Making life easy with a newborn

candyland33 · June 2014

DH and I had our newborn class last night and the instructor had us write down what we are going to do after the baby is born to help make life easy and spend more time with LO.

One idea was to use all paper plates to help eliminate dishes. Another was hire a yard person.

Any other ideas?

BeachM · June 2014

Give up all expectations of how clean and organized your house should be. Your goal for the first 3 months is to keep everyone alive and relative happy/sane.

poofwok · June 2014

I'm definitely investing in paper plates and cutlery, for a little a while atleast.

We've also agreed that we're going to be more careful about our own laundry. Unless it's stained or stinky it ain't getting washed.

GinnyJ2012 · June 2014

I've stocked my freezer with precooked or ready to cook meals so dinner planning is easier. I guess that's something for before baby is born though.

You can check out living social and groupon for deals on house cleaning also. I've seen some around $50-60 for a whole house deep clean with baseboards and windows (interior side) included. That's what I plan on doing once a month the first few months.

Valancyy · June 2014

Paper plates is a good idea! I've made up a menu for the first 2 weeks after baby comes. Includes frozen meals and take-out, and easy meals. I just have 2 more frozen meals to make and I'm done.

One thing I've done with both older kids is to keep up on all my household chores, and once baby comes home I don't do anything for 2 weeks. No bathroom cleaning, no dusting, no vacuuming. Of course, you have to do laundry and dishes, but nothing beyond that. I've found that after 2 weeks I can get back into the weekly cleaning.

Luckily my DH and I are pretty neat people, so the house won't get too bad, at least clutter-wise. Even my boys are good at picking up (with a little prodding).

Unfortunately, when you already have 2 older kids you can only take it easy for so long!

ungraceful13 · June 2014

Freezer meals. Man that saved me last time. I plan to do it again this time.
Babywearing.
Cleaning service 1x a month if you can afford it.

cdseno · June 2014

Freezer meals for sure and make sure to stock up on healthly snacks you can grab throughout the day if you are breastfeeding. With my first I was constantly forgetting to keep eating and almost passed out numerous times.

BlckRoses · June 2014

Just a note on the Groupons for the house cleaning, my brother bought one before his wife had their baby a month ago and the customer service of the place they bought it from was terrible. They called and left a bunch of messages but no one ever called back to schedule. I would just make sure to do some research about the place you're buying it from before getting the Groupon. I've had similar experiences with nail places that have Groupons.

I love the paper plate idea, I'm going to do that for sure.

blushingbride_08 · June 2014

I'm trying to potty train my toddler but that's not going so well. Other than that I'm prepping freezer meals for a few months, deep cleaning my house since that's the cleanest it will be for awhile. I'm also trying to sleep as much as possible.

[Deleted User] · June 2014

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brachysira · June 2014

I could never let my laundry go...breastmilk leaked like crazy last time and was all over my shirts and pants. I used pads, but they would get yucky fast and I wanted to air things out most of the time. Spit up was everywhere, and I washed cloths and baby clothes every day. Pumping meant that we did dishes constantly too--throwing a few plates in the bottom of the dishwasher that was being run regularly full of bottles and pump parts was no big deal. Of course, I had a preemie, so pumping and spitting up might not come into play as much with many full term babies.

What did help was I got lots of snacks and didn't care about what I was eating. We got a lot of take out. We had my parents stay and cook and clean.

simplein06 · June 2014

have everything ready well before baby is scheduled to arrive because you will never know what will happen. It sounds obvious. I went 2 weeks early and had just gotten my diaper bag as a gift. I didn't have it packed yet. Little did I know that the morning after I got home from the hospital lo would be back in the hospital.

Rosebean · June 2014

Honestly, have a gooood long talk with your H about HIS expectations... As in, lower them, buddy! I know my H and I talked about the reality of being a SAHM for the first year (Canadian mat leave) and I was very clear that just because I was home all day with a newborn, did not mean he would come home to a spotless house with dinner on the table. I made sure he understood that there would be a lot of days where he would come home to a disaster and no meal yet. I really did find cooking hard to do with how demanding my little guy was. He was very hard to put down most days. It was a good thing we had that discussion because he was better prepared for it on the days he came home to less than ideal circumstances. And it was better on us as a couple because we barely fought about it.

I agree with PPs to buy easy to make meals/ snacks that you can quickly grab. I plan on going to Costco and buying oatmeal cups so breakfast is done lickity split. I had meant to make freezer meals the last time, but DS came so early I lost out on that opportunity

Jennicillin · June 2014

Freezer cooking was my ultimate, winning, lifesaver with both kids. We have a deep freezer so I started just making "double recipes" around 6 months pregnant. One for dinner that night, and the other for the freezer. I wasn't worried about how long it sat in there because it was a deeper freeze.

