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August 2014 Moms
Helpful NEWBORN Advice
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Helpful NEWBORN Advice
See if your hospital has a postpartum group for after the baby is born. Mine does and it really saved me the first time around!!! I had no idea what I was doing! Haha. The group is led by a lactation consultant/nurse and there was a different topic every week. I am still good friends with a lot of the women I met there, too.
'I loved you for a thousand years and I will love you for a thousand more'
There is no way to be a perfect mom, but there are a million ways to be a good one.
Zoe Nicole: 8/21/14
Due again: 1/17/18
We love Happiest Baby on the Block, too.
In the first week when they still have meconium poop, cover their diaper area with a little olive oil. Clean up will be a breeze. Otherwise, it will take a long time to get that tar of their delicate skin.
Your baby could be allergic to milk and it'll show up as vomiting, gas, constant crying and bloody stools. At a month old DS has bloody stools and was rushed to the ER to have him placed on allementum. They are able to grow out of it though.
if your baby is having trouble with bottles, try a new bottle. DS took to the bottles i had but he was sick all. The. Time. It never occurred to me to try a different bottle.
some babies don't like pacifiers, some babies don't get attached to a blanket or a stuffed animal. Some babies are fine without sucking on their fingers...some babies don't do anything to self sooth and that's ok. DS wasn't a self soother and he spit out pacifiers and and never got attached to a blanket or stuffed animal.
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1. Loved my yoga ball with DD. There were some nights I bounced up and down with her for hours and the ball saved my arms/back/sanity.
2. If what you're doing isn't working, try it louder/firmer (within reason). Particularly singing and shushing. I sang America the Beautiful and Skye Boat Song the most. I can still usually calm down DD with one of those.
3. If your baby is crying and you're hungry/thirsty/have to pee, quickly take care of yourself then attend to baby. Otherwise you'll never eat/drink/pee. If you take care of yourself you'll be in a better mental state to care for your baby.
4. Just bc your SO is working outside the home doesn't mean they don't have to help, especially at night. Find a system that works for your family and keeps you sane. If you need to spell out exactly what you need DO IT. I slept from 8pm to 2am (except for a brief nursing session in the middle) while DH was responsible for comforting DD. Then I took the rest of the wakeups. For the nursing session during my "sleep" time, DH had to bring DD to me in bed then either stay or watch on the monitor to take her right after she finished so I wouldn't have to wake up all the way to give her back to him or comfort her myself.
IVF #1: 4-11-11= Transferred 1 beautiful blastocyst I named "Nugget"
5 Snowbabies! Beta#1 4/21= BFP! 226; Beta#2 4/25= 944
DS born 12/14/11
Baby #2 FET Nov/Dec 2013
12/13 Beta#1=BFP 349; 12/16 Beta#2=1,089. First ultrasound 12/26. DS#2 born 8/8/14
~~PAIF/SAIF Always Welcome~~
ALSO, if you are BFing, it is a perfect time to wear some scarfs... they come in so handy when you need to whip out a boob and want some coverage but don't want to dig out your hiding contraption... also good for flying with an infant, covering up a leak, etc.... I have a scarf in each of my fave colors and it will be great for the fall/winter.
We also used white noise a lot... I don't know if it was what got my kid to sleep, but I ran a computer app with some soft white noise.
Ditto to most of what everyone else has posted so far.
1. If your baby is colicy I highly recommend taking them to the chiropractor. We tried everything under the sun before this and nothing worked. 3 "adjustments" and all was well in our world!
2. Our DD was ff so that makes it easier but share night feeding if possible. Our DD was a very strict every 3 hour eater so I would get up once during the night and DH out get up the other time. We lost little sleep this way.
>>>---FSU--->
The two kinds of rashes can look very similar, especially in the early stages. The way we tell them apart is that DD reacts with extreme pain to diaper cream if she actually has a yeast infection, but does not if it's a diaper rash.
Sorry if this one is common knowledge already. I didn't know until a nurse told me. Before that I had to get a prescription every time she had a yeast infection, which was often as she is prone to them (runs in the family).
Here's another: infants sometimes get thrush, a yeast infection in the mouth. If they are breastfeeding, this can infect your nipples, and it hurts like an absolute bitch. If you are having super intense burning sensations when you BF check the kiddo's mouth for a white film. That probably indicates thrush. As far as I know, the only treatment is prescription meds.
Another breastfeeding tip: be sure to alternate how you hold baby - cradle hold, football hold, side to side nursing, etc to prevent plugged milk ducts. I had plugged milk ducts a lot in the beginning because I was only doing the cradle hold and she wasn't emptying all the pockets of milk. If you do get a plugged duct, put baby on the floor belly up (the hungrier the better), get on your hands and knees, and have baby nurse while you dangle your boob down in its mouth and massage your boob in a downward motion from your armpit to the nipple. This sounds really weird, but it works.
I would also say be kind to your spouse. This is a very stressful time for both new parents. Remember you're in this together!