In My/Our Experience
So i have been back and forth about if and what to add to this blog. After many conversations with Shawn about things i wish i had known about being a new mom or wish i could share with other new moms or soon to be new moms i have decided to just kinda put it out there. I thought long and hard about what to say but more importantly how to say it. As as a new mom and/or a very pregnant soon to be new mom i constantly seemed to solicit advice everywhere i went and i do mean everywhere. I received advice from the usual suspects: my mom, my mother in law, my and Shawn's grandmothers, aunts, friends with kids and surprisingly friends with no kids and of course from the random stranger in line for the bathroom. It is not that i did not/do not appreciate the wise advice or the"its takes a village" mentality because i do...more so as a former History/Art History scholar i learn best from research and lots of it. I wanted and still want to gather the most info possible and then kinda go with what Shawn and i feel is right for our family.
I soon learned that while most people gave great advice that i still value highly, a few gave what i thought was advice and what they felt were directives. So while i want to add to the bank of knowledge which new moms or soon to be new moms gather i want it to be understood that this is what works for us right now...it may not work for us later and it may never work for anyone else ever and that is okay. I say this because the other strange thing that surprised me was that for some people if you do not do things exactly as they do/did you are telling them they are horribly wrong. That simply is not how i think, i think that everyone has a unique view and/or experience and that makes us all better people and better communities. All that said i will be adding info from time to time that i would like to title "In my/our experience" and it is exactly that, just one more perspective of the fun, exciting and sometimes scary world of being a new mom .....so here are a few to start the ball rolling.
In My Experience
The most important thing thing that i have learned is this....
i am the mom...i need to trust my instincts ...i have them for a reason and i refuse to apologize for them.
Try using a wipes warmer.. i thought they were a little silly at first but... middle of the night diaper changes seem to go better when i do not put a COLD wet wipe on a sleeping or half asleep babies butt. and if your are using cloth diapers and wipes having a wipes warmer has saved us time and water since we do not have to go the sink every time we want to wet a wipe.
We love love the Bum Genius pocket diapers...they are easy to use, easy to wash, dry more quickly than other diapers we have tried and can be stuffed with extra inserts for overnight or heavy wetters....Amelia has yet to "blow out" of one. They also grow with baby but we have yet to use the "bigger snaps"
I also love baby slings..another one of the things i was not sure of at first. I have a Hotsling and used it almost everyday the first two months...Amelia loved to be held super close and with this sling she was always near me but i could go and make myself a sandwich without sending her into a fit.. she would be asleep a few minutes after i put her in the sling no matter how fussy she was at the time..as she is now about 14 lbs and loves to look around i have taken to using a wrap sling which holds her more upright and distributes her weight over two shoulders and across my hips. I use a wrap like a Moby wrap...but i made it myself. This site was a great help and offered links to even more info about different ways to carry your baby "http://www.thebabywearer.com/"
If you breastfeed and store extra milk we have found that the bags work really well when freezing milk. They seem to thaw a little quicker and fit better into mugs of hot water when we are out at restaurants.
That is it for now...Amelia is ready for her midnight snack...feel free to ask any questions ...i am an open book...
I soon learned that while most people gave great advice that i still value highly, a few gave what i thought was advice and what they felt were directives. So while i want to add to the bank of knowledge which new moms or soon to be new moms gather i want it to be understood that this is what works for us right now...it may not work for us later and it may never work for anyone else ever and that is okay. I say this because the other strange thing that surprised me was that for some people if you do not do things exactly as they do/did you are telling them they are horribly wrong. That simply is not how i think, i think that everyone has a unique view and/or experience and that makes us all better people and better communities. All that said i will be adding info from time to time that i would like to title "In my/our experience" and it is exactly that, just one more perspective of the fun, exciting and sometimes scary world of being a new mom .....so here are a few to start the ball rolling.
In My Experience
The most important thing thing that i have learned is this....
i am the mom...i need to trust my instincts ...i have them for a reason and i refuse to apologize for them.
Try using a wipes warmer.. i thought they were a little silly at first but... middle of the night diaper changes seem to go better when i do not put a COLD wet wipe on a sleeping or half asleep babies butt. and if your are using cloth diapers and wipes having a wipes warmer has saved us time and water since we do not have to go the sink every time we want to wet a wipe.
We love love the Bum Genius pocket diapers...they are easy to use, easy to wash, dry more quickly than other diapers we have tried and can be stuffed with extra inserts for overnight or heavy wetters....Amelia has yet to "blow out" of one. They also grow with baby but we have yet to use the "bigger snaps"
I also love baby slings..another one of the things i was not sure of at first. I have a Hotsling and used it almost everyday the first two months...Amelia loved to be held super close and with this sling she was always near me but i could go and make myself a sandwich without sending her into a fit.. she would be asleep a few minutes after i put her in the sling no matter how fussy she was at the time..as she is now about 14 lbs and loves to look around i have taken to using a wrap sling which holds her more upright and distributes her weight over two shoulders and across my hips. I use a wrap like a Moby wrap...but i made it myself. This site was a great help and offered links to even more info about different ways to carry your baby "http://www.thebabywearer.com/"
If you breastfeed and store extra milk we have found that the bags work really well when freezing milk. They seem to thaw a little quicker and fit better into mugs of hot water when we are out at restaurants.
That is it for now...Amelia is ready for her midnight snack...feel free to ask any questions ...i am an open book...
