TOP 4 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A NEWBORN
I had my first baby the summer of 2014. I was so excited to become a Mom and experience Motherhood. I'm the oldest of 5. I have 3 younger brothers, 1 little sis, and I grew up babysitting. I thought I knew everything about kids and being a mom.
Turns out I didn't!!
Look at that belly!!
My first baby, Lincoln, cried a lot. For the first 2-3 months of his life, he cried and cried and cried. So did I! I didn't know how to help him. I would nurse him for 40 minutes and he'd still cry. He'd only sleep while I was holding him. Man, it was rough!
I loved, loved those days though. That sweet, tiny, fresh baby from heaven. Figuring this whole Mom thing out. I'd be covered in breastmilk, in my pajama's, hair up in a bun. I'd feed my baby and then go back to bed with him and repeat!
It was pretty exhausting, beautiful, emotional, spiritual... & all of the above!
I, of course, wanted to learn more about babies, specifically newborns. I needed to learn about them!
Why was he crying all the time? Did he have reflux? Was he allergic to something in my milk? I had SO many questions and concerns. My pediatrician wasn't very helpful. I tried googling things which kind of helped but not really. Then I came across this book from a comment on Facebook. I thought the title sounded kind of funny when I read it, but I downloaded it on my iPhone anyway.
That book changed my life! Literally. I learned SO much from that book that I had no idea!
It's called The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. I'm here to tell you, she really does!! You HAVE to read it!
I'm obsessed with this book. After I read it and put my baby on formula he was a completely different baby. He was the chill, happy, best baby that I knew I would have!
The top 4 things that everyone needs to know about having a newborn that I learned from this book!
1. The first HUGE thing was the routine she teaches. You can't fit a baby into a clock but you can definitely have a routine! People and babies like routine. I'm sure you wake up, have your breakfast, get dressed, etc. I'm sure you have an order that you usually do things. I loved this idea! I love having a routine myself but I'm not very structured when it comes to time. I knew I wasn't going to have a strict 7pm bedtime every night for my kids. If you're like me, this is perfect! But not only for that, you'll know what your baby wants/needs! It's a lifesaver for sure. It's called the EASY routine.
Eat
Awake
Sleep
You (Time for YOU!)
This was a game changer when I first implemented it. I fed him, we played with some toys, and then he started fussing. I remember thinking, I know what he needs!! He's been fed, awake, now he's tired!! I'm telling you new momma's, this is so helpful. Start it now if you haven't or right when you come home from the hospital. At first they're not going to be awake very long. Newborn's sleep a lot. They pretty much eat, sleep, eat, sleep. Very little wake time. But it's so nice to have this routine and know exactly what they need. We still do this routine! I think it's so helpful for you to know what they need and so helpful for the baby because they know what's coming and what to expect. Even helpful for toddler's. We eat when we wake up! :)
2. The next thing is baby's like to suck when they're tired. Before I knew this and started the EASY routine, I would confuse this with thinking he was still hungry. Nope, he was just tired and wanting to suck. That's where a binky comes in! (These are the binky's we use and love. They're perfect for bedtime because they glow in the dark!! So if they do want it during the night, you can actually find them.) That's probably why a lot of people nurse their baby to sleep because they too thought their baby was hungry and now the baby HAS to nurse to fall asleep. (Which is fine if that's what you want to do. I didn't. I wanted to be able to lay my baby down in the crib and have them go to sleep by themselves.) I would swaddle my baby, lay him down and give him a binky. Both of my babies have been great sleepers! Most babies will suck for a while and then spit it out. You don't have to put it back in. Just let them sleep! It's best if they don't have the binky all. the. time. or else they'll want it all. the. time. We use a binkie for sleeping and when we're just around the house my 2 year old will grab his binkie and blankie at times.
3. Babies like to be swaddled. Even if you think yours doesn't. They do. They were probably just overtired so it seems like they don't. Up until about 3 months babies love that tight, cozy feeling just like the womb. My favorite swaddle blankets are from Carter's (picture below!). They're so stretchy and work perfect! Other blankets they escape from. If you don't swaddle your baby you'll notice they'll wake themselves up with their reflex. Swaddle your baby until around 3 months! :)
This was when Linc was about 3 months and he would keep breaking out of the swaddle :(
They grow too fast!
4. Babies get overstimulated/overtired easily. They just came in this world, they're not used to all of the stimuli yet. Just listen right now around you... Is it loud? Lights on? Be aware what's around the baby. If you always listen to music, turn it off at times. Do you have the bright lights on and the baby's laying down looking straight up? Put them to sleep when you see the first yawn so they don't get overtired. Like I said, I would go swaddle mine, lay them down, give them a binky, and walk out of the room. Trust that your baby can fall asleep on their own! Turn on your monitor. They'll be just fine, I promise. Plus, this is a skill you definitely want them to learn and you won't have to "sleep train". I never had to "sleep train" my babies. I started from day 1 with our "routine" for sleeping and they are great sleepers! (Read more about sleep HERE)
Hopefully those were helpful for you. If you have any questions just ask in the comments below!
Don't forget that your baby will not be little for long. When you're tired from being up all night, breastmilk or formula all over, spit up on your shoulder, hair is a mess, same pajama pants the past 3 days.... I get it!
But soon you'll wake up and they'll be a toddler running around, playing with toys, jabbering away, and laughing. You'll think back on these days and cherish them.
Hold that baby all day.
Rock them.
Sing to them.
Cherish and love every minute with them even when the days seem long.
It really does go by so fast.
When they're not eating well, going to sleep or you can't seem to get the routine down...
Just tell yourself...
They're really not little for long.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
- Jenna
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