... you will have no way of knowing what will work for you!!   

momofmanyinthemitten

My advice: Once you have the baby, people will want to come over and "watch" the baby for you. It will be more helpful for you if they can do a load of laundry, a sink full of dishes, run an errand, or make a meal/snack for you. Definitely let people know if that would be more helpful. When my MIL and mother were with us, they did all the cooking and cleaning and it was so great. I couldn't go downstairs to do laundry because of a C/S and I just couldn't find the time or energy to do any cooking, let alone cleaning.

Julia_JJ

When people offer you help - take it. Whether it's time watching the baby so you can shower and feel normal, bringing a hot meal so you don't have to cook when you can barely run a comb through your hair... the offers taper off after a while, so take the help when you need it most to get started on a good footing.

Also, check before taking the hospital swaddling blankets - linens were one of the things we *couldn't* take.