Preparing for a new baby
You’ll go through pregnancy with everyone telling you what to do with your time as a parent. It’s a fact of life that grandmothers pass knowledge down to mothers, who pass it down to their daughters – and then you’ll probably do the same thing when you have your own children. There’s a secret you really should learn, though, and that’s that there is no real preparation out there for having a baby!
There’s no book out there that will tell you all about the crushing exhaustion of new baby life. There’s no book that tells you that you need to prepare to feel overwhelmed because every single mother feels overwhelmed. You’ll go through pregnancy feeling all the feels, and you’ll prepare your home for a new baby to live in, with baby laundry liquid washing all the teeny tiny clothes whilst you prepare for their grand arrival…
Here are just a few of my new baby top tips:
- Changing boxes.
Most new mums set up a ‘nappy station’ and yet they find that they barely use that change table and mat they bought. Instead, it can be better and easier to have caddies set up in each room. The lounge, the bedrooms and the dining room can do with a box filled with nappies, spare clothes, a set of wipes and a foldable changing mat. Having them dotted around the house was a real godsend for me!
- Consider your feeding options.
The ideal for some mothers is that breastfeeding is the go-to after birth. You put the baby to the breast for the golden colostrum and then you embark on feeding at home. So, you will need muslin cloths, breast cream and a number of excellent consultants who can walk you through how to help the baby to latch. There are difficulties with feeding for some mothers, so always ask for help and if you have to switch over to bottles and formula, don’t feel guilty. I’m a firm believer that fed is best, whichever way you choose to nourish your little babe!
- Set up the car seat.
Your baby needs to rear-face for as long as possible, ideally up to 25kg. Their newborn capsule should be fitted into the car in advance of you going to the hospital, so get familiar with their seat and how it fits in and out of the car. You’ll need this before you go home again! I will never forget my first trip out, struggling in Sainsburys carpark whilst trying to work out how to lift the carseat from the base. I so nearly turned round and went home, luckily if you find a parent and baby space, there’s usually other parents on hand to help!
- Get your friends and family to batch cook.
In the early days after having a baby, you’re going to need to make life as easy as possible. You can do this by ensuring that your friends and family cook up some meals for you in advance of your baby being born. You can freeze store these and make your life with a newborn far easier than it would have been!
