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oh, forgot to say, a shotgun is also handy; incase anyone tells you that Gina 'no kids of her own' Ford knows how to look after your baby. I rank her up there with Noel Edmonds in the evil person charts!
just accept the bizarre sleep patterns and it won't kill you. mrslister breastfed both of ours on demand until they self weaned, they are now 18 months and 3.5 years and both sleep 7 till 7.
The bad days and nights were only for a few months, which is nothing when we look back.
this thread is a fantastic contraceptive device
this thread is a fantastic contraceptive device
Just to get you back on track then...
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At ten months? You should get her back into a routine then - she *should* be sleeping 11 or 12 hours unbroken at that age if no other factors (illness/teething etc) are involved.
Ours didn't. Like you say, they're all different.
Our six-year-old is still reading at 9:30 each night.
Get all your best t shirts and tops and put them away with some mothballs, get y'self off to primark or similar and stock up on cheap shirts etc. that you don't care about, everything will get covered in sick, saliva, food, occasionally poo etc etc.
Don't ever wear white, camo's great, hides a multitude of sins!!!
thanks M_F, I'm now ready to start breeding again, can you send her round?
can you send her round?
Sure, when I am finished with her.
That will be in about 30 seconds then...
Unless you wife is a complete mentalist encourage her to go with her instincts.
No one will know\understand your nipper like her mum, and we had a crap load of dodgy advice from midwifes etc which jusdt didn't work for us. 2nd time round the wife was happy just taking their advise onboard, and then making her own decision, rather than letting them make the decisions for her.
Oh and if you live close to the inlaws, make a special effort with them, their help can be priceless during the first months\year
To add to the above:
An ironing-board height changing-stand will save your back, but isn't essential.
A dummy.
Assuming bottle feeding:
+1 (or 2, 3, whatever) a microwave steriliser
one of these: [img] 
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... you prefill it with the milk powder dosage while you're still awake, then when you're making a bottle half-asleep at 4am you don't get the quantities wrong... Also useful out of the house.
Top tip: a hungry baby doesn't care if the milk is warm or not. Which means you can prefill the bottles before going to bed, and it's one less thing to worry about at night.
Regarding the pre-fill powder jars - Tommee Tippee have a really clever system (especially for when you are out and about). The little pot holds the powder but then sits inside the pre-filled (with water) bottle. The arrangement of lid etc means the water can't get to the powder but it is dead easy to unscrew the bottle, pull the pot out and pour in the powder. My wife uses them all the time when out and about.
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Things we've really appeciated having:
- baby bath - less water, easier to reach baby, easier to hold baby
- Changing table - cupboard underneath for all of the spare nappies, wipes etc (so you can buy in bulk when the offers are on), a single drawer at the top of the unit so all of the things you need to hand are easy to reach (we used drawer dividers from Ikea to create space for nappies, wipes, kids scissors etc. This also has a top where you can lay the baby and change them. You'll be changing them lots every day and to be able to do it without bending is great.
- We also got a small storage thing thats designed for bathrooms, pantries etc that has 3 shelves and which sits to the side of the changing table. This has water, creams etc on it and therefore readily to hand. Basically, you will be repeating several "processes" very often - get organised for them
- A dummy that is for dispensing medicine. Brilliant bit of kit. Fill the syringe part of the dummy with the liquid medicine, pop into their mouth, squeeze the plunger and the teat has a small tube in it so the medicine is "injected" into their mouth. Buy one!
- a swinging seat thing. Get something that you can put a new born in for a little while to prep food, do some chores for 30 mins or so, but where they can see you. We got ours from ebay
- later on, the large bibs from Ikea are great - covering sleeves as well.
- baby shoosh "toy". Brilliant. Buy one. A small toy that makes a fairly odd little song sort of sound. However, its invented by some Japanese scientist sort of guys and it's all the right sounds to stop a baby crying. Worth every single penny.
smurf
Congratulations!
Get a video camera
Your about to enter a time vortex
1st your wiping there arse at ungodly hours
next you wiping tears away and putting plasters on skinned knees
then you wiping the smile off their boyfriends faces
You then be able to watch it at your leisure
Appologies if these are already up there but there's far too many to go though. My top tip is don't buy a fancy high chair when the time comes to buy one. We did and when our son vommited all over himself, his highchair, and the carpet (which your child will do too while they're learnig to chew and swallow), the clean up operation took about 40 minutes because I had to take all those fancy harnesses and cushions off the high chair to get the little bits of puke out of all the nooks and crannies. Trust me, if you miss any the room will stink the next day.
The solution: Go to IKEA and buy a Antilop high chair with tray. They're less than £15 (from memory) and they take exactly one and a half minutes to hose down in the back garden.
While you're there, buy a pvc sheet to put under it. They come in all sorts of funky patterns and it's significantly quicker to hose this down in the back garden than it is to wipe, clean and Anti-bac your carpet.
One other thing, enjoy all your rides and sleep in's until your child is born. You're really going to miss them. Until they smile at you. 🙂
VC
Congrats Mrs and Mr Mountainmonkey.
My top tips are:
The book: What to expect... The 1st year. Excellent for help during those hard times.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. Everyone who has ever had a child will want to help you
And
When your friends and family call round in those 1st few weeks, get them doing stuff, like washing up, hanging up the washing, cleaning, even cuddling baby whilst you rest! This might seem harsh now, but just wait til you had the little one, you'll see what I mean.
On a personal note, If you're thinking of having a 2nd child, have it soon after the first. My kids are 2 years apart at 3 and 5 and are real soulmates and entertain each other. This also helps you move on with your life when they start school.
You have my best wishes for the future and I look forward to reading your updates after the birth.
Enjoy...... 😉
+1 everything Sonic said, what a clever hedgehog 😉
book, visitors and second little un', all nail on the head, wish i was as eloquent!
THANK YOU!
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay in responding - I've only just read through all of this again, but want to say a massive thank you!
This thread is like a font of great wisdom... but with cute pictures and funny stories about poo and baths! (and a little sexist comment to remind me it is STW after all) 😆
Seriously though, there's some fantastic advice here and I really appreciate you all taking the time to write it all out for me - I'll certainly be mulling it over as we work our way through it all for ourselves.
I have to say, I'm incredibly lucky to have such an awesome husband who's really supportive and wonderful friends who have already offered do a meal rota for the first week or so and help out in all kinds of ways when mini monkey is born.
And I'm sure it'll be great to be able to still come on here and escape a bit - while also knowing there are lots of people who have been there and done that to ask for advice, if needed...
Thanks again everyone! MM x
I'd recommend a weight-weenie racing bike complete with plenty of bottle holders. 🙂
Yeah man! 😀