It is so exciting to bring your brand new baby home from the hospital! You want every thing to go just perfectly. Here are a few ways to make the transition into your new life with baby tension-free.
Sleep when the baby sleeps. This is the biggest piece of advice new parents need to put into practice. Your baby will sleep a lot in the beginning. You should take advantage of this and sleep, too. Your internal time clock may get disrupted, but this is part of having a new baby. Everything gets disrupted! To care for your baby properly, you need to feel as rested as possible.
Come home to a clean house. In other words, clean the house before you go to the hospital if having a clean house is something you must have. Before labor starts you will probably go through a kind of nesting energy spurt. If you do not mind a slightly messy home, then you do not need to worry about cleaning before labor. If the temptation to squeeze in a few chores is too much to ignore, consider hiring a housekeeper for a month or so after baby comes home.
Have plenty of diapers on hand. If you are using a cloth diaper service, make sure they have delivered the first order before you come home. It is always a good idea to have some disposable diapers on hand even if you are using cloth diapers. If you are using disposable diapers, make sure you have plenty on hand – three or four bags at least – because babies go through a lot of diapers when they are tiny.
Another item to have on hand is baby formula. In the beginning, you may want to supplement your nursing with formula just until your milk gets established. Make sure you nurse and do formula; if you just feed formula, your milk will not come in adequately. Talk to a lactation consultant if you need assistance with nursing.
Buy a basinette or other kind of small crib for the baby to sleep in next to your bed. That way, in the middle of the night, you can just reach into the crib and pick baby up to nurse. You will not have to get up, walk to baby’s room, walk to the rocking chair and be fully awake once you do all of that. Nursing baby in your bed is completely acceptable and will help you get the sleep you need.
Baby’s safety is a huge concern for a New parent. It is important to hear what is going on in baby’s room. Is she asleep or awake? For your own piece of mind, the purchase of a dect baby monitor is wise. With a monitor you will be able to know all of the time whether the baby is asleep or awake. Bathing baby is another big safety concern. Buy a baby bath to use on the counter top or sink. You will have much better control over baby’s body in a small bathtub than you would trying to bathe her in the adult-size tub.
Lastly, take time to enjoy your new baby. Play with him, read to him and devote your attention to him. It will not be very long before baby is a grown man.
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