Must-Read Posts to Prep for Baby. 33 posts to help you read while you are pregnant to prepare to welcome your new baby.
My assumption is that the vast majority of the readers of this blog have at least one child already. So if you are thinking about baby prep, I assume you are on baby number two or later (I know some of you out there are first-timers).
So if you have been there, done that, what newborn posts are the “must-reads” for preparing for a baby? From one pregnant lady to another, here is what I think.
Post Contents
Top Five Posts to Read
- Your Babywise Baby: First Year Overview
- My Sleep Hierarchy For Newborns
- Optimal Waketime Lengths
- Sleep Training: The Four S’s
- Adding Baby To The Family: A Balanced Approach
Other Greats
- Overview of Babywise.
Your Babywise Baby: First Year Overview
- First year review–easy chart to follow.
Newborns at Night: Wake After 5 Hours
- Not all moms do this, but if you plan to wake baby after five hours at night, read this post.
Posts to Help Prep for Feeding Baby
These two will help you with keeping baby awake for full feedings.
Every newborn feeds for a different length of time. You will likely find yourself wondering. This post will help you get a refresher on what to expect.
This is another good one related to feeding to brush up on.
Posts to Help You Start Baby on a Routine
These six posts will help you with getting the routine going well.
- Baby Whisperer: Start as You Mean to Go On
- Consistent Schedule: Start Your Day Right
- Establishing Consistency–Make Sacrifices
- Cluster Feeding
- Newborn Evening Feeding Schedule
- Combo Schedule is Okay
Posts for Baby’s Sleep
These five posts will help you get sleep off to the right start.
- My Sleep Hierarchy For Newborns
- Optimal Waketime Lengths
- Overstimulation
- Sleep Training: The Four S’s
- Newborns and Waketime: A Slow Process
Posts about Baby Crying
These two will help you brush up on crying.
Dreamfeed Information Posts
Get back in the groove of the dreamfeed.
Individual Baby Posts
These will help you as you adjust to a baby who is different from your first child
- Adding Baby To The Family: A Balanced Approach
- Get To Know Your Child’s Personality
- My First Baby Was Easy…
- Welcoming Baby to the Family
Posts on Flexibility
These three will help you prepare for the flexibility you will need.
- Adjusting for Context
- Going Out
- Let Your Schedule Serve You: You Don’t Serve Your Schedule (Don’t Stress)
Thank you for this!! Though we still have 8-12 weeks to go before the arrival of our new additions, I am trying really hard to remember everything from when our 21-month-old was a newborn. It's amazing how quickly you forget! This will be a great way to brush up. I figured I'd be set with this pregnancy… easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? We've done this before… now that we know we're having twins I *might* be just a tad more anxious than before. Thank goodness for Relief Society sisters and close family – that's all I have to say! ; p And here's to a simple, uneventful delivery for you. 🙂
Thank you from me as well! I have about 15 more weeks, but was also wondering how in the world I forgot so much- I thought I'd remember everything since my daughter is only 2, but I don't. This will be super helpful. 🙂
You are most welcome!
Oh and Rebecca, I bet you will find it mostly comes back quickly.
HELP – WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I have read the BW book and feel like I've either missed a fundamental step or my baby is still too young to be following it.My son is 2 1/2 weeks old. Our consistent morning wake up time is 7am. We feed every 3 hours during the day; sometimes he is awake, sometimes we wake him up, but overall we feed every 3 hours. (Our wake time is basically feeding time & diaper change right now). I understand the necessity of a good full quality feeding, so for us it takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours each feeding time. It seems like this excessive time for feeding takes time away from sleep however. Should I reduce his feeding time at the expense of a full, good quality feeding for sleep? Or is it ok if his sleep times are shorter as long as he is getting a good quality feed? His last feed of the day is 10pm. Then after that we let him wake up whenever he wakes up to eat, with the hope of him doing some longer stretches – looking to merge one of the night cycles soon. However, he continues to wake every 2.5-3 hours during the night. He is also excessively fussy (colic I am told by the Dr) in the evenings and nights, leading to lots of extra time spend comforting and settling him back to sleep. Am I correct in thinking he should be having some longer stretches at night, maybe 4-5 hours between feedings, or am I jumping ahead, maybe he's still to young yet for that? Any help or advice in any form is greatly appreciated!!!
HELP – WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I have read the BW book and feel like I've either missed a fundamental step or my baby is still too young to be following it.My son is 2 1/2 weeks old. Our consistent morning wake up time is 7am. We feed every 3 hours during the day; sometimes he is awake, sometimes we wake him up, but overall we feed every 3 hours. (Our wake time is basically feeding time & diaper change right now). I understand the necessity of a good full quality feeding, so for us it takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours each feeding time. It seems like this excessive time for feeding takes time away from sleep however. Should I reduce his feeding time at the expense of a full, good quality feeding for sleep? Or is it ok if his sleep times are shorter as long as he is getting a good quality feed? His last feed of the day is 10pm. Then after that we let him wake up whenever he wakes up to eat, with the hope of him doing some longer stretches – looking to merge one of the night cycles soon. However, he continues to wake every 2.5-3 hours during the night. He is also excessively fussy (colic I am told by the Dr) in the evenings and nights, leading to lots of extra time spend comforting and settling him back to sleep. Am I correct in thinking he should be having some longer stretches at night, maybe 4-5 hours between feedings, or am I jumping ahead, maybe he's still to young yet for that? Any help or advice in any form is greatly appreciated!!!