What will you do differently with this baby?

[leviosa]

The discussion in randoms got me thinking. What do you plan to do differently with this baby that you wish you did with your first (or second, however many kids you have, lol).

I plan to start night weaning sooner than a year. I don't know why it has taken me so long to figure out that night weaning equals better sleep. So once this baby is old enough to go all night without nursing, I plan to slowly night wean. Maybe I can have a baby who STTN before a year this time.

[LittleStarSweeper]

This time around, I hope to be less stressed about the little things and have more fun with him/her when she's little. When DD was born I just felt so overwhelmed and lost (not to mention exhausted)... I found myself wishing away her "babyhood." So I want to relax a bit about the small stuff and enjoy the time when he/she is a baby. It really goes by quickly!

[salmon2017]

leviosa I highly recommend it! I went back to work at 6 months but was still up twice a night to nurse. As soon as the pediatrician told me at 10-ish months that he no longer nutritionally needed to nurse during the night, I was done. After 2 tough nights he STTN and it was a game changer for me.

[salmon2017]

Mar 24, 2017 12:30:17 GMT -5 anniebn said:

I need to work on sleep in general this time around. I don't think I was following DS's cues at first combined with him wanting to nurse to sleep and linger on the boob for naps. Naps were always a struggle for us.

This, for sure. I had no idea what I was doing with sleep. A neighbour gave us a swing and DS was taking 3 hour naps in the swing at 3 months old. Then the swing broke. Total mayhem! I tried to establish a nap schedule, but nothing worked without the swing. Ended up creating a very light sleeper and spent my days tiptoeing around the house when he was napping. I think out of sheer necessity the next babe will be a much heavier sleeper!

[salmon2017]

Oh my gosh and I will nap when the baby naps. I was planning our wedding for the first 4 months after DS was born and so I never napped. Crazy person.

[salmon2017]

LOL this thread is awesome, I keep thinking of new things. I want to make more "mommy-friends" in my area with kids the same age. Last time I felt pretty isolated when I was on mat leave.

[caybeh]

+1 to night weaning earlier. Both of my kids dropped the MOTN feeding as their last nursing session. I said I would do it with DD, but when the time came, I was so nervous as DS was so hard to night wean that I just would cave to DD. When I finally got the courage to night wean DD, it literally took one night. I sent DH in with her, she snuggled with him and that was it. I was so mad at myself for not doing it a lot sooner!!!!!!!!!

[leviosa]

Mar 24, 2017 13:23:29 GMT -5 @wicky said:

I hate to be "that person" but DS was a freaking unicorn baby who had no problems with eating or sleeping. I exclusively pumped and it worked out pretty well for us until 8months when we switched to formula for my sanity. He also slept through the night, in his own crib in his room around 4 weeks old. Not bragging and not hating on others at all! I'm actually so nervous about how drastically different things could potentially be! It will be interesting to see how things go...

No need to apologize, my oldest was pretty chill too!

[leviosa]

With DS2, I couldn't night wean before a year. He only really nursed at night because it was more comfortable for him due to his chronic ear infections.

If this baby starts getting ear infections I'm done after 3. We go straight for tubes. I refuse to wait and see. DS2 was not doing ok waiting and seeing how it goes. It was ridiculous. I will switch dr if they refuse to send us to an ENT.

[salmon2017]

leviosa, ear infections are the worst. When DS started daycare he had 5 in 3 months before they sent him for tubes. To be honest I think I might demand tubes after 1 infection with my next baby (not sure if that's even possible, but I will try!). It was just so miserable for him.

[littleb92]

Mar 24, 2017 14:01:22 GMT -5 leviosa said:

Mar 24, 2017 13:23:29 GMT -5 @wicky said:

I hate to be "that person" but DS was a freaking unicorn baby who had no problems with eating or sleeping. I exclusively pumped and it worked out pretty well for us until 8months when we switched to formula for my sanity. He also slept through the night, in his own crib in his room around 4 weeks old. Not bragging and not hating on others at all! I'm actually so nervous about how drastically different things could potentially be! It will be interesting to see how things go...

No need to apologize, my oldest was pretty chill too!

Yeah, my son was sleeping through the night around 3 months when I went back to work.  All my friends wanted to know the secret, which I didn't have.  He was just a magical baby.  Also (and still) a great eater...I'm so afraid we will be paid back this time.

This time I won't care as much, and will not be home bound.  My first was born in January, during the measles outbreak of 2015, so I was super paranoid about germs.  That made my leave pretty lonely.  I plan to go out more this time, even just walking (yay for Fall babies).   

[salmon2017]

littleb92 yes to going outside more! My last was born in June right before 3 months of disgusting Texan summer. Couldn't go outside with him after 7:30 am for fear of overheating. So excited for long walks.

[sarenu]

I'm going to stay home to labor as long as I can. All my relatives put fear in my head that the 2nd baby comes quickly. Well C took about 2 hours less than E and C was still around 10 hours of being induced.

I know my body a lot better now and I'm going to relax a little and let things work themselves out.

[jorja]

Hopefully just be less stressed about doing everything "right". Possibly sleep training earlier, but I'm not making any promises, lol.

[kellum]

Be open to bedsharing from night 1. We tried DS in a bassinet and it went horribly.

Also transitioning to crib and night weaning earlier than 18 months.

Be less stressed about pacifiers and waiting until certain times to do things and go with my gut instead.

[mambo]

If this baby is a screamer to the level my other two were I'm really going to look into reflux meds the four plus hours of non stop screaming for 6 months cannot do again without answers

[italianmommy]

I will meal prep a ton of freezer meals prior to the baby being born.

I will have healthier snacks on hand since I lived off uncrustables and oreos for like the first month postpartum (NO REGRETS THO)

[leviosa]

Mar 25, 2017 15:03:38 GMT -5 italianmommy said:

I will meal prep a ton of freezer meals prior to the baby being born.

I will have healthier snacks on hand since I lived off uncrustables and oreos for like the first month postpartum (NO REGRETS THO)

I plan to make tons of freezer meals too.

[wells2010]

I want to try and keep it all together a little bit better. We all had such a tough time adjusting to two kids last time.

I also will not put the baby in any clothes just because someone bought an outfit for him/her. I have so many photos of DD1 in ridiculous outfits.

I am most excited to get rid of totes of clothes. If this baby is a boy, I'm donating tons. If it's a girl, I will get rid of stuff as we blow through them.

[leviosa]

wells2010, if I hate an outfit my kids never wear them. I don't care who gifted it. My MIL has the worst taste in clothes. She gave DD fake fur vests and a bunch of stuff with bling and it just makes me sick to look at. So it immediately goes in the donation bin. Some of the consignment shops wouldn't even take some of the clothes. They are that bad.

[leviosa]

One outfit she bought literally looked like baby lingerie. I put it up to some of my lingerie and it was practically identical.

[leviosa]

Mar 26, 2017 11:51:00 GMT -5 @wicky said:

Mar 26, 2017 11:40:55 GMT -5 leviosa said:

One outfit she bought literally looked like baby lingerie. I put it up to some of my lingerie and it was practically identical.

Not liking for the fact you received baby lingerie but liking because that's hilarious! Where do you even buy stuff like that?? I've never seen anything crazy like that in real life..

I don't know where she finds that stuff. It was leopard print with lace on all the hems and it was made from silky material. It even had matching lace leggings to go with it. It was baby lingerie. That is the only way to describe it.

[leviosa]

It literally made my skin crawl looking at it.

[laurenash323]

Wear this baby more and really soak it all in. I hope this isn't our last one, but with all of our losses, I'm not sure I can do it all again.

I do hope to be more present and patient. But baby wearing and taking all the little things in are it for me.

[andtheheartbreakers]

I want to prep freezer meals and eat healthier.

I also want to appreciate it all and soak it all in since it likely is our last baby.

