I'm a STM too but...do you guys remember when your morning sickness peaked? (Not when it ended--when was it at its worst?). I cannot remember how it went with DD1&2 for the life of me.
DD1 (2008) DD2 (2010), #3 (DH's first bio kid) on the way in January 2017! Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos.
My OB mentioned that "most" peak around 7/8weeks. But that is obviously not the case for everyone. I'm praying it holds true for me this time and it doesn't get any worse!
I'm a STM too but...do you guys remember when your morning sickness peaked? (Not when it ended--when was it at its worst?). I cannot remember how it went with DD1&2 for the life of me.
I think with DS it was around 9-10 weeks for me. My mom had terrible MS with both my brother and me. She said with my brother (born second), MS was worse but didn't last as long. FX that's true for all subsequent children!
This week is the closest I've been to throwing up (with #1 I threw up every day til 18 weeks, with #2 it was all day nausea but I only threw up a couple of times). Reeeallly hoping that this is the peak and it subsides a little in a week or two (I'm 8 weeks so right on the time line you guys have heard)
DD1 (2008) DD2 (2010), #3 (DH's first bio kid) on the way in January 2017! Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos.
I have a question (my apologies if it's been asked before, I've read the other threads but not religiously). Is there anything you bought during your previous pregnancy that you either ended up having way too much of or didn't use at all? Or maybe things that other people bought for you?
@Dinozaur I'd say don't register for bibs, burp rags, blankets, or clothing. People buy you that stuff whether you want it or not! It can be difficult to return, too. I'd wait until after showers/closer to baby's birth to see what you've got and take inventory. If people asked me what to get, I generally said wipes and diapers and I got so many! They are easy to exchange for a different size, too. It was great. I literally didn't buy diapers or wipes for almost a year with my first and then got depressed when I had to with my second. Stupid things (according to me): wipe warmers, bottle warmers, baby food blender, fabric nursing pads (disposable is the way to go...fabric ones leaked through my bra and shirt!), I'm sure there's more!
Those cute cloth bibs are worthless. The Velcro is so crappy a baby can yank it off whenever they feel like it and they are cloth... Everything goes through cloth.
pacifiers. We breastfed. Pacifiers were confusing. My infant son started just spitting them out because it wasn't nourishing or comforting like mama. He (now 2) thinks they are hilarious and grabs them just to chew them. we had cute pacifiers with mustaches and everything.
newborn outfits. Seriously. Just get a dozen onesies and a handful of pants with socks attached. You'll mostly be in pajamas the whole time. And this size goes by so fast (and for some their baby is too big for NB at birth). One outfit, maybe two is the most you'll need.
baby towels and washcloths. Total gimmick. The towels are too thin to be very absorbent and the washcloths are so thin and scratchy. Your towels and washcloths are a zillion times better.
Knit/crotchet blankets. Grandmas and aunts spend hours making it so you'll never be able to get rid of them but... Your babies fingers will get caught in them and you'll worry you accidentally broke them when you find out too late and pull the blanket away with the fingers stuck inside.
Most items added to a car seat that weren't made by the car seat manufacturer. They make the seat less safe. Car seat safety can be its own string.
Cute character jumpers made by companies who don't manufacture any other baby clothes. The proportions aren't right. It will never fit.
baby snowsuit/bunting. You can't wear it in a car seat and you won't lay your baby down in the snow... So unless you're carrying him outside or other non-car seat carrier, this is pointless.
Pointless things- 80000000 onesies. Didn't need them. Sleepers with snaps. Lots of crib mattress protectors. Clothes in general (you get SO much clothing).
In my opinion, newborns need so very little. For my daughter, she needed me (the boobs), a rock n play, swaddling blankets, and diapers.
Dont stock up on baby toiletries. You don't know what your kiddo will react adversely to.
If you plan on bottle feeding, don't buy lots of one type of bottle. Buy one of a few kinds. Babies are resistant to certain nipples.
newborn sized clothing. My daughter wore nb clothing for maybe 2 weeks. And she was only 7 lbs.
