May 2013 Moms
Oohgurl
member
Advice over the year
Oohgurl
member
Now that it has been a year, what is the advice over the year that you listened to and shouldn't have? Or ignored and glad you did?
For me:
A friend told me that babies BF every 3-4 hours, so I was shocked when it was every two.
Don't use a walker--Yea right, this kid loves his. He can't reach the stove or whatever the issue is with that and I am smart enough not to leave the door open to the basement.
Don't use a bumbo. We only used it for feeding but I was super apprehensive about it. I worried for nothing.
Don't start solids until 6 months. Yup, totally glad we started at 4 months so we could test out all the things before finger foods. I think he is more willing to try things now because of it.
Bumpers-still use them and glad.
Keep my dog separate, all dogs can turn--A big Yea Right to that one.
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Re: Advice over the year
Never say "never" or "only". Everything you think you'll never or only do doesn't matter. There is a tiny human who will not want to go along with your plans. "I'll never let me kid use a binky" or "I will only feed him healthy, organic, made from scratch meals". The tiny dictator says otherwise - thanks mom for telling me this and not rubbing it in my face that you were right
Worst:
- "its natural" breast feeding, sleeping, sitting, standing, crawling are all things that require help and have to be learned.
- "read all the books you can before the baby gets here". No you'll make yourself nuts over the littlest things. Read some basic books about pregnancy and what to expect the first few months and then leave it alone. I felt so guilty for not reading the 12 books I was given and apparently failing the pop quizzes some other moms gave me. My baby is smart, healthy and loved. I ask the real doctor when I have a question.
Also, everyone told me would sleep better on formula. He still wakes up in the motn.
Worst advice: The first couple of days after LO was born the nurses/docs insisted she was getting enough from BF'ing alone. That is NOT always the case and wasn't in our situation, next time I will trust my own instincts immediately instead of waiting to supplement.
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Worst: any shit that comes out of MIL's mouth. That bish is nuts.
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Worst- Nurse him for 20 min and then supplement with formula, babies should only eat every 3 hours, basically anything that came out of DHs mouth (he had a lot of learning)
Best- sleep when the baby sleeps. Kept me sane those first couple of months especially with DH traveling. Also to let the little things go, a clean house is overated. Baby time is much more important!!
Best - do not stress over development timelines. I thought this was the silver lining of having a preemie - I never compared since I knew O would grow on his own schedule. Also - Get all your snuggles early and often because try won't tolerate cuddles well as they become more independent ( this is def true for O).
Second worst was not to let LO fall asleep nursing. It went against my instinct and in my opinion was wrong.
Third not to let the baby sleep in the swing. LO slept great in the swing...and the swing was a huge help to us through some big sleep issues. I say let the baby swing if it helps.
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Best advice is just follow your instincts...do what feels right...and to be confident that you know your baby better than any one else and know what it is best.
Best: Nurse on demand. Marathon nursing in the beginning is completely normal. Establish a bed time routine. Adapt a sleep training method that works for you and stick to it, but realize that you'll have to retrain after illness, teething, or traveling.
E only gained 2oz one week so the HV told me to wake her up every 2-3 hours to feed her. Side note: E was sleeping through the night at this point. Ever since I did this E has never slept through.
Advice I'm glad I ignored:
I was told not to hold E all the time. That was never going to happen!
Advice I wish I'd listened to: "Get her used to her cot". Don't get me wrong I love the closeness of bed sharing but I feel we all miss out on valuable sleep because E doesn't sleep in her cot.
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I eventually gave up and used the nipple shield and then he ended up wanting that on both sides and then had to use it every time. He was able to eat just fine though. They scolded me for using the shield and told me Id need to pump after feeding etc... I never had supply issues though.
Don't sweat the small stuff and do what works for you and your baby.
Worst-
Not to let them sleep on stomach(after they can roll over on own)..id at first go move him and then hed wake up I finally just gave in and let him sleep how he wanted..
The whole timing each side how much he ate..just let him eat till he wants to.
To keep him up a little later so hell sleep more..yeah right! Actually putting to bed earlier helped him sleep longer.