Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 If you can, go for it but near the end of most pregnancies, mommy is\u00a0too uncomfortable to sleep well<\/a>\u00a0and often the\u00a0\u201cnesting\u201d instinct\u00a0<\/a>and sudden energy boost interferes with naps.<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0 Sleep if you\u2019re tired (and are able to) but don\u2019t worry about \u201cstocking up\u201d before baby comes.\u00a0 Our bodies are amazingly resilient and built for life with a new baby (our natural hormone cocktails throughout pregnancy and early motherhood are pretty amazing at making sure mommy gets what she needs!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0Cook meals before baby arrives and freeze it.<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 Totally great idea\u2026if you have a large freezer (and aren’t planning to\u00a0hoard breastmilk<\/a>\u00a0like I do).\u00a0 And fyou have the energy to cook large meals before baby arrives.\u00a0 Before my babies came, I never had more energy than it took to make the meals we needed to survive.\u00a0 I THOUGHT about cooking ahead but never did.<\/p>\n MY advice<\/strong>: Stock up on the things you like to cook and that you can prepare quickly and easily.\u00a0 Also collect take out menus and don\u2019t feel guilty about spending the money\/calories to eat out a bit more than usual at the beginning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>: No matter how exhausted you are, especially in the middle of the day, when baby finally drifts off to sleep AND lets you put him\/her down, the last thing you think about is napping.\u00a0 You automatically thinks of all the\u00a0other<\/em>\u00a0things you could do like shower, go to the bathroom, do the critical laundry, eat, you know all the things you miss out on (and shout\u00a0“new mommy!”<\/a>\u00a0to the world.)<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0 Hop in the shower, make a good poop, do a necessary chore.\u00a0 THEN sit down on the couch or in your favorite chair and turn on the TV or the computer and\u00a0relax<\/em>\u00a0until baby is up and needs you again.\u00a0 But once dinner is done and it\u2019s dark, definitely sleep when baby sleeps and stay in bed as long as you possibly can in the morning (i.e.: let dad do the work in the morning!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Accept help from others<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 This one I really agree with but the reality is, most people want to help with the baby because somehow even a dirty diaper is insanely cute when it involves a brand new little squish.\u00a0 People want to hold the baby, feed him\/her (if you\u2019re not nursing), take him\/her so you can rest, etc.\u00a0 For me, I never really wanted or needed help with baby tasks.\u00a0 Feeding the baby, holding him\/her and even changing diapers were what I felt I was SUPPOSED to be doing as a mommy with a new baby.<\/p>\n MY advice<\/strong>: ASK people to do all the things that need to be done that don\u2019t involve the baby.\u00a0 Grocery shopping, folding laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning.\u00a0 All the stuff that needs to be done some time is stuff that family and close friends can do to really help you out while you focus on baby\u2019s needs and there will be plenty of baby cuddles to go around after they help with another small task!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 Yes, all mommies need plenty of water, especially nursing mommies.\u00a0 But personally, I was never good at remembering to get a glass of water before I sat down to feed a hysterical baby.\u00a0 Plus in the\u00a0early days nursing<\/a>\u00a0can be a two handed activity (one on baby\u2019s head, one on the boob in order to keep everything lined up properly) and even if you can get a hand free, the last thing my baby ever wants is a cup of ice water hovering\/dripping all over him! \u00a0(Of course, the advice givers usually mean water, but whatever gets you through the day, right? \u00a0Or Easter egg dying…)<\/p>\n MY advice<\/strong>: Keep a large water bottle handy and filled up at all times.\u00a0 Fill it before you leave the house (and anywhere you go before you head home) and drink at red lights.\u00a0 Fill it up every time you go past the sink.\u00a0 You\u2019d be amazed at home much you manage to drink when it\u2019s always there. \u00a0(Plus the\u00a0more you drink, the more milk you’ll make<\/a>\u00a0and the happier baby will be and s\/he is more likely to sleep better with a satsified tummy!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Take time for yourself<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 Of course taking care of yourself is super important but it is not always possible to get away without the baby especially if you are nursing or your spouse works long hours and\/or you don\u2019t have family nearby.<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0 Don\u2019t focus on getting away without the baby, just focus on getting out and doing things you enjoy.\u00a0 Babies, especially\u00a0newborns, travel well.<\/a>\u00a0 They will sleep most anywhere (either in a buggy\/car seat or sling\/carrier) and can eat anywhere.\u00a0 Plus the more you go out with tiny babies, the better they will be out in public as they get older.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever feel like you can\u2019t go somewhere because the baby has to come along, I\u2019ve always taken my babies everywhere with me and have run into few problems so long as I am aware of their needs and respectful of the environment I\u2019m in (for example, I nurse a baby who probably isn\u2019t really hungry more often in nice restaurants just to keep them happy and quiet).