Baby Tips
Let me start by saying I AM NO BABY EXPERT. These tips are things that I learned over the last three months of being a new momma. These tips are things that happen with your new bundle of joy that are completely normal and how to deal with them. Again, I am no expert, but these are things I wished I would have known before they happened.
1.) The Witching Hour || Oh, how I wished I would have known about this before it actually happened. The witching hour tends to happen around 2 months old. Your baby may all the sudden just start to cry around 8 or 8:30 at night. The hard thing is there is NOTHING you can really do about it. Most people say this hour is due to them being overstimulated through out the day. We only had to deal with it for about a week or so, but it can sometimes lasts longer. My suggestion is getting ready to stand and bounce with your baby or go on a walk. We found a lot of times if we just took Landon on a walk, he would fall asleep for a 30 minutes and be fine.
2.) Figuring out a schedule || This one was difficult for me. I am very much a schedule type of person. I like to have schedule for each day. If my schedule gets thrown off, then I seem to be a little bit off. News flash...babies do not have schedules at first. A lot of people told me that it would take a while for Landon to get on a schedule. Even knowing that it drove me insane some days when he would just do his own thing instead of sticking to the schedule I was trying to set. Until your baby really starts sleeping through the night and consistently wakes up at the same time everyday, you cannot get them on a good schedule. Landon by no means is on any type of strict schedule.
What I do right now is feedings every 4 hours except his last two feedings are about 2-3 hours apart (this allows him to sleep through the night).
Wakes up between 7:30-8:30 || First feeding
Stays awake for about 2 hours, then get put down for a nap
If nap does not get him to next feeding then we do tummy time
Around 11:30-12:30 || Second feeding
Stays awake until 1:30 or 2:30 then take second nap (usually last until next feeding)
Around 3:30-4:30 || Third feeding
Will cat nap after 3rd feeding
Around 7:30 || fourth feeding
Around 8:30 || nap for an hour
Around 9:30 || final feeding and bed time
3.) Pooping || This one was hard for both my husband and I. Landon had gone about 3 days without pooping when he was right around a month and a half. So, naturally we both started to panic a little bit. I called my sister who is a mother baby nurse and asked how to fix the problem. She told us, we could give him a little bit of apple juice or stick a thermometer up his butt. We obviously opted for the first one. However, at Landon's 2 month appointment, our pediatrician told us not to worry about him not pooping unless it either made Landon uncomfortable or it had been a week since he pooped. After finding this information out, we relaxed a lot more.
4.) Gallon Sized Zip Lock Bags || We learned very quickly that Landon was going to poop when he wanted to. Most of the time this was when we were out doing something. What we were not prepared for is how bad some of the poops would be. There was a good amount of time that Landon would only poop when we were out doing something and it was always a blow out that required an outfit change. When he had a blow out one time, another mother gave my husband a gallon sized plastic bag to put the dirty clothes in. I would have never thought of this. After that, we make sure to always have one with us.
5.) Napping || Figuring out naps is hard especially if you have plans that day. Landon does not normally nap at the exact same time everyday, but I do usually know around the time that he needs a nap. For how long the naps are.....that is still a huge question mark. Sometimes he will nap for 30 minutes and other times he will nap for 2 plus hours. The key is to make sure that when he shows signs of being tired put him down, either in a crib, swing, or pack and play. If he wakes up and still seems tired, I will rock him or lay with him until he goes back to sleep. Just remember babies even at 3 months will fight sleep. Just stick to it and eventually they will go to sleep.
These are just a few things I have learned over the last 3 months. The most important thing I can tell you is to be patient. It is not always easy, but when dealing with a baby, you need to have patience. Above all just love your child unconditionally. There are days where Landon drives me insane but I keep telling myself that I love this little human more than myself and he deserves the very best.
xoxo
Stacey