Lots of good points made. I agree in universal wastes of money like a wipe warmer and cute bibs that don't Velcro well. I will add that with two kids came with two different preferences. So, what was useful for one was useless to the other. My DD1 was born 4 weeks early so NB size clothes were needed for a couple of months. DD2 jumped right into 3 months clothes ASAP. One liked the swing the other didn't. One slept in the crib while the other needed to be walked around the kitchen for 20-30 minutes in an umbrella stroller prior to sleeping (ah, the fun times we had). So, it's hard to say what was a waste of money since we were able to put everything to use with at least one of them. If you plan on having more than one, and have storage, don't sweat this too much. Chances are you may find a need for one of your kids.
If you're team green, you will get way more necessities than dumb stuff at your shower. We got all of our cloth diapers, pack n play, bath stuff (we just ran out of baby soap and my daughter is 2!) And tons of blankets.
We did go through tons of plain white bibs for drooling. We had WAY too many burp cloths. We needed a few mattress pad covers but only had one. You only need 5 or so crib sheets in hand.
Wipe warmers are so stupid. They dry out your wipes and waste them. We cloth diapered once she fit into one size cloth, so we use just cheapo baby wash cloths and a mini spray bottle with water for wipes. 2 years strong now.
I breastfed and my daughter wouldn't take a binky until I tried every one in the world and she finally found one she took, which was tomee Tippi. Imho don't be afraid to use a pacifier. My child used me as a pacifier if she didn't have one. I felt so guilty giving her one unyil pedi just told me to take a break and give her the darn thing. It was instant relief. Cluster feeding is no joke!!
All you need are sleepers for months 1 and 2. Plus it will be winter for us. We won't be going anywhere.
Those cute cloth bibs are worthless. The Velcro is so crappy a baby can yank it off whenever they feel like it and they are cloth... Everything goes through cloth.
pacifiers. We breastfed. Pacifiers were confusing. My infant son started just spitting them out because it wasn't nourishing or comforting like mama. He (now 2) thinks they are hilarious and grabs them just to chew them. we had cute pacifiers with mustaches and everything.
newborn outfits. Seriously. Just get a dozen onesies and a handful of pants with socks attached. You'll mostly be in pajamas the whole time. And this size goes by so fast (and for some their baby is too big for NB at birth). One outfit, maybe two is the most you'll need.
baby towels and washcloths. Total gimmick. The towels are too thin to be very absorbent and the washcloths are so thin and scratchy. Your towels and washcloths are a zillion times better.
Knit/crotchet blankets. Grandmas and aunts spend hours making it so you'll never be able to get rid of them but... Your babies fingers will get caught in them and you'll worry you accidentally broke them when you find out too late and pull the blanket away with the fingers stuck inside.
Most items added to a car seat that weren't made by the car seat manufacturer. They make the seat less safe. Car seat safety can be its own string.
Cute character jumpers made by companies who don't manufacture any other baby clothes. The proportions aren't right. It will never fit.
baby snowsuit/bunting. You can't wear it in a car seat and you won't lay your baby down in the snow... So unless you're carrying him outside or other non-car seat carrier, this is pointless.
We had so many things that we didn't need nor use. I don't even know where to start... All the fancy, cute outfits people bought for her. This is purely a personal choice thing, but my dd lived in onesies, comfy pants, or sleepers. We didn't venture out too much when she was a newborn, so there was no use for extravagant outfits. And when she was older, I just found that comfort and outfits that were easy to take off and on trumped uncomfortable, complicated outfits. The wipe warmer. Used it a few times, then it just became one more thing to refill, plug in, etc... The bassinet. I think dd slept in it 3 times. Maybe 4. The swing. Dd HATED it. The bottles and pacifiers. My dd was breastfed and refused all the bottles and pacifiers. There were more I'm sure, I just can't think of them right now.