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 You need to stay connected to your partner and spend time together.\u00a0 But, again, if you\u2019re nursing or don\u2019t have family around going on \u201cdates\u201d can be impossible and\/or way more stress and trouble than they’re worth.<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0 Go out as much as you did before, just\u00a0take baby with you<\/a>.\u00a0 When babies are little, they don\u2019t really interfere in conversation for more than a few seconds while you get them what they need and, again, the more you take babies out when they\u2019re little (and include in other daily tasks like\u00a0family dinners at home<\/a>) the better they\u2019ll be with behaving during these tasks as they grow older.\u00a0 Plus, I\u2019m a big believer that when you choose to have children, you have chosen to be that family and you will never really be a \u201ccouple\u201d again (and truthfully, even when you do get out on a \u201cdate\u201d, just the two of you, you\u2019ll still spend most of the time talking about the kids!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Never wake a sleeping baby<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 It\u2019s going to happen.\u00a0 As much as I agree with this advice, life happens and babies get woken up.\u00a0 Lactation experts will tell you when\u00a0nursing in the early days<\/a>, it\u2019s important to wake baby every few hours to feed in order to establish your supply and this is actually good for all babies since young babies who fall into a deep, deep sleep are more at risk for SIDS.<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>: Let babies sleep as much as possible and whenever they want.\u00a0 If you have to move baby after he\/she is asleep, do your best to help baby stay asleep but don\u2019t beat yourself up if it doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Young babies sleep when they are tired so even if you wake a baby before s\/he is ready, s\/he will fall back asleep when they are ready.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>: Mommies have a life and have things to do.\u00a0 We no longer live in a world where the grandparents live next door and can do things for us.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to need to go out and it\u2019s okay for baby to go out to. \u00a0(Heck, my second daughter moved half way across the world when she was only 5 weeks old!)<\/p>\n MY advice<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0Wear baby<\/a>\u00a0when they are small.\u00a0 The biggest concern with taking a new baby out is exposing them to too many germs, wearing baby will keep them away from dirty things and you can discourage strangers from touching the baby easier than if they are in a\u00a0buggy<\/a>\/car seat<\/a>\u00a0(I always touched my babys\u2019 heads\/faces in the\u00a0sling\u00a0<\/a>whenever I felt like someone else might try which usually discouraged the stranger from touching\u2014I\u2019m not mean enough to say \u201cDon\u2019t touch my baby!\u201d or demand people wash their hands).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0You can never hold a baby too much<\/p>\n Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0 In my experience, it\u2019s the opposite: You can never hold your baby enough.\u00a0 I\u2019m not an avid baby wearer, especially when at home.\u00a0 I like having my hands and body free to quickly and easily get tasks done. Sometimes this means listening to baby cry for a few seconds or minutes while I finish up my task so I can then give him\/her my undivided attention.<\/p>\n MY Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0 Hold your baby whenever you feel like it.\u00a0 If you just want to hold baby and snuggle him\/her for an hour, do it.\u00a0 But likewise, don\u2019t feel guilty about putting baby down for a little while.\u00a0 If you need to do something not immediately involving baby or just need a few seconds of \u201cbubble\u201d time (i.e.:\u00a0don\u2019t touch me!<\/a>), take it! You can always snuggle baby for hours afterwards if you feel guilty about it later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ask anyone and they will surely have a tip or two for new and expecting parents.\u00a0 A lot of the new parent advice is great and comes from a place of experience and well meaning.\u00a0 But there are a lot of pearls of wisdom that you hear a lot and sound really nice but in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8,16,9,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-mommys-life","category-baby-business","category-breastfeeding","category-family-life","category-mommy-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6048"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6048\/revisions\/6057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"IMG00257-20100921-1645\"](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/IMG00257-20100921-1645-300x224.jpg\")
<\/a>Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Sleep when the baby sleeps<\/p>\n![\"SONY](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSC00733-300x199.jpg\")
<\/a>Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Drink while you nurse<\/p>\n![\"DSC00307\"](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSC00307-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Go on dates with your partner<\/p>\n![\"IMG00239-20100902-1536\"](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/IMG00239-20100902-1536-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>Classic Advice<\/strong>:\u00a0Baby shouldn\u2019t go out of the house before 6 weeks old<\/p>\n