Tips And Tricks I Figured Out With A Newborn
I have been a mama now for a little over 3 months. I have absolutely loved seeing my baby girl grow and develop her tiny personality! There have been tons of things I’ve learned about her in the past 3 months. I have truly enjoyed figuring out what she does and doesn’t like. I still have tons to learn, but I’ve figured out tons of things that help me as a new mama and I wanted to share them all because you never know when another mama could use the tip! So here we go!
Let’s start first with all my tips for baby.
Always put the new diaper under the dirty one while changing (my little one loves to pee as I’m changing her).
Pull out all the ruffles on the sides of the diaper before putting on their clothes. Helps prevent blow outs!
Size up diapers at night! I found this to be super helpful with her sleeping more hours and preventing leaks or blowouts.
If you see any red at all, just start using diaper rash cream. You don’t want to wait it out.
If you accidentally rip off their belly button stub (like I did only on day 3 of her life!) it’s okay. They may cry for a bit, but they are just fine, you can breathe.
If baby is having a hard time burping try a probiotic.
Good big burps are crucial. No one likes to feel like they can’t get a burp out.
Lyla hated bath time for about 6 weeks. I tried different temperatures and methods and nothing. Finally I switched bath time to the morning and started to love it.
Try your best to figure out your baby’s calmest time of the day (Lyla is right after waking up in the morning) That’ll be great time to run errands or do anything that might take a lot of their energy and cause them to become fussy.
Swaddling calmed Lyla a ton. At the beginning she wanted not just one Muslim swaddle, but two!
Always have an extra set of clothes for baby when you are out, I just always have an extra onesie, you never know when a blow out might happen.
The Happiest Baby Bassinet called SNOO. It’s expensive (they do have a rental program), but Lyla started sleeping 10-12 hours a night at 6 weeks. This bassinet rocks your baby all night and plays white noise. Oh and why it hears your baby starting to cry it’ll turn up the rocking speed and noise to put them right back to sleep. It’s amazing and I’m a huge fan.
Feed baby as much as possible during the day, they will eat less during the night! More calories during the day will mean they won’t need as many at night. At the beginning I wanted to push daytime feeding farther apart to give myself more time. Once I learned the calories situation and switched it up. She started sleeping so much better at night!
Keep lights off or to a minimum at night. Try not to talk or interact with baby during the night. They will start to learn that night time is for sleeping. (I started this as soon as we brought her home from the hospital)
Always have a burp cloth on hand
If using pacifiers, keep them everywhere! Such a life saver to calm a baby quickly.
white noise machines work wonders! I have two! One for her room and one for on the go.
Nested Bean sleep sacks and onesies are amazing! The add weight to their chest to simulate your hand on their chest.
If formula feeding, I’ve found it easier to have bottles mixed and ready in the fridge for the day. (Lyla has ended up on Similac Pro-Sensitive and it’s a lot harder to mix especially when it’s needed right away!)
Spit up is normal, even some vomiting. As long as they stay calm and the process doesn’t make them start to cry and fuss they are okay.
Now all the tips that I learned helped me personally through breastfeeding, formula feeding, and recovery.
If you’re breast feeding, see a lactation specialist. They are angels on earth and so helpful when learning to navigate feeding your baby.
When I was still breastfeeding nipple shields were a life saver. I had no idea what a nipple shield was before Lyla was born.
If breastfeeding, buy a my breastfriend pillow and a nursing stool. Both helped me so much while learning to breastfeed.
Buy several pumping bras not just nursing bras, holding the pump gets old really fast.
Buy ice packs for your boobs especially for those first few weeks. I loved these from Amazon.
Witch Hazel pads help so much. Try to use them for as long as you can. Fridamom just recently came out with a witch hazel foam. I will definitely be using that the next time around.
Sitz baths are heavenly. You aren’t suppose to take a bath a 6 weeks after giving birth. (I didn’t know this and have a bit of a melt down) I love to take baths…my last days of being pregnant I would take two a day. You can buy sitz bath bowl to set on the toilet with warm water and epsom salt. It’s basically a bath for just the area where you just pushed a baby out. It feels amazing and helps so much with recovery.
I bought a Belly Bandit on Poshmark and tried to use it as much as possible to help shrink my uterus. I only used it for about 2 weeks not very consistently. I wish I would have been more strict about it. Mommy pouch has made its appearance at about 6 weeks and has stayed since. Working on so much core to heal up all those muscles!
Ask for help if you need it. I get it, we want to be able to do it all, but while still recovering it is nice to ask someone to watch your baby for an hour or two just to get some sleep and shower. You’ll feel like a brand new person!
That’s all I got for now. I am sure I’ll learn a ton more in the coming months!
