From Silver at Hope For The Best

Newborn Advice:

• You might be deliriously happy as the mother of a newborn - I wasn't, despite waiting 8 years and losing 6 pregnancies getting there. I felt like the worst mum in the world, possibly the worst PERSON in the world, and was terrified that I'd made a terrible mistake. Turns out this is actually relatively normal and things DO get better. I wish I'd known that at the time. I remember eventually crying my eyes out to my sister, telling her how hard I was finding it and her, crying too, saying "I know!" - followed by me saying "Then why didn't you tell meeeeeeeee!?!". I still occasionally pat new mums on the arm and tell them it gets better - some of them look at me like I'm nuts and others grab hold of me and ask "when?" ;-). Main thing is  - it DOES get better and there WILL be good times ahead. And the answer is: usually around 3 months.
• Despite what the antenatal classes say, breastfeeding can be difficult and painful - there is usually a way to fix it though and it's really worth keeping at it. That said, if you've given it your best shot and it's not working, give up and don't feel guilty about it - a happy mum and formula is better than a miserable mum.
• If you've got a wee one who seems to breastfeed constantly, get a small box (like a shoe box) and put all the stuff you're likely to need during long feeds in it (eg, notebook for recording feeds, pen, book you're reading, phone, bottle of water, fresh nursing pads, a muslin etc) so you can keep it all together and move it if you feed in different places at different times of day.
• On the same topic, if you're finding it hard to fit in eating round feeds, make something quick & easy (sandwich) just before you feed and eat it over the top of the baby as it feeds. Only way I got peace to eat - occasionally found chocolate on my son's face, but at least I wasn't starving.

Useful items:

• if you're breastfeeding, Lansinoh nursing pads - don't even try anything else - they are really slim & soak up loads in a clever gel
• also if you're breastfeeding, a breastfeeding pillow - makes the whole thing much easier and comfier
• a sling of some description - we had a baby bjorn and I used to do the housework with the wee one in it when he was grouchy
• a baby gym - it's amazing how much fun you can get out of one of these in the first year
• a baby chair of some kind - bouncing ones are great (again, baby bjorn one is great, but expensive)
• a playnest for when they're ready to be more upright but can't sit up by themselves - great for putting them in with a load of toys and you can pull it round the house with them in it while you get stuff done
• BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS - bedtime stories before they can even hold their heads up:

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”  Albert Einstein

Love and luck to you both, Mo and Will, from Silver x