Five Things I’ll Do the Same with Baby #2
1. I will follow Mom’s On Call schedule
We started this when Brody was exactly 4 weeks old and we never looked back. It was by far the best thing I ever did as a first time Mama. Seriously. It gave me sanity, sleep, and a happier baby. It wasn’t always easy, but it was best for everyone and my hubby was fully on board. I recommend the books because there are lots of helpful tips and instructions in there, but you can also download the app for $5 and get the schedules which are great too!
We started this when Brody was exactly 4 weeks old and we never looked back. It was by far the best thing I ever did as a first time Mama. Seriously. It gave me sanity, sleep, and a happier baby. It wasn’t always easy, but it was best for everyone and my hubby was fully on board. I recommend the books because there are lots of helpful tips and instructions in there, but you can also download the app for $5 and get the schedules which are great too!
2. I will put baby in her own room and crib at 1 month old.
We didn’t really have a plan for this one way or another with Brody. We knew he would start off sleeping in our room in this Rock N Play sleeper next to our bed. We didn’t know how long he would stay as I knew it would be convenient to have him there since we were breastfeeding. After a few weeks, Matt and I both agreed we would all sleep better with him in his own room. This life nest was a life saver. It gave me huge piece of mind and allowed me to sleep with less worry each night. Putting him in his room at 4 weeks also let us start the sleep training with Mom’s on Call. There is no way we would be able to do that if he was in the room with us. It was a win-win for both parties!
We didn’t really have a plan for this one way or another with Brody. We knew he would start off sleeping in our room in this Rock N Play sleeper next to our bed. We didn’t know how long he would stay as I knew it would be convenient to have him there since we were breastfeeding. After a few weeks, Matt and I both agreed we would all sleep better with him in his own room. This life nest was a life saver. It gave me huge piece of mind and allowed me to sleep with less worry each night. Putting him in his room at 4 weeks also let us start the sleep training with Mom’s on Call. There is no way we would be able to do that if he was in the room with us. It was a win-win for both parties!
3. I will breastfeed but also be happy to supplement with formula if needed.
I truly enjoyed breastfeeding and was so happy that Brody was good at it too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I’m very thankful that we started supplementing Brody with formula in the hospital (out of necessity) because it helped me not be so hard on myself when we needed to at home. I vow to do whatever works best for both Mommy and baby this time around. I hope breastfeeding is a wonderful experience again, but I would guess that I probably end up lacking some on supply again this time like I did with Brody. If I need to supplement, I’m happy to do that.
I truly enjoyed breastfeeding and was so happy that Brody was good at it too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I’m very thankful that we started supplementing Brody with formula in the hospital (out of necessity) because it helped me not be so hard on myself when we needed to at home. I vow to do whatever works best for both Mommy and baby this time around. I hope breastfeeding is a wonderful experience again, but I would guess that I probably end up lacking some on supply again this time like I did with Brody. If I need to supplement, I’m happy to do that.
4. I will allow my husband to be a parent too!
If I could only give one piece of advice to new Mama’s out there, I think this would probably have to be it. This one is so tough sometimes, but so important. It’s in our blood or genetic makeup to take control as a mama when it comes to our babies. There is a good chance that we’ve read more, asked more questions to other Mama’s and just feel like we are overall more prepared than Daddy is before our first baby comes; but it really doesn’t matter. He is a parent too and we are both learning this for the first time. If you don’t let your husband be involved early on, then it’s easy for him to stay in the background. Let him change diapers. Let him feed. Let him rock baby to sleep. Let him make mistakes. I promise if you don’t, you will regret it later.
If I could only give one piece of advice to new Mama’s out there, I think this would probably have to be it. This one is so tough sometimes, but so important. It’s in our blood or genetic makeup to take control as a mama when it comes to our babies. There is a good chance that we’ve read more, asked more questions to other Mama’s and just feel like we are overall more prepared than Daddy is before our first baby comes; but it really doesn’t matter. He is a parent too and we are both learning this for the first time. If you don’t let your husband be involved early on, then it’s easy for him to stay in the background. Let him change diapers. Let him feed. Let him rock baby to sleep. Let him make mistakes. I promise if you don’t, you will regret it later.
5. I will swaddle my baby for as long as I can.
I am a firm believer in the swaddle. If you haven’t watched Happiest Baby on the Block yet, then you need too. I’ve heard lots of parents say that their baby didn’t like the swaddle, so they just didn’t do it. The babies will probably fight you at first, but I promise it will settle them. As a Mama to a fussy newborn, the swaddle was imperative. Brody slept in a swaddle until 6 months old. That was a long time, but it worked for us. I hope it works for baby #2 as well.
I hope you found these helpful and I would love to hear what worked well with you for your first baby! I get excited to think about how our baby girl will be different than Brody was and what we will end up doing differently. Last week I shared the 5 things I plan to do differently with her. Hope it works out 🙂
I bet it's interesting to look back on your first experience with parenthood from the perspective of having a second kiddo. I think it's smart to realize the things you'll do the same, and the things that you'll do differently. It's a crazy experience, but so rewarding 🙂
I've never had a baby that liked the swaddle until KC and we swaddled till 6 months. I thought it was strange but I'm so glad to hear Brody loved it too! Now she has to sleep with those swaddle blankets (we used the Aden and Anais bamboo ones – I could never figure out the different ones).
Also I noticed a large increase in supply with my second (never an over supply) but I supplemented for the first four months with my first before my body caught up and didn't even have to think about supplementing with my second.
Good luck – sounds like you have a plan!
You are making me want another baby so badly!! These are all great pieces of advice and I completely agree with each one of them!
Such great advice! I think the sleep training with baby in his/her own room/crib is key! I agree with letting dad help out too! Bill was a lifesaver in that department with Cam!
You definitely just gave me a post to save for the future!! thank you girl! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
we NEED to move the crib out of our room…but we have been procrastinating about doing it bc of course we have to take it apart to move it. argh. xo jillian – cornflake dreams
Amen!!! We used a swaddle until 5 months and it was the best thing in the world. So much so, that we had to do one arm out and one arm in, and then transition to both arms out for Walker because he couldn't sleep without it! We also did Babywise schedules and put Walker in his crib at 4 weeks — best decisions we ever made.
I love #4, and of all the advice I've received thus far, I honestly don't think anyone else has said that…..and how freaking true!
It will be nice to be more experience and relaxed the second time around!
Love this! Saving it for when I have a babe of my own. #4 is so very important and sadly I see so many women not give their husband a chance when the baby is a newborn and that just sets them up for failure. If the dad doesn't start helping early, there's a good chance he will feel "unwanted" and never start helping!
This is all great advice! Thanks for sharing!
LOVE this!! as a soon to be first time mom, this was soo helpful! thank you, annie!!
Swaddle = game changer. I was one of those people that thought my baby hated it. Until I discovered she loved it (really wish I knew that 5 weeks earlier!!!)
Im not a mum but baby posts make so so happy. Great advice for future parents also!
Great advice. Thanks for sharing!
These are such great tips Annie! I'm totally adding that Lifenest so my registry too!
Ally- Life as I know it
So much great advice in the past 2 posts, I'll be saving this post as well! Xo, Stephanie
I'm pretty much doing the same things. My one problem this go around is that our daughter and baby will have to share a room. We moved our daughter into her room at a month but with #2 still waking every 3 hours this isn't going to work. I'm not sure what we'll do…
Loved this post and your first about what you will be doing differently! I just downloaded Moms On Call at 4AM when I read this post because we have to get this bugger on a schedule!