I'm having a lot of anxiety about this baby because my daughter is also a unicorn. She had three feeds overnight from the start but they were less than 10 minutes awake to back asleep, and then down to two, then when she was 4 months old she weaned to one feed and started sleeping in her crib (bassinet before). At 6 months we dropped that last feed and she has STTN ever since, and never fights naps or bedtime. She goes doing giggling and being adorable, and wakes up just saying mama. I need to believe there is a controllable factor to it and that I can do it again with this next baby. I won't know what to do if they're a shitty sleeper. We also never had any issues breastfeeding even though she was a NICU baby. I never once had to use creams on my nipples and didn't have it hurt or have a single crack. She self weaned at 7 months and just wanted to drink from a cup. Like I'm still in shock by how easy it all was, which just has me more terrified that I won't know what to do again.

[euphony]

I think sleep is 50/50 between baby's personality and parents' habits, but I think bad eaters are beyond your control. It drives me nuts that my kid won't try anything and will basically only eat fruit, bread and pasta, but I honestly don't know what I can do other than offer him other options and hope he tries them eventually. He basically wouldn't touch solids until 9 months old. I hope the next one is better.

But on the sleep front I am doing bedtime routines right away. I was way too lax about sleep, thinking it would just work itself out. Nope. Sleep training hell at 10 months. I at least want to rip that bandaid earlier this time.

[leviosa]

Mar 26, 2017 13:37:16 GMT -5 laurenash323 said:

Wear this baby more and really soak it all in. I hope this isn't our last one, but with all of our losses, I'm not sure I can do it all again.

I do hope to be more present and patient. But baby wearing and taking all the little things in are it for me.

I love baby wearing. I have the Nuroo for the newborn stage. It allows you to do skin to skin and still move around and have the use of both hands. Have you decided on any carriers/wraps?

[leviosa]

euphony, I have decided baby led weaning is the way to go to have a better eater. I did that with DS2 and he is a much better water than the rest. I plan to actually read up on it and apply the actual methods of it this time and see if it is better.

For sleep, I plan to start partially night weaning early on, like around 4-6 months. I don't plan to fully night wean until later simply for growth spurts etc.

[euphony]

Mar 26, 2017 19:00:04 GMT -5 leviosa said:

euphony , I have decided baby led weaning is the way to go to have a better eater. I did that with DS2 and he is a much better water than the rest. I plan to actually read up on it and apply the actual methods of it this time and see if it is better.

For sleep, I plan to start partially night weaning early on, like around 4-6 months. I don't plan to fully night wean until later simply for growth spurts etc.

Oh, I did baby lead weaning, too. It became obvious immediately that he was not going to allow a spoon to be shoved in his mouth against his wishes and wish for oatmeal or purees, he did not. That being said, he really wouldn't eat anything at all for a very long time and I still throw out massive amounts of food daily. He still won't eat much and is annoyingly capricious in what he will and won't eat. He loved spaghetti for a while, then flat out refused it for weeks, and is now back to enjoying it. He is currently anti-banana after eating them happily a couple of weeks ago. Other things he used to eat that he gave up in the last few months: egg white, peas, carrots and corn, hummus, potato. Anything I feel is remotely nutritious, he seems hell bent on cutting out of his diet.

I totally own my faults as a parent, but his eating preference have to come from some deep rooted stubbornness, and I just don't think I have a lot of control over it. It causes me a great deal of anxiety, though.

[laurenash323]

Mar 26, 2017 18:56:36 GMT -5 leviosa said:

Mar 26, 2017 13:37:16 GMT -5 laurenash323 said:

Wear this baby more and really soak it all in. I hope this isn't our last one, but with all of our losses, I'm not sure I can do it all again.

I do hope to be more present and patient. But baby wearing and taking all the little things in are it for me.

I love baby wearing. I have the Nuroo for the newborn stage. It allows you to do skin to skin and still move around and have the use of both hands. Have you decided on any carriers/wraps?

I have a moby wrap and boba with infant insert. Definitely getting a ring sling and would like a nice woven. We have a great baby wearing group locally that is super helpful and has a great lending library