This is a rambling post of how things have worked for me. Nothing is in order of priority. I'm just numbering them to look organized. Haha.
Note: I am a stay at home "single" mom and not breastfeeding.
#1 Get a cosleeper. Who cares if you aren't going to be THAT mom. Get one anyways. You can always take it back. For us, the Baby Delight Snuggle Nest (NOT the surround one) was a life saver. It allows your baby to sleep in bed with you safely. It also allows you to attend to the baby without having to get up every five seconds. HUGE sanity preserver. Of course we didn't get this until three weeks after little miss was born and we were ready to pawn our precious baby off to the first bidder.
#2 Forget the changing table. Unless you can find a changing table where your baby's butt FACES you, don't even waste your money. It's to difficult to try and change a squirming baby sideways. Instead, have a couple of changing pads on hand everywhere. Because that's just where you'll be changing your baby. Everywhere.
#3 Skip all the cute clothes for the first few weeks and just make sure you have plenty of short sleeve and long sleeve onsies. You never know if your baby is going to be warm or cold blooded. And make sure they are all front openers. Back openers are just not worth it. Zippers versus snaps don't matter. You'll find what you like after you change a million diapers.
#4 Your baby may or may not like to be swaddled. Just go with the flow. Our little miss loved to be swaddled the first few days and then suddenly HATED it with a passion. She likes to sleep with her arms above her head and will kick and scream her way out of the entire velcro'd swaddling blanket...arms, feet and all.
#5 Get plenty of burp clothes and receiving blankets. At first little miss wasn't a spitter, but now we soak the burp cloths at each feeding...and poop explosions up the back are a regular thing around here. So having plenty of clean blankets on hand so you can place one on your lap so you aren't wearing poop...or spit...or whatever else comes spewing out of your precious baby.
#6 For cleaning bottles, get yourself a large mixing bowl, a 16 bottle drying rack (at Target), and a bottle of Dawn soap and call it a day. Who has time to hand wash all the bottles?!?! I rinse mine in HOT water immediately after feeding and then let them soak in (usually cold) soapy water for a couple of hours and then rinse again with HOT water. That's my bottle washing routine. (At six weeks of age, I have 5 - 9 oz. bottles and 3 - 4 oz. bottles on hand with size 1 nipples). But I have 6 more bottles still in their boxes in case I need more.)
#7 During the first few weeks when you are getting use to being sleep deprived, put a small basket at the head of the cosleeper with about 3 bottles filled with water, formula already measure out and in the cool little powder formula dispenser things, about 5 diapers, some wipes, 2-3 burp clothes, and a few doggy poop bags. This allows you to care for your baby in the middle of the night without having to even get out of bed if you don't want to. Doggy poop bags are for the diapers (seal and toss in the direction of the nearest trashcan and pick up off the floor in the morning when you are actually a little more alert and awake, and not a total sleep waking zombie).
Sounds gross...but wait until you find dirty diapers in remote places because you were so out of it from lack of sleep that you misplaced them. Like in the fridge...where I mistakenly put a dirty diaper instead of the half-drunk bottle...and found the bottle in the trashcan.
#8 Get a baby carrier. The Baby Bjorn (breathable mesh kind) is what is working best for us right now. It's quick to put on and off. Literally takes me seconds. Very much worth the money spent. Sometimes it's much easier to "wear" your baby instead of lugging around the carseat and/or stroller.
That's all I have for now. As little miss continues to grow and as new things come along, I'll be sure to add them!
You are an awesome mom:-)
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