Agree with everyone on the NB clothes. You really don't know how much/how long they'll fit in NB so it's better to get 3M if you feel you need to buy some clothes. People will give you SO MANY outfits though- at the baby shower, before the baby is born, after the baby is born, randomly because it was so cute they couldn't help themselves (seriously). I barely bought any clothes for DS.
Any disposable diapers you get (especially in NB) don't open until baby is actually here so you can return then in case they aren't going to fit.
I breastfed DS and a pacifier was a lifesaver for me. DS got a pacifier in the hospital (which I initially was opposed to) and loved it. We never had any nipple confusion issues. The best pacifiers, in my experience, are the wubbanubs with animals attached to the pacifier. Don't buy a ton of one paci because, like bottles, you don't know what their preference is going to be.
I just want to chime in to slightly disagree about the NB clothing. I agree that you don't need "outfits", but everyone told me with my first not to get any newborn stuff because most babies are too big for it, so I got all 0-3 month onesies, sleepers, etc. DS was 7lbs, but somehow he was so scrawny he was still swimming in it. I had to go out to Target when he was a few days old to get NB things, and even those were big on him. I would say he wore NB for at least 1.5-2 months. And in those first weeks, I went through a ton of clothing each day. So I would say have at least the NB basics on hand.
DS: June 2008 Married: July 2015 BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
We got a ton of cutsie burp cloths and they weren't any good. I felt like they hardly caught or cleaned up any spit up. The plain white Gerber burp cloths worked best for us. DS was a summer baby, so the outfits that came with the pants, socks and hats were never really used. He loved in onsies. I hardly used the boppy, but I know some people swear by them. Will definitely try it out again this time, I just found breastfeeding to be more comfortable without it. DS used pacis, he was 10 days old when we gave it to him, he also took bottles on occasion and we never had issues with breastfeeding.
So this is definitely one of those moments that you don't know what'll work for your kid until you get there - I respectfully disagree on the onesies and the pacifiers. I breastfed both of my kids and both of my kids eventually took the pacifier. They didn't take it immediately but, after the experience of #1 who refused all bottles and all pacis until 4 months of age, I pushed it pretty hard on #2 and he took it at about 4-6 weeks. Having a baby use you as a pacifier is EXHAUSTING. You are the ONLY one that can calm down that baby and it's incredibly draining. While we're on the subject, unless you're not going back to work, I also want to encourage everyone to remember to introduce a bottle by 3-4 weeks of age. I'll try to remember to say it again when we all, you know, actually HAVE outside babies but not introducing the bottle in those early weeks can lead to bottle refusal later, which is UBER stressful if you're going back to work. Nipple confusion is really, really overinflated and some lactation consultants winced when I still hadn't introduced a bottle by 6 weeks of age and was wondering why my daughter was refusing the bottle.
Also, onesies - I LOVE onesies. If you have skinny babies, you'll use onesies as another layer under their pajamas. If it's super hot where you live, you use onesies as their main clothes. I cried big fat tears when my skinny kiddo outgrew onesies because it was so crucial to not leaving her belly exposed. Both of my kids are way, way low on the weight charts so don't have much in the way of fat to keep them warm. Love me some onesies
What did I have too much of? blankets. A million loveys (your kid will pick the weirdest thing as their lovey - both of my kids picked a shirt of mine as their lovey). Too many 'cute' outfits that aren't comfortable for kids. Shoes. Why does everyone want to buy newborn shoes?
@kdremington, belly butter is nice but it won't make a difference in your stretch marks. Stretch marks are mostly driven by genetics and either you've been blessed with skin that doesn't get it or you haven't. That being said, each pregnancy adds its own stretch marks. I have stretch marks from being fat when I was younger but I didn't get stretch marks from either pregnancy. I DID use a tummy oil that I loved, loved, loved because it stopped the crazy itchiness and it made me feel like I carved out a piece of the day to connect with my baby. So I don't discourage anyone from the belly butter but I don't want you to expect miracles.
@Kdremington I used coconut oil. I didn't get a single stretch mark on my belly. (Neither did my mom, so I'm saying its genetic). When my milk came in, my boobs got stretch marks, despite me also putting coconut oil on them
Question about belly butter. Did you find it useful? We're you predisposed to have stretch marks or no? Also, when is the best time to start using it?
I enjoyed belly butter, cocoa butter lotion, etc, but not because of stretch marks. I'm not great at being diligent about putting something like lotion on, plus I know that you're pretty much going to get stretch marks or you're not, based on your genetics. BUT, my belly and boobs got super itchy into the 3rd trimester both times, and that stuff helped so much!
Also, I love my boppy, but after two kids, I think it's getting a bit flatter...I may try the my breast friend this time.
I just want to chime in to slightly disagree about the NB clothing. I agree that you don't need "outfits", but everyone told me with my first not to get any newborn stuff because most babies are too big for it, so I got all 0-3 month onesies, sleepers, etc. DS was 7lbs, but somehow he was so scrawny he was still swimming in it. I had to go out to Target when he was a few days old to get NB things, and even those were big on him. I would say he wore NB for at least 1.5-2 months. And in those first weeks, I went through a ton of clothing each day. So I would say have at least the NB basics on hand.
Yes, me too! My dd was/is a petite tiny thing. Even now. She wore nb clothing for at least 3 months.
@Josie3=5 I agree with you on the bottles and pacifier issue! I exclusively breastfed dd, and I was concerned about nipple confusion, so I didn't introduce either, and exactly as you said, it because extremely exhausting and stressful because I was the ONLY person/thing that could soothe and feed her. I will most definitely be introducing the pacifier right away. Although, as awful as this sounds, I'm still going back and forth about pumping and doing bottle feeding in addition to breast, just because I like having the excuse that only I can feed her. This comes in extremely handy on the rare occasion my MIL is around. (I'm terrible, I know).
I didn't even realize it was a thing to hold off on pacifiers. I gave my daughter one at a few hours old. She had no problem latching to nurse or taking a bottle.
When she was young and snugly and easy to wake, I loved having the diaper warmer so I could change her without shocking her.
I agree, the cloth bibs were annoying and a waste. you don't need a trillion.
@jlea05 I always used the only I can feed the baby excuse to excuse myself when I was no longer in the mood to be around people. I only pumped if I knew I would have to be away from DS. I will probably do the same with this one!
Question about belly butter. Did you find it useful? We're you predisposed to have stretch marks or no? Also, when is the best time to start using it?
I enjoyed belly butter, cocoa butter lotion, etc, but not because of stretch marks. I'm not great at being diligent about putting something like lotion on, plus I know that you're pretty much going to get stretch marks or you're not, based on your genetics. BUT, my belly and boobs got super itchy into the 3rd trimester both times, and that stuff helped so much!
Also, I love my boppy, but after two kids, I think it's getting a bit flatter...I may try the my breast friend this time.
The Breast Friend is amazing and SO much better (firmer, more supportive of baby and your back, and baby doesn't roll) than a boppy. I highly recommend.
Question about belly butter. Did you find it useful? We're you predisposed to have stretch marks or no? Also, when is the best time to start using it?
I enjoyed belly butter, cocoa butter lotion, etc, but not because of stretch marks. I'm not great at being diligent about putting something like lotion on, plus I know that you're pretty much going to get stretch marks or you're not, based on your genetics. BUT, my belly and boobs got super itchy into the 3rd trimester both times, and that stuff helped so much!
Also, I love my boppy, but after two kids, I think it's getting a bit flatter...I may try the my breast friend this time.
The Breast Friend is amazing and SO much better (firmer, more supportive of baby and your back, and baby doesn't roll) than a boppy. I highly recommend.
I got to try the mbf at the lactation consultant and even though it doesn't look cute, it's WAY more functional than the boppy for me too. The boppy was always too low to bring baby to my boobs.
