A few friends lately have asked us 'what have you learned that you didn't expect'. It makes you pause and think about it, and after a few discussions I feel the need to write down a few of these things. A friend of mine has been blogging weekly about her new little boy, and she reminded me that writing down some of these things might also be helpful for friends who are expecting and even us down the road if we have a second baby. So, here goes:
* If you wait a while to give a pacifier, he might not take it when you want him to! I don't really believe in nipple confusion anymore and would definitely have given Austin a pacifier earlier if I knew what I know now!
* Same with bottles - Austin had (still kind of has) a tough time drinking from a bottle. I'd start that earlier too!
* Swaddle, swaddle, swaddle. We didn't swaddle very tightly at first, and he would always break out of it. We also didn't swaddle at nap time at all. Turns out a tight swaddle keeps him asleep longer, and even has gotten him to nap alone in his crib. The Miracle Blanket has been a huge help! And naptime in the crib is really the only way I get a break during the day...its a must!
* Swaddle before feeding at night, that way when he's done we don't disturb him when he's already getting sleepy. And the added bonus is that his arms are tucked away and can't get in the way of latching on. When he woke up several times a night, we found that changing his diaper, swaddling, then feeding was also key to getting him to go back to sleep quicker. After the first few weeks we eliminated diaper changes in the middle of the night since he wasn't going as frequently - that also helped keep him sleepy.
* Crib soother/aquarium: This thing mesmerizes Austin and usually puts him to sleep if he's fussing around in his crib. That plus a pacifier = sleepy!
* Burping can be difficult...Austin isn't a good burper, which can leave him a bit unhappy for a while until he gets it out.
* Pumping doesn't always yield the same amount that Austin drinks in a feeding. I'm getting better and figuring out what speed, how long, etc but it wasn't/isn't easy.
* Love the My Brest Friend pillow...sounds silly, but it is really difficult to feed Austin without it since he's so heavy. Cradling him in my arms without the pillow is exhausting!
* Keep a feeding schedule for a while, and try and stretch out feedings to 2.5-3hrs if possible. At first I would feed him when he was fussy and crying, assuming he was hungry. I learned that he wasn't always hungry and that feeding him too frequently wasn't allowing him to really fill up his belly turning him into more of a 'snacker', which is exhausting. For the most part I now try to feed every 3 hrs and distract him with different activities to make it that long (of course there are always exceptions). That way he eats very well, fills his belly, and isn't hungry again that soon. It all came from a book called '12 hours of sleep in 12 weeks'. We'll see if we get there, we're already close at 8 weeks.
* When its hot out, he gets hungry more often! I had no idea, and couldn't figure out why he was rooting and acting hungry after he had just eaten 1 hour before. Turns out he was probably dehydrated. Thanks Mrs. Crouse for clueing me in on that one!!
Thats all I can think of at the moment, but will continue to add things to the list as we learn new things!
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