| Tuesday, March 01, 2005 |
| 100+ Words of Advice for New Parents |
A work in progress...
1. Never, ever sweat the small stuff.
2. Your baby will not care that you spent $5,000 decorating her room. She will let you know by coloring everything over $50 with a black magic marker.
3. Do not buy anything until after all of your baby showers, especially clothing and blankets.
4. Make sure you take a couple pairs of baby mittens to the hospital. We had one pair and Lauren spit up on them. We took them off and she scratched her face up. In the hospital photo, she looks like she was just in a cat fight.
5. The only things you really need when you come home from the hospital are an infant carrier, a couple of 0-3 month onesies, a few receiving blankets, a co-sleeper, diapers, wipes and a sense of humor.
6. I recommend the Sure Comfort Deluxe Newborn-to-Toddler Tub for your newborn and infant. It's awesome. However, the manufacturer was ignorant and discontinued this item. Best of luck to ya.
7. You do not need a bottle warmer or car bottle warmer. Warm tap water is faster.
8. If you own an SUV or truck, you will not be able to see your child until she can ride front-facing. A vehicle mirror does not exist for these kind of cars. Four trips to Babies'R'Us and I finally learn this.
9. You do not need a Diaper Genie or Diaper Dekor. I bought a box of 100 diaper bags at Family Dollar and used them for the first four months. When your child is older, you will want to get those stinky demonized diapers out of your house. Pronto.
10. One of the best toys I got from BF Julie was a Leap Frog See and Learn Piano. She started playing with it at only a few months old and still plays with it today.
11. When Lauren was about 2 or 3 months old, she wanted to sit up all the time. She couldn't quite do it herself yet, and our arms were killing us. The Bumbo Baby Seat turned out to be a lifesaver!
12. Instead of buying tons of expensive burp cloths, use cloth diapers. They're the perfect size and you don't freak out about the combination of pea and carrot stains on them that won't come out.
13. Try to purchase multi-patterned or dark clothing. White is not your friend for reasons stated in #12.
14. When Lauren had a bad diaper rash, I tried everything. Mom told me to try Mylanta and I sent Rancito to the store. They only had mint flavor, so I told him to bring it on home. The only thing it did was make her butt smell like a tic tac. What cured it? Regular old Crisco. It's a lifesaver, folks.
15. Do not think you are immune to baby colds and illnesses. Lauren threw up and dry heaved all weekend in late February and I stayed up with her. By Sunday, I was throwing up all day. I never throw up, not even when I was pregnant.
16. If you bottle feed, try to buy 8 oz size bottles or larger. We had a bunch of 4 oz bottles that quickly became obsolete when Lauren began consuming 6 oz at around 4 months.
17. Shoes for babies not-yet-a-walking are a waste of money. Lauren always finds a way to kick her legs so fast and furious, the shoes fly off. I found these adorable little socks for Lauren and I've had innumerable comments on them. Warning: Pricey at $24 + shipping for 6 pair. It's well worth the splurge in my opinion. My mom and I are still brainstorming ideas for little boy socks with cowboy boots on them. Please send $100,000 to help us start our little cash cow bizness. Update: Wal-Mart now has their own variant of the mary-jane socks for about $3 for two pair. Get thee to Wal-Mart, now!
18. Wipe warmers are a waste of money. My SIL got one and I swear she has to throw all of the wipes in the warmer away each time she changes a diaper because the wipes dried out. That would happen maybe twice and then I'd be throwing the wipe warmer in the trash.
19. Buy a cool-mist humidifier. If your baby doesn't need it, someone in your family most likely will. If you buy one, be sure to also purchase a product such as Holmes bacteriostat to help prevent mold from growing in your costly filters.
20. Best smelling baby wash: Huggies lavender chamomile
21. Best smelling baby lotion: Playtex natural aloe soothing creamy baby oil
22. Buy lots of bibs that say, "I love mommy." When mommy is mad at daddy, it makes mommy happy to put one on baby.
23. Ear infections are very sneaky little creatures. They are often accompanied by a very running nose, incessant crying, and grabbing at the ear(s). Don't worry about running to your pediatrician if you think something's wrong. They're used to it and understand. Better safe than sorry will become your mantra.
24. I recommend a rented fetal monitor for your peace of mind. I tried the $25 version that you can get from Motherhood Maternity, but it was a waste of money. I couldn't tell one swoosh from another. I also borrowed a stethoscope from Aunt Trina, and it was also difficult to distinguish a heartbeat. I rented a fetal monitor from www.BabyBeat.com for about $30/month. If you use them, please make sure to give them my referral code: MIL91821. My only complaint is that I didn't rent one sooner. If the baby didn't kick for 24 hours, I could use the monitor to hear her darling heartbeat. It was one less thing to worry about.
25. Make sure that the highchair that you purchase, has a between-the-legs barrier to keep baby from slipping out. Also, the highchairs that slip on to the tabletop and double as a booster seat look very nice and small compared to the mammoth highchair sitting in my kitchen right now. It was a co-worker give-away, and no, it does not have the barrier. I hate it.
More words of wisdom to come.
If you would like to contribute to my list, send it to ieatcrayonz at gmail dot com for consideration. All entries will be read, but not necessarily published (so the more you have, the better). This is my list, after all. |
| posted by ieatcrayonz @ 3/01/2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
