First week or so

I still haven't quite worked out how to write this blog.  Should it be funny, witty anecdotes about having children?  Obviously that would be nice if I could actually be a funny writer, but it doesn't seem as though I am ... so instead I'm going to take a rather boring approach and just about what I know.  I hope that's accpetable for you guys!

First thing's first - don't get drawn into a false sense of security in the first week.  But use it as a great place to catch up on some sleep at any possible point during the day or night.  Baby will sleep a lot.  And I know this goes against some people's school of thought, but why not use this time to start a bit of a routine for yourself?  You can do this either breastfeeding or bottle feeding.  If baby is sleeping for long stints, wake him up and feed him every 3 hours.  This doesn't mean to say you shouldn't feed him before the 3 hours, but I wouldn't want him going for more than 3 hours without a feed during the day time - at night time ignore this and only feed when he wakes - long sleeps at night are good for baby AND YOU!

My experiences are that my first fed every 2 hours to start with (exhausting!!) and my second every 3 (although wasn't that fussed so would have probably have gone longer).

I worried about this every 2 hour thing, thinking I was over feeding - but babies are very clever - if you've overfed, they'll just puke up what they don't need.  Or they'll stop before they get to that point - it's a very helpful tool - so just go with the flow here.  Once I moved onto bottles at 3 weeks, my second wouldn't have more than 50/60mls (2 ozs) for weeks and weeks.  Here I worried that I was under feeding her - but remember the cardinal rules - are they sleeping?  Are their nappies wet?  Is their temperature okay? Are they feeding?  If the answer is yes to these, you're doing fine.  No, more than that - you're doing brilliantly - keep it up!!

Oh, and my final thing to say - the routine is less about what's needed for baby and more about what's needed for you.  If this is your first you may in the throws of the WTF-period - yeah, that's pretty hellish.  Searching for what you should be doing now and next.  But having a routine, something to aim towards may just help that - I found it did immensly.  And if this is your second - if your hubby is anything like mine (you know the type - rose-tinted glasses, forgetting how hard it was first time round) you'll be feeling the pressure of having a sleeping baby in a fab routine within the first 2 weeks!! 

So, write everything down because you may find you're in more of a routine than you first realised.  Plus, if this is your first - writing everything down now (feed times, nappy change times, sleep times etc) is a BRILLIANT reference for the next one.  It'll calm you down and remind you you're on track and things aren't taking twice as long (as said hubby thinks they are).

That's all for today.