Top 10 Tips for bringing home baby! Ready of not, here we come!!!

You can never be to ready to bring home baby after delivery.  I say this because my first pregnancy, twins, I got put on bed rest around 25 weeks and I stayed that way with 4 weeks of that in the hospital before they were born at 32 weeks.  By two weeks after delivery, they both came home!  I was not ready for them to come home. The nursery was not ready, my house was not ready and our life was not ready!  So fun to think back to those early crazy days!  Here are some tips for you to consider that I learned along the way!  

Top 10 Tuesday Tips for bringing home baby

1) Have a designated baby changing space.  This is your go to space for doing the diaper thing, spit up thing and just about everything in between.  Have it well stocked with diapers, wipes, can of Lysol, Boudreaux's Butt Paste, diaper genie, onesies, thermometer, Vaseline, hand sanitizer and several burp cloth.  

2) Buying diapers? This is the tricky part at the beginning. You don't want to purchase to many newborn diapers.  We found that it was handy having a stock of the current size or come home size on hand but also have 1 box of the next size up for those sudden, over-night growth spurts.  Get friendly with online prices and shipping options.  This can save you a wad of cash over the next 2 years! So before bringing home baby, have several bags/boxes of newborn size (unless you know you are having a preemie or a very large baby then get them) and worse case someone can take them back for you and exchange them for another size. 

3) Baby crib vs. bedside cradle?  It is so nice to have a bedside cradle.  I love the cradle with wheels.  You can wheel it into your bedroom, the nursery, living room, etc.  Babies sleep a lot and you need to plan on sleeping when the baby is sleeping.  Having the baby in the cradle will give you peace of mind when you dose off to sleep during the day.  It is OK to get the baby crib set up, too. Have 2-3 cradle/crib sheets, too. Accidents will happen by you and by the baby. 

4) The Nursery- I found that it is best to think of the nursery as a well stocked store.  This is where you need to keep organized before bringing home baby.   The clothes, stock of diapers, wipes, burp cloth, toys and more toys, etc will need a place to live.  Keep this room organized and as the go to place.  Keep your living area clutter free besides the well stocked baby changing area. 

5) Clothes- People will give you used clothes and new clothes.  Maybe you have been checking out and purchasing second hand clothes, too.  No matter what you have obtained, wash all of it before putting away it  in the nursery and before baby comes home.  You will go through many pjs, onesies, burp clothes, socks,etc during the first month.  You will change baby into clothes and then 2 minutes later have an explosive diaper or massive amount of spit up.  SPIT HAPPENS!  Have everything clean and ready to go!

6) Mommy- Bringing home baby also means bringing home Mommy!  Mommy will be tired when she comes home!  Prepare ahead of time to cut down on the mommy stress.  A month before your baby is due, plan a massive cooking event.  I did this before my 2nd daughter was due.  I knew she was a planned c-section so I made meals and froze them.  It took one day to cook and freeze meals that ended up lasting us over 6 weeks! This didn't include some fresh produce but those items can easily be picked up once you have a schedule of what to pull out of the freezer.  Look into these books online, your local library or ask friends! It really helps cut down on mommy stress!

7) Laundry room- Have a baby hamper in the nursery.  Make it easy to toss in baby items and take to your laundry room.  Most of the baby stuff can be done all together. Make sure you have laundry detergent on hand, too.  If you have older children, talk to them before baby is due and give them heads up that you are going to ask them to help you fold laundry!  IF they are 3rd grade and up, teach them, before baby is due, how to do their own laundry.  Teach them to be responsible of their own laundry. It will cut down on mommy stress.

8) Breast feed or Bottle Feed? Make a decision ahead of time if you are going to bottle or breast feed.  It helps to make a choice so you can stick to your decision. Choose which feeding method you think will work best.  If you are breast feeding, be in contact with La Leche League before giving birth. They will help set you up with what you need to do once you give birth and what items you need to have on hand.  If you are only going to bottle feed, then pick which products you are going to use, buy a few of them and get them washed and ready to go. Have a spot in your kitchen just for baby food and bottles.  It is so important to keep organized.  

9) Baby products- There are some items you will want to have before bringing home baby.  You will want a baby monitor, CAR SEAT, swaddle blankets, baby bjorn,  baby shampoo and body wash, bibs, etc.

10) Get the book, What To Expect The First Year.  Have it on hand for all the question you are going to have at all times of the day and night.  You need to look through this book before calling the doctor! You can reassure your self with this book.  This book is one that I used for the first time over 16 years ago and I still recommend it for new moms.

Over all, the best way to bring baby home is to get prepared.  The unexpected does happen but in most cases you will have some time to start preparing to bring home baby.  If you get prepared, stock up and organized your home, the nursery, baby changing area,  kitchen bottle area, etc you will lesson your stress for the big day at home.  Some new parents want others around them when they first come home. Some don't.  You do what is best for you, plan it and stick with it.  Don't let your mom come and stay for 6 weeks if it is going to cause you stress.  Think about it ahead of time and plan it.   Bringing home baby and learning to live with a new being in your home is good and bad stress.  Make the most of it.  Before you know it they will be going to get their drivers license (mine are this Friday).  

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I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Lysol® Wee Wisdom blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here