Question about belly butter. Did you find it useful? We're you predisposed to have stretch marks or no? Also, when is the best time to start using it?
I enjoyed belly butter, cocoa butter lotion, etc, but not because of stretch marks. I'm not great at being diligent about putting something like lotion on, plus I know that you're pretty much going to get stretch marks or you're not, based on your genetics. BUT, my belly and boobs got super itchy into the 3rd trimester both times, and that stuff helped so much!
Also, I love my boppy, but after two kids, I think it's getting a bit flatter...I may try the my breast friend this time.
The Breast Friend is amazing and SO much better (firmer, more supportive of baby and your back, and baby doesn't roll) than a boppy. I highly recommend.
I got to try the mbf at the lactation consultant and even though it doesn't look cute, it's WAY more functional than the boppy for me too. The boppy was always too low to bring baby to my boobs.
Yes! This is always my issue with the Boppy....I have to put another pillow underneath, so what's the point?!
You all have been so helpful! We're definitely team green, trying to avoid getting a ton of the non-essential gender-specific outfits and whatnot (I just KNOW my mom would be getting those giant poofy dresses if it was a girl...), and while I don't plan to go back to work or school for a few months, I would still love to have the bottle option for DH sometimes, so we'll be introducing that pretty early. And I think we're basically just going to wait until after the baby shower to actually buy anything, that seems like the best option. We have so much family, there will probably be blankets and onesies galore!
A lot of 'essential' baby gear just depends on the baby. My son hated the Bumbo chair, but I have friends who swore by it. The only things that I think are universally useless are wipe warmers (they dry the wipes out), bottle warmers (we would just microwave a cup of water and stick the bottle in that), and the million crappy baby washcloths, tiny burp cloths, and velcro bibs that will materialize in your house no matter what you do. Also, baby shoes. They are so, so cute but useless and difficult to put on.
I agree with @sagoon that essential baby gear depends on your baby. I got a MILLION receiving blankets at my shower and my SIL was like take those back, you won't use them. Well, I ended up having a really pukey baby who liked to spit up a ton after a meal. Little burp cloths did nothing, so I spent the first 9 months with a receiving blanket slung across my shoulder to catch all of the spit up. I also received a Moby wrap at my shower. I did NOT see myself as a baby wearing mom, so I returned it before my daughter was born... and then her first growth spurt happened... She was cluster feeding, I was crying, she was crying, I could not put her down. I made DH go buy one on his way home from work. I guess my advice is not to get to return happy before the baby. You never know what you will need until you feel it out for yourself.
We used cloth diapers as burp cloths on the advice of my mother. Best idea ever, super absorbent, easy to clean and much cheaper than buying an equivalent amount of burp cloths.
I actually love having a ton of baby wash cloths. We use them when DS had diaper rashes since wipes seemed to irritate them more. It was nice to have a ton so we could have several designated for that purpose. We use our other set for clean up after meals.
Gear is really subjective. After my first I would have said the RnP is garbage, he hated it. My second loved it though and turned me into a believer. Get a plain plastic high chair. After 2 years the fabric on ours is ripping at the seams and food is getting stuck in it. I wish I had gotten one without a cover.
Oh, yeah! I remember those now! The pretty little themed burp cloths SUCK. You know how when you go to a nice restaurant and they have nicely folded cloth napkins and you spill something but the napkins don't absorb ANY of the liquid? Yeah, that's those pretty burp cloths. I second the ugly Gerber cloth diaper prefolds for burp cloths. I don't know of any cloth mom who actually uses these for diapering but I know they are fantastic if you have a spitter.
I've been looking up bulk cooking recipes to freeze meals before the baby comes. Did anyone create several meals and freeze them to have handy once baby was born?? Would you recommend this, or was it just too much work than what it's worth? I have a long way to go before I'd do this, but I've already been thinking about which meals would be best made in bulk and frozen.
