Today I wanted to share a few tips that made mom life a little easier for me.
Look into a mini fridge. This is particularly helpful if you’re sleeping on a different floor as the kitchen (i.e. a house). Having a fridge will give you easy access to food and drinks, not to mention a place to store your formula or pumped breast milk.
This by far was my BEST idea. After you give birth, it might not be easy to go up and down the stairs – especially after a c-section or episiotomy. But the main reason this was so helpful, was because during the first 2 months we actually had to formula feed J. At first I was using the small nursette bottles, which was fine because it was the perfect amount. As he gotten bigger, it wasn’t practical to open two bottles per feed, so we opted for a larger ready to feed bottle. The mini fridge was perfect for storing the unused portion. We were able to pour out what we needed into our bottle and grab more if needed. Just remember to mark the date & time you opened it with a sharpie.
Consider a floor bed. This was so helpful when J wasn’t trained for naps. I would be able to breastfeed him and roll away. This makes it easier for me to move around the room. Another thing is, you worry less about them falling off the bed if you accidentally fall asleep at night. Also helpful when they’re older and you co-sleep with them when they’re not feeling well. Just remember when they’re under a year old, prepare your bed for a safe co-sleeping environment in case you accidentally fall asleep. So tie your hair up, move the blankets away.
If you want to invest in clothes, do it for clothing sized 6 months and up. During the newborn stage, they grow so quickly. I had a small number of outfits that I would rotate and wash more frequently. Save the more expensive sleepers or outfits for the larger sizes which you will get many more months out of. FYI, footless sleeps last a lot longer than footed.
Try using what you have before buying more. There’s actually no need for speciality items such as bottle warmers and food makers. And you only need them for such a short period of time. To warm up my bottles, I used to fill my S’well bottle with boiling water and keep a larger bowl in our room. That way I could pour the hot water out, and put my bottle in to warm it up. Also you don’t have to worry about remembering to turn off the heater. For food, I used to cook everything in a small pot and then throw it into my magic bullet. Does the job!
Store your baby clothes by size. I had a few storage containers from Ikea. I was able to mark them by size so that when I needed the size up, everything was organized and ready for me.
Those are the 5 tips I have for now. Let me know how they work out for you.
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