Well, for the last month or so, I've been trying to tell myself that I really don't need many newborn items. Diapers, yes. Those are a necessity, lol. We now have newborn sized disposables to last (hopefully) the first week or so. Then we'll go to cloth. However, on the clothing front I kept telling myself that two sleepers in newborn size was plenty. I didn't need any more than that, because the baby will grow out of the size so fast, and will fit the 0-3 month sized stuff anyway. Well, telling myself that really didn't work well at all. I wound up dragging Justin to a store where I knew you can get newborn sized stuff in neutral colours so that we would have enough for the baby. Strange when I also know that most newborns will fit the 0-3 month stuff, but I really had this feeling that I needed a few more sleepers in the smallest size available (aside from premie sized!). Now I'm happy... I have all the newborn sized sleepers in neutrals that I feel we'll need. And, of course, I feel weird, considering I don't even know how big the baby is yet! For all we know, this kid is going to be an 8 or 9 lb baby, and won't fit the newborn stuff at all! But... for the sake of making my "instincts" happy, we have the sleepers. We also have the receipt so we can exchange if necessary, lol.
Oh, and, we're travelling about 4 hours away from here on Saturday, to Lynchburg, so I have everything (I hope?) we are likely to need for an "emergency birth" if we happen to have to birth while on the road/away from home. Towels, sleeper, onesie, blankets, hats, clothing for me, etc... Am I weird or what?! The only things we're NOT taking on Saturday are the baby seat (oh, we need to get a baby on board sign thingy... hmmm....) and the baby sling. Somehow I doubt we'll need a baby sling even if the baby were to be born en route! I figure if we were pulled over they would excuse us from having the baby in a car seat given the circumstances!
We got the baby's room completely tidied up, so I'm very pleased with that! Pictures will be coming soon. We had to find my camera cards before I could take pictures, and now I just don't feel like spending the time putting the pictures on my computer and from my computer onto here. Soon though. And, our bedroom is almost cleaned up completely as well, so I guess I'll take pictures of it as well.
So, now I'm trying to figure out sleeping arrangements for the baby. I'm a little afraid to try actual *co*sleeping, because I don't want the baby to end up getting squished by accident. I'm not quite sure how to fit the bassinet in, because of space constraints in our room, so I'm really at a loss. How does one do co-sleeping with a baby, anyway?? I would be afraid of the baby falling off the bed if it was on the outside, or being rolled on top of by mother or father if in the middle...
Hmm, well, I'm glad you went with your instincts, because, Aaron and Amelia both fit in newborn things for at least a month Amelia was longer since she was only 6.3. And you'll definitely need more then 2 sleepers!! Remember they can get sick on themselves...heeehee, then you need to have another change of clothes. :) It doesn't sound like your having a 9lber!! :)
ReplyDeleteI won't give my view on co sleeping...because I've had plenty of negative comments shot at me. Just do what you feel is best, and it doesn't hurt to read up on it either I guess. :)
Love to you and hope everything goes well in the next month!
Ev xx
Hehe, my mum thinks I'm crazy because "they grow out of that size so fast" but I've had so many friends have babies that fit the newborn size for at LEAST a month, one of them for three months, that I didn't want to be caught with nothing!
ReplyDeleteLol, glad to hear that you didn't want to be caught with nothing! did your mom have bigger babies?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sending a wee gift for your new baby, hope you'll be able to make good use of them :)
Love,
Ev xx
I can't remember how big Shannon was... I think she was close to 8 lbs. I was 7lbs 13 oz or something like that, I think. So I guess about average sized babies, considering they still thought of babies as being "average sized" when they were between 7 and 8 lbs back then. I think we just grew really fast. Shannon never really fit anything newborn because she was soooooo long. I fit things in the length, but was chubbier, so I guess we both outgrew the sizes because of our strange shapes or something... dunno!
ReplyDeleteOoh! Something coming in the mail! I shall keep my eyes open for it in the coming weeks!
