What do you really need after bringing baby home? One of my students gave this advice to her fellow Bradley Method students for bringing baby home, in an email, after her baby was 6 days old. What a wise woman, after only 6 days!
- Bringing baby home requires some organization. With a serious lack of sleep it’s hard to keep track of feeding, diaper changes, and how long your baby slept. Install the Baby Connect App
if you can on your phone. Its been AWESOME for recording feedings, diapers, and sleep. Otherwise really hard to keep track.
- Also install Contraction Master-Great Free Apps–
or just use the version in safari. This you’ll only use once, when you start labor but also an amazing easy tool for measuring the contractions, time in between, length etc. This I used in the beginning and then Sam used when I was in more pain to know when to call midwife.
- After bringing baby home, you may need some help with breastfeeding. Find a lactation consultant in your area through The International Lactation Consultant Association™ (ILCA™), the professional association for International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLC®)Advent Breast Shells – They have been a MUST for breastfeeding. You can catch the milk of one breast while your nursing on the other (for me there has been A LOT, otherwise I would totally drench everything I wear). You also can use them to then store that milk in the freezer with special breast feeding zip-lock bags.
- Breast feeding can be made easier with the right tricks, tools, and support. Make sure you have some nursing tanks or bras ahead of time-Check out the latest deals on tees & tanks at Destination Maternity!
A friend gave me 3, so thank full! Just way easier then a regular tank top cause you can still wear a sweater on your arms if your cold. Pretty much get your regular size cause they stretch a lot so should still fit when milk comes in.
- Make sure your aware of two things while breast feeding: proper alignment of baby in the various positions and how to detach with your finger the suck. Also since I couldn’t sit up in the beginning, I had to use the side lying position to breastfeed, the first couple days, which thankfully I could do. Now I am just using the cradle position. Also, when in doubt always burp!! One thing I watched in pregnancy said that here in America we don’t burp our babies enough but it really helps with gas and air caught in their little bodies which can lead to lots more crying, fussiness, sleepless nights etc.
- Wipes warmer
- & music box = awesome for changing diapers after bringing baby home!
- Tummy wrap – a friend highly recommended this to us and now we do to you!! You where it 24/7 starting within a couple hours after birth. Helps get blood out, uterus firm, and abs go back… so we heard. 🙂
- Babies in bloom has a free scale you can use to check on baby’s weight if you like in between doc visits. http://babies-in-bloom.com/breastfeeding/
- Last but not least, if you don’t have it set up yet, make sure someone will be at your FULL attention the week after. Whether your husband, mom, friend, or even hire a post-partum doula if you need to. It will be worth it, trust me, and you just never know what can happen if you need to be in extra recovery for anything. When you bring your baby home and start breastfeeding, it is really hard work, and can sometimes be a real challenge just to get a shower, or feed yourself, or get dressed. Sam had to still work a little that week (we own our own painting business) but I had my mom 24/7 here. I’m not sure how I could have done it without her and Sam while I recovered because I couldn’t walk and/or rock baby, change diaper, etc for the first 2-3 days.
- A little TLC goes a long way after you bring your baby home from the hospital or birth center. Start with a sitz bath. A sitz bath can be relaxing and healing. When you sit in the warm/hot water up to your hips ,after adding this herbal combination, you will feel a great deal of relief from pain and discomfort. For sore bottoms, try sitz baths and Bottom butter. You’ll be saying AAAAAHHH!!!
How do I know why my baby is crying? There are two great DVD’s I can recommend. I remember the frustration of trying to figure out why my baby was crying. It just breaks your heart to hear your baby’s cry and not know what to do. My suggestions:
