So here it is! The very first blog post for Tadpole Tactical. I feel like there are so many blogs and posts about parenting and so many of them are so serious, so our goal was to come out with something that was the opposite of that... something humorous and light hearted that all parents could relate too. As a third time mom I look back and I am always like I wish that I had known something... it would have made life so much easier as a first time mom! Things that now I almost laugh about because they seem so obvious, but I had NO idea back then.
From a third-time mom with a newborn to every first-time mom here are the things I wish I had known about the newborn phase:
The ruffles on the diaper go out. This one seems SO obvious, but I never thought about this until the third baby. Now when changing a diaper I am aware that the ruffles go outside which helps a lot to control the blow outs. Also, I have learned that sizing up on diapers when your baby is in between sizes can also help control the situation down there!
Pacifiers are a great tool! Ok so for our first I was determined to not use a pacifier, but that lasted about one week. On the third baby I gave him a pacifier at the hospital. It is every parent's choice, but one that has made life so much easier for us.
You do not need to change every poop immediately. Newborns poop in bursts — two or three times in a matter of minutes. I have learned to pause when you hear the first poop and most of the time another one or two will occur. That way you are not wasting diapers and wipes... and your time!
Use diaper cream strategically. Use it to prevent the rash, not just to treat it after the fact. I learned this is especially important in the first few weeks of a baby's life when they are pooping all the time.
Set a timer on a watch to alert you when to feed baby. From the time at the hospital through the first few weeks I set a three hour timer on my Garmin watch so I would remember when I last fed my baby and not go more than 3 hours especially at night. I would make sure that I was feeding the baby on demand by the baby, but would set the timer to make sure I did not go too long between feeds.
Velcro swaddles are the way to go!!! With my first I was unsuccessfully trying to keep my baby swaddled with a blanket. The nurses at the hospital were amazing at swaddling babies in the blankets so why couldn't I do it?! It is harder than you think especially at 2am... so go with the velcro. Also I learned to just swaddle at night to teach baby to start differentiating day and night time from an early age.
Tummy time, even when they hate it. They will hate it. Do it anyway, even if it's a little at a time.
Carry your baby! I am now in love with baby-wearing and so is my baby. I am kicking myself why I did not carry my first two as much. But also finding the right carrier is so important too.
Try to Relax. When we relax as parents and don't take ourselves seriously all the time our babies also relax... enjoy this special newborn time as it goes by so fast!