I thought just the same as you when I had my first baby. All I'd ever heard about clothes for newborns was that they outgrew them so quickly and that some never even fit into 0-3 month clothes. So I had a half dozen or so sleepsuits in 0-3 months (which are actually bigger than US ones!). And lo and behold, Abigail was born *on* her due date weighing only 5lb 14oz. The sleepsuits were about double the *full* length of her body, head included! LOL I had to immediately send Peter to a shop and told him to buy the smallest sleepsuits he could find ("early baby" size!) which fit her perfectly...for a few weeks! :) So yes, sometimes you do actually need small clothes! With regard to the number of clothes you need, I found I could just about cope OK with 6 sleepsuits in the first few weeks (my "early baby" ones), though I probably had the washing machine on every day to do a load of sleepers and vests (onesies) and blankets ready for the next day! It seems that all you do is have the washing machine running for the first few weeks - lots of spit up that gets all over the clothes/blankets and diaper leaks for one reason or other (or when they decide to empty their bowels just as you're changing them!). But within a couple of weeks things really do calm down - either they're more settled, or just as a mom you learn to catch their spills and be prepared! :) So don't panic if the first few weeks seem sooo disorganised - it will get better!
ReplyDeleteAnd one last comment, with regard to cosleeping! :) (If Blogger will allow me such a book length comment!) I would say the best thing to do is be open to doing what's best for your baby. I found that my 2 children were quite different in their sleep preferences. Abigail *refused* to sleep by herself and would only settle if she was next to me. She would wake up every time she was put down in a bed on her own. So cosleeping was a absolute necessity. I had a carrycot (like a bassinet) pushed up right next to our bed so that took away the danger of falling in the floor (and she'd have naps in the small bed during the day, but never at night!). I never really felt comfortable with the baby in the middle of the bed (at least not until they were much older), because I was always afraid the bed covers would end up on top of their head. Another thing I did once Abigail was older was to put a child safety bed rail up and then the baby could be on the outer edge near me without any danger of falling out and then the blankets could be safely over the baby, and no danger of being in the middle in case the daddy is a sounder sleeper! :) So that's an idea anyway! Benjamin preferred sleeping on his own in the wee bed next to me for the first 6 months or so. But then he got hungrier and wanted lots of night feeds! :) At the moment (nearly 19 months) he has a full size baby bed (cot) next to our bed where he sleeps, but most nights he ends up in bed next to me for much of the night (tho I usually am not aware of him getting in!!), as he really prefers to snuggle up next to me! :) So they're all different and change with time too. But one of the best things about having your baby close by (and breastfeeding too!) is that you don't have to get out of bed in the night and you end up with a much more restful night, hardly even knowing you were doing "night feeds"! Not sure what the current advice is in the US/Canada, but here in the UK they tell you *not* to let your baby sleep in a different room until they're over 6 months of age because of the risk of SIDS (cot death). I think it's been found to be quite important for the baby (maybe it's breathing/heart? not sure) to know that the mother is close by. So, that's my 2 pennies worth! LOL Just wanted to add a few comments from my own personal experience - hope you don't mind! :) xx
Wow, Rachel, I'm impressed Blogger allowed the length of comment!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments on the co-sleeping. I'm actually not sure what they recommend regarding it here (USA), as most of what I've read/heard is either British or Canadian advice, talking about how the heart beat and breathing of the mother/father helps the baby's body remember to keep going or something like that (regarding risk of SIDS, I guess). Anyway, we're all for a better night's sleep, which is why we are definitely keeping the baby in our room until it at least sleeps through the night most nights... which I'm not anticipating until at least six months of age! Hopefully we'll be able to find a place to fit the bassinet in for the initial time when the baby is sooo small... Justin has been talking about building a stand of some sort to put it at the foot of the bed, which just might work. The toddler rail thing is a great idea as well! If the bassinet is a no go, a rail could definitely be a good solution! Much better than simply relocating the baby to a different room, at least! Justin is such a sound sleeper, it often takes ME a few tries to get him awake, so who knows if a baby could disturb his sleep or not!