I've been looking up bulk cooking recipes to freeze meals before the baby comes. Did anyone create several meals and freeze them to have handy once baby was born?? Would you recommend this, or was it just too much work than what it's worth? I have a long way to go before I'd do this, but I've already been thinking about which meals would be best made in bulk and frozen.
I did! The one thing I'd recommend that you don't make is lasagna. We had some very generous friends from church put together a meal train for us. It was delicious and we were so grateful for it! But I found that the one dish that everyone likes to make for new moms is lasagna. With that plus the lasagna I'd made that was in our freezer, we ate lasagna for a month haha
I've been looking up bulk cooking recipes to freeze meals before the baby comes. Did anyone create several meals and freeze them to have handy once baby was born?? Would you recommend this, or was it just too much work than what it's worth? I have a long way to go before I'd do this, but I've already been thinking about which meals would be best made in bulk and frozen.
ooooh. This is a great idea. Totally going to do this!
Me: 28 | DH: 31 Together since 2006 | Married May 2015 TTC #1 since November 2015 BFP 5/17/16 | EDD 1/27/17 | Born 2/4/17
MS Peak: ummm around 9 weeks maybe? It's all hazy. It feeeels like maybe I've gotten past that again but I'm not getting too excited yet.
Useless Products: I don't think I got anything that I would call useless that I didn't return pre baby. So I really couldn't say. But as far as NB clothes go, everyone said DON't BUY THEM because you don't use them for any time and everyone wants to buy them for you, but I got none and my baby was in that size for 4 months. Buy at least a weeks worth if you don't get a bunch from people. Also, we introduced a pacifier at 3 days and never had a nursing problem. I think it depends on your baby 100%.
Belly Butter: not helpful. Stretch marks are primarily genetic. It does smell good and helps with itching but it's not gonna prevent stretch marks.
Freezer Meals: DO IT! We had a few sweet ladies from our church bring us meals for the first couple days home but that didn't even last a week. I was super glad to have had stuff frozen and ready to go. I bought a bunch of those disposable aluminum pans and wrote instructions on the lid or gallon ziplocks for crockpot meals with instructions on the bag. DH or I could toss something in the oven or crockpot and get back to important things like changing diapers or feeding the baby or sleeping or showering.
I say freezer meals are totally worth it! I didn't do it last time, and I wish I had. This time around, my goal is to have at least 21 frozen dinners, and then stock up on easy breakfast and lunch items. But I'm going to wait and do it sort of last minute, so that none of the meals get freezer burnt or have that weird freezer taste.
Freezer meals - great idea. I did some and wished I did more. Maybe there will be holiday leftovers that can be re-purposed as freezer meals. Like extra turkey could be made into turkey tettrazini and frozen etc. Probably near the end of pregnancy when the nesting impulse kicks in would be a good time to do this.
Re: Ask a STM+ Week of 6.6.16
Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos.
DS1 - 03/31/2006
DS2 - 12/31/2008
DS3 - 06/26/2012
DS4 - 08/07/2014
Reeeallly hoping that this is the peak and it subsides a little in a week or two (I'm 8 weeks so right on the time line you guys have heard)
Almost always mobile bumping--forgive my typos.
Jan '17 August siggy challenge: Cat fails
If people asked me what to get, I generally said wipes and diapers and I got so many! They are easy to exchange for a different size, too. It was great. I literally didn't buy diapers or wipes for almost a year with my first and then got depressed when I had to with my second.
Stupid things (according to me): wipe warmers, bottle warmers, baby food blender, fabric nursing pads (disposable is the way to go...fabric ones leaked through my bra and shirt!), I'm sure there's more!
pacifiers. We breastfed. Pacifiers were confusing. My infant son started just spitting them out because it wasn't nourishing or comforting like mama. He (now 2) thinks they are hilarious and grabs them just to chew them. we had cute pacifiers with mustaches and everything.
newborn outfits. Seriously. Just get a dozen onesies and a handful of pants with socks attached. You'll mostly be in pajamas the whole time. And this size goes by so fast (and for some their baby is too big for NB at birth). One outfit, maybe two is the most you'll need.
baby towels and washcloths. Total gimmick. The towels are too thin to be very absorbent and the washcloths are so thin and scratchy. Your towels and washcloths are a zillion times better.
Knit/crotchet blankets. Grandmas and aunts spend hours making it so you'll never be able to get rid of them but... Your babies fingers will get caught in them and you'll worry you accidentally broke them when you find out too late and pull the blanket away with the fingers stuck inside.
Most items added to a car seat that weren't made by the car seat manufacturer. They make the seat less safe. Car seat safety can be its own string.
Cute character jumpers made by companies who don't manufacture any other baby clothes. The proportions aren't right. It will never fit.
baby snowsuit/bunting. You can't wear it in a car seat and you won't lay your baby down in the snow... So unless you're carrying him outside or other non-car seat carrier, this is pointless.
I'm sure there's more but I need to go puke now.
In my opinion, newborns need so very little. For my daughter, she needed me (the boobs), a rock n play, swaddling blankets, and diapers.
Dont stock up on baby toiletries. You don't know what your kiddo will react adversely to.
If you plan on bottle feeding, don't buy lots of one type of bottle. Buy one of a few kinds. Babies are resistant to certain nipples.
newborn sized clothing. My daughter wore nb clothing for maybe 2 weeks. And she was only 7 lbs.
We did go through tons of plain white bibs for drooling. We had WAY too many burp cloths. We needed a few mattress pad covers but only had one. You only need 5 or so crib sheets in hand.
Wipe warmers are so stupid. They dry out your wipes and waste them. We cloth diapered once she fit into one size cloth, so we use just cheapo baby wash cloths and a mini spray bottle with water for wipes. 2 years strong now.
I breastfed and my daughter wouldn't take a binky until I tried every one in the world and she finally found one she took, which was tomee Tippi. Imho don't be afraid to use a pacifier. My child used me as a pacifier if she didn't have one. I felt so guilty giving her one unyil pedi just told me to take a break and give her the darn thing. It was instant relief. Cluster feeding is no joke!!
All you need are sleepers for months 1 and 2. Plus it will be winter for us. We won't be going anywhere.
All the fancy, cute outfits people bought for her. This is purely a personal choice thing, but my dd lived in onesies, comfy pants, or sleepers. We didn't venture out too much when she was a newborn, so there was no use for extravagant outfits. And when she was older, I just found that comfort and outfits that were easy to take off and on trumped uncomfortable, complicated outfits.
The wipe warmer. Used it a few times, then it just became one more thing to refill, plug in, etc...
The bassinet. I think dd slept in it 3 times. Maybe 4.
The swing. Dd HATED it.
The bottles and pacifiers. My dd was breastfed and refused all the bottles and pacifiers.
There were more I'm sure, I just can't think of them right now.
SaveSave
Any disposable diapers you get (especially in NB) don't open until baby is actually here so you can return then in case they aren't going to fit.
I breastfed DS and a pacifier was a lifesaver for me. DS got a pacifier in the hospital (which I initially was opposed to) and loved it. We never had any nipple confusion issues. The best pacifiers, in my experience, are the wubbanubs with animals attached to the pacifier. Don't buy a ton of one paci because, like bottles, you don't know what their preference is going to be.
Married: July 2015
BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
So this is definitely one of those moments that you don't know what'll work for your kid until you get there - I respectfully disagree on the onesies and the pacifiers. I breastfed both of my kids and both of my kids eventually took the pacifier. They didn't take it immediately but, after the experience of #1 who refused all bottles and all pacis until 4 months of age, I pushed it pretty hard on #2 and he took it at about 4-6 weeks. Having a baby use you as a pacifier is EXHAUSTING. You are the ONLY one that can calm down that baby and it's incredibly draining. While we're on the subject, unless you're not going back to work, I also want to encourage everyone to remember to introduce a bottle by 3-4 weeks of age. I'll try to remember to say it again when we all, you know, actually HAVE outside babies but not introducing the bottle in those early weeks can lead to bottle refusal later, which is UBER stressful if you're going back to work. Nipple confusion is really, really overinflated and some lactation consultants winced when I still hadn't introduced a bottle by 6 weeks of age and was wondering why my daughter was refusing the bottle.
