As a young mother, nothing puts you in a joyous mood more than watching your baby arrive safely and sound.
As a mother, you need to know what gear you need, how to care for your newborn baby, and how to prepare for your maternity leave beforehand.
If you can learn through the period of labor, you should be able to find getting supplies for your baby, a whole lot easier.
Preparing some 2-3 months before the arrival of your baby helps, therefore you don’t have to wait until the last minute to start preparing.
You may want to solicit the help of your family member, or friend when preparing for the arrival of your baby. Here are some tips on how best you can prepare for the arrival of your baby;
Discuss with some veteran mothers
There are some things about motherhood that are regarded as taboo, and only veteran or older mothers can unravel the mystery behind such.
The diminishing sex drive and baby blues are just a few of such issues, you need to find more about these issues to help you understand ways of dealing with them.
You must be able to locate friends, families, and societies who are willing to share their experiences with you.
Getting the baby and nursery gear
You can be easily caught up with everyone trying to inform you about what you need to buy before the arrival of your baby. Diapers, strollers, and baby clothes are just a few of such gear.
You should consider the volume of choices available for each category of gears you need to buy; however, you need to do some little researches before you start spending on your credit card.
Some supplies are very essential, while others are not. You don’t have to be told that you need to buy dozens of diapers, and you need to ensure that you conduct some research on that important stuff, for instance, safety standards matter more when buying these items. Make sure you follow strict standards when buying crib bumpers, and drop-side cribs.
Your baby’s health care needs
Aside from the baby supplies, the health of your baby, especially for the first few weeks is also important. You have spent the last 9 months taking care of the baby, and by planning well ahead, you will be able to ensure that the baby’s health will be sustained after its arrival.
If you currently own health insurance, you must confirm if you can add your friend to the plan, and ensure that the cover takes care of child-visits by a medical practitioner.
If you are presently uninsured, you need to consider the available personalized health insurance options that will take care of you and your baby.
Baby gears for the first 6 weeks
In the first few weeks of the arrival of your baby, there are certain gears you should have prepared for, these are categorized into several groups;
- Feeding,
- Sleeping,
- Diaper gears,
- Moving around, and
- Other essentialities for the mother.
For feeding, you will need to prepare the baby’s nursing pillows (these will help you support your baby during the feeding time). You need also 4 Bibs (these will help protect the baby’s clothes from spits and drools from the mouth).
You must get between 6-12 Burp clothes (these are necessary to protect the baby from spit-ups as well as liquid spills).
The nipple cream is also essential because breastfeeding the baby may dry up the skin around the nipples, but a nipple cream will help you ease off the dryness, and soothe any form of soreness.
You may get an optional breast pump, to help you store breast milk for your baby, just in case, you wouldn’t find it convenient to breastfeed the baby in some places.
You need up to 6 baby bottles, even though you plan on breastfeeding your baby exclusively. In addition to baby bottles, you will need artificial nipples. For exclusive breastfeeding, you need to prepare 4 –ounce bottles for your baby every day.
For diapering purposes, you need the following;
- A changing table,
- Diapers,
- Diaper wipes,
- Diaper cream,
- Diaper bag,
The diaper changing table should be a low dresser with a cushioned changing pad, make sure the changing table comes with some extras especially the storage spaces and the safety railings.
The early weeks will involve changing as many diapers as possible; therefore you need as many disposable diapers as you can or flushable and biodegradable diapers.
Diaper wipes are necessary for the cleaning of the bottom of the baby. You need a diaper cream or petroleum jelly for soothing the baby’s bottom after cleaning. You will need a diaper bag and a disposable diaper system for storing and disposing of used diapers.
You need to prepare for the baby’s sleeping, this means, you must get the crib must comprise of a cabinet and make sure the crib mattress has a firmer innerspring, and make sure you have 2-3 sets of crib sheets to save your laundry time.
For the baby’s bath time, you need to prepare a special baby bathtub that can hold a wriggling baby and keep him or her safe.
Getting around with your baby must be prepared for, you need to get a baby a stroller that can recline to allow better fastening of the baby to your car seat. Try as much as possible to get a convertible car seat for your baby.
Conclusion- Preparing for the arrival of your baby requires some effort and time, and you need to enlist the help of someone to ensure that you choose the right type of baby-friendly products.
You need to check with your health care provider as well as older mothers to be sure that everything you need has been taken care of before the arrival of the baby.
References:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_baby-and-mom-gear-for-the-first-six-weeks_5669.bc?showAll=true
http://www.babycenter.com/0_preparing-for-your-babys-arrival-an-overview_10379655.bc