I put a huge stack of diapers with a package of wipes and one of those plastic grocery bag holder things in, like, seriously almost every room in my house. nothing sucks more (for me anyway) than realizing your kid needs a diaper and having to go from room to room hunting for diapers and wipes (and a bag to put the dirty in if it's extra smelly) My daughter is 19 months old and I still keep piles of those three things all over the house.

We have baby room in with us for the first 4ish months. I empty the top drawer of my nightstand and keep a steady supply of clean sleepers, swaddlers, breast pads, diapers, and wipes in there to make the middle of the night changes and feedings easier

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP! That's my number one biggest piece of advice! It sounds lovely as a FTM to think you want time alone, and to muddle through and figure it out and find a groove, and that is true but only to a point. If someone offers to bring you dinner, take it! If nobody is offering, refer back in your mind to the people who said "Call if you need anything!" and call, ask! "Would you be willing to come hold the baby while I shower, my husband is on graveyards" or "When's the next time you're going to be at the store, I need milk and can pay you back if you'd be willing to grab it for me?" I promise, people want to help, and usually just don't know how, or don't want to step on your toes, so they're waiting for your lead.

Third&goal · June 2014

I kept the baby laundry and our laundry separate.

That way if I didn't get around to folding baby clothes (because that stuff is tiny and hard to fold anyways), at least I could set the basket of clean clothes in the nursery and just grab from the basket.

babyleaks · June 2014

You ladies all have great ideas I'm taking notes seeing that I will be a first time mom!!!

bkcgraham · June 2014

My life saver that another mother told me to do was I stocked up on stuff for me to eat during the day/late night. I would get so tired I didn't even want to eat - think quick and high protein.

protein bars
muffins
boiled eggs
waffles w/peanut butter
almonds
bagels w/cream cheese
oatmeal cups
yogurt
cheese sticks

Jenrileysmom · June 2014

I definitely did not prepare for a newborn when DD was born. It's interesting that I don't even remember having too much trouble. My sister came and watched her a couple of afternoons at the beginning so I could get a nice long nap but I don't remember having a lot of issues with not having time to eat or do normal things. I would just put baby down in her swing or bouncer and do something else? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong? :P

BeachM · June 2014

Jenrileysmom said:

I definitely did not prepare for a newborn when DD was born. It's interesting that I don't even remember having too much trouble. My sister came and watched her a couple of afternoons at the beginning so I could get a nice long nap but I don't remember having a lot of issues with not having time to eat or do normal things. I would just put baby down in her swing or bouncer and do something else? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong? :P

LOL I'm fairly certain my memories start a good 4-6 weeks after mine was born. Before that there was the whole c-section recovery thing and getting used to not sleeping.

I had time to eat during the day, but the witching hour was baaaaaaaadddd for us for months and months so dinners were actually pretty hard. I was too busy trying to plan my escape than to worry about well balanced meals.

Raclla · June 2014

bkcgraham said:

My life saver that another mother told me to do was I stocked up on stuff for me to eat during the day/late night. I would get so tired I didn't even want to eat - think quick and high protein.

protein bars
muffins
boiled eggs
waffles w/peanut butter
almonds
bagels w/cream cheese
oatmeal cups
yogurt
cheese sticks

This!!!! This. This. This!!!!
I will also add, Ensure drinks. Sometimes two of those would be the only things I'd have until DH got home from work.

andplusalso, SHOWERING IS OVERRATED!

PecanSam · June 2014

Ptarma said:
Freezer meals for sure! I just can't do disposable plates and cutlery - the inner environmentalist won't let me... but I will be more relaxed about dishes piling up

The house will definitely be messier and I hope I'm ready for that this time. I had a tough time with that when my son was born... but it's true, you have to take time to rest when baby is resting whenever possible!

Completely with you!!! I can't do paper plates b/c I hate eating off paper plates and the environment on top of it. We have a dishwasher so dishes are no big deal.

My house is a mess anyway, it's hard to keep up with the mess from two large dogs and a toddler.

kcm3 · June 2014

Freezer meals and planned future meals/groceries. If I'm running out of meals, knowing what groceries I need to go grab, or have someone else grab, helps. And if you have grocery delivery in your area - sign up!

Third&goal · June 2014

Raclla said:

bkcgraham said:

My life saver that another mother told me to do was I stocked up on stuff for me to eat during the day/late night. I would get so tired I didn't even want to eat - think quick and high protein.

protein bars
muffins
boiled eggs
waffles w/peanut butter
almonds
bagels w/cream cheese
oatmeal cups
yogurt
cheese sticks

This!!!! This. This. This!!!!
I will also add, Ensure drinks. Sometimes two of those would be the only things I'd have until DH got home from work.

andplusalso, SHOWERING IS OVERRATED!

Agree! Also, stock up with plenty of fruit and/or smoothies because that helps with #2 issues.

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Making life easy with a newborn

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Pregnancy #3 after two prior losses in 2013

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