Also, onesies - I LOVE onesies. If you have skinny babies, you'll use onesies as another layer under their pajamas. If it's super hot where you live, you use onesies as their main clothes. I cried big fat tears when my skinny kiddo outgrew onesies because it was so crucial to not leaving her belly exposed. Both of my kids are way, way low on the weight charts so don't have much in the way of fat to keep them warm. Love me some onesies
What did I have too much of? blankets. A million loveys (your kid will pick the weirdest thing as their lovey - both of my kids picked a shirt of mine as their lovey). Too many 'cute' outfits that aren't comfortable for kids. Shoes. Why does everyone want to buy newborn shoes?
@kdremington, belly butter is nice but it won't make a difference in your stretch marks. Stretch marks are mostly driven by genetics and either you've been blessed with skin that doesn't get it or you haven't. That being said, each pregnancy adds its own stretch marks. I have stretch marks from being fat when I was younger but I didn't get stretch marks from either pregnancy. I DID use a tummy oil that I loved, loved, loved because it stopped the crazy itchiness and it made me feel like I carved out a piece of the day to connect with my baby. So I don't discourage anyone from the belly butter but I don't want you to expect miracles.
June Siggy Challenge: Robert Downey Jr
37 yr old mama with 4yr old DD and 2 yr old DS
Also, I love my boppy, but after two kids, I think it's getting a bit flatter...I may try the my breast friend this time.
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When she was young and snugly and easy to wake, I loved having the diaper warmer so I could change her without shocking her.
I agree, the cloth bibs were annoying and a waste. you don't need a trillion.
Jan '17 August siggy challenge: Cat fails
Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far
I actually love having a ton of baby wash cloths. We use them when DS had diaper rashes since wipes seemed to irritate them more. It was nice to have a ton so we could have several designated for that purpose. We use our other set for clean up after meals.
Gear is really subjective. After my first I would have said the RnP is garbage, he hated it. My second loved it though and turned me into a believer. Get a plain plastic high chair. After 2 years the fabric on ours is ripping at the seams and food is getting stuck in it. I wish I had gotten one without a cover.
I second the ugly Gerber cloth diaper prefolds for burp cloths. I don't know of any cloth mom who actually uses these for diapering but I know they are fantastic if you have a spitter.
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
Me: 28 | DH: 31
Together since 2006 | Married May 2015
TTC #1 since November 2015
BFP 5/17/16 | EDD 1/27/17 | Born 2/4/17
Useless Products: I don't think I got anything that I would call useless that I didn't return pre baby. So I really couldn't say. But as far as NB clothes go, everyone said DON't BUY THEM because you don't use them for any time and everyone wants to buy them for you, but I got none and my baby was in that size for 4 months. Buy at least a weeks worth if you don't get a bunch from people. Also, we introduced a pacifier at 3 days and never had a nursing problem. I think it depends on your baby 100%.
Belly Butter: not helpful. Stretch marks are primarily genetic. It does smell good and helps with itching but it's not gonna prevent stretch marks.
Freezer Meals: DO IT! We had a few sweet ladies from our church bring us meals for the first couple days home but that didn't even last a week. I was super glad to have had stuff frozen and ready to go. I bought a bunch of those disposable aluminum pans and wrote instructions on the lid or gallon ziplocks for crockpot meals with instructions on the bag. DH or I could toss something in the oven or crockpot and get back to important things like changing diapers or feeding the baby or sleeping or showering.
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BFP 2/3/16 --> MC 2/13/16