My Two Cents: Baby Tips

Now that I’ve been a mommy for almost four months now, I’m pretty much a pro. ;] So, I thought I would share some of the baby tips that I’ve learned from my little guy. (I’m really not a pro, in case you were wondering.) I downloaded the BabyCenter app when I found out I was pregnant and they sent me weekly updates on how my baby was developing. It was pretty cool. Now that Peanut is actually here with me, I turn to BabyCenter with questions or concerns I may have. (Web MD freaks me out.) Of course it’s always best to turn to the doctors for anything serious, but for the little things that are more “opinions” than they are facts – it’s nice to have a little forum of experienced mommies to tell you what they tried – what worked for them and what didn’t. (Of course you still have to use common sense – these are other people’s experiences and opinions, not hard core facts.)

These will be in no particular order because I’m just typing them as they come to mind.

– Stock up on baby clothes until AT LEAST 6 months. I have clothes for Peanut until now, 3 months, and I thought that would be “enough”. I do have a few things that will last until 6 months, but I’m definitely going to need more soon. Now, just to make things clear, when I say “6 months” I mean size “3-6 months”. That’s where I messed up. I was thinking, “oh 6 months is far enough away, I’m good for now…” WRONG. Because 6 months isn’t really 6 months, clothing wise it’s 3-6 months. And trust me, that 3 month mark comes at you pretty quick! Peanut will be 4 months old in a few weeks and he does still fit into his 0-3 month clothing pretty well, so I think I can hold off a little longer before going on a shopping spree for him. His onesies still fit really well, but his sleepers are starting to seem a little short in the legs. (I don’t know why I just told you that. =] Maybe it was to imply that just because it says 0-3 month doesn’t mean he can only wear that size during those ages? Everyone knows that already though, right?) OH! And another thing about clothes – I have definitely noticed that Babies R Us brand clothing runs smaller than Carter’s brand clothing – just thought I’d throw that out there.

– I highly recommend getting a swing or a glider. We have this one*, and it’s a blessing! Peanut loves to just sit and swing and watch the mobile go round and round. There’s a little mirror too and he enjoys looking at himself. (Who wouldn’t enjoy looking at themselves when they’re as cute as he is!? ;]) The one we have also plays music, which is nice and soothing. Sometimes Peanut just wants to be rocked and when my arms are burning from holding him for so long already, the swing is soooo convenient. We are very blessed to have a baby who really doesn’t fuss that often. He is perfectly content to sit quietly and watch the world around him. More often than not when he’s in his swing or play pen, I can look over at him and he’s just wide eyed and looking around. (Side note – we didn’t actually use the swinging part until he was around four weeks old. Even at the lowest setting it just seemed too fast for a newborn.)

– Some may not agree with me on this, but don’t be afraid to introduce a pacifier. The pediatrician told me to hold off on offering Peanut a pacifier until he was about four weeks old. Something about nipple confusion and wanting to make sure that nursing was well established. I gave Peanut a pacifier when he was three weeks old and we have not had any problems whatsoever. I could tell when Peanut was “comfort nursing” and when he was actually feeding, and the comfort nursing happened pretty often. Some may not agree with me on this either, but mommy’s are not pacifiers. If you’re baby is wanting to constantly comfort nurse, pop in a pacifier. I was really careful to be sure that Peanut wasn’t actually wanting to eat before giving him a pacifier though. I kept a pretty good record (and still do) of how often he eats and I used that to make a judgement call on whether or not he was hungry or just wanted to be soothed. Most of the time, if he was actually hungry, he just wouldn’t accept the pacifier. Another side note – the Wubbanub’s are great because of their shape (and cuteness) so I suggest starting with those if you are concerned about nipple confusion. Peanut started with a Wubbanub and still uses one. He nurses, takes a pacifier, and gets four bottles while I’m at work and we haven’t had any problems at all. (We have this Wubbanub* – so cute!)

– If you have to supplement with formula, first of all, don’t feel bad, second of all, definitely ask your pediatrician for samples! Even if you already know what formula you are going to use, it doesn’t hurt to have some more – formula ain’t cheap. And the little tubs they give you are great for refilling and keeping in the diaper bag.

– Tying back into the previous one, if you were dead set on breastfeeding (and/or doing exclusive breast milk whether nursing or pumping) and then find that you have to supplement with formula, DO NOT FEEL BAD. This happened to me. Even before we got pregnant I knew I wanted to breast feed. Even if that meant exclusively pumping (because I was once afraid of nipple confusion and thought to myself that if he took one over the other, I would rather he took a bottle since I had to return to work and wouldn’t be there to nurse him. Side note – I am no longer afraid of nipple confusion. Don’t be too concerned about that because thinking about it now, I’ve never heard of a baby actually having nipple confusion. (Not saying it doesn’t happen…)) Peanut gets no more than two bottles of formula a day and as much as I didn’t want to HAVE to, I have to.

– If baby doesn’t seem to like baths and is super fussy afterwards, feed him AFTER the bath. I’ve tried feeding Peanut before a bath to calm him down but that didn’t last long. I found out that if I feed him after, it calms him down and then he sleeps. Fuss fuss fuss during the bath, feed, sleep. Glorious. (Peanut is getting better about his baths. He actually fusses when I take him out of the bath now.) We have this baby bath*.

– Some may not agree with me here, but if you find that baby doesn’t sleep well in the play pen, try softening it up with some blankets. I know, you’re not supposed to do this. But, Peanut would sleep in his swing just fine but he did not like sleeping in his play pen. At first I thought it was because he just didn’t like laying flat, but then I realized that he slept really well in our bed (side note, he does not sleep in bed with us throughout the night). When I’m awake and getting ready in the morning, I let Peanut chill on our bed and I noticed he would fall asleep really well. So one day I took some non-fluffy blankets and folded them up enough to fit into the play pen. I did this just to make it softer for him because let’s be honest, the play pen “mattress” is as hard as rock. I piled the blankets on top of each other for cushion, but not in a way that he would “sink” into the blankets. It’s just like putting a sheet over the mattress, except it’s blankets. And guess what? Out like a light in the play pen.

I could probably go on forever (and ever and ever) but I’ll stop here. I can’t think of anymore that are like light bulbs that truly helped me get sane again. Maybe later on I’ll do a baby tip post of one liners, simple and sweet. =]

What are some baby tips you have??

*Amazon Affiliate link