Baby’s here! Now what?

You’ve done it! After waiting for what seemed like forever, months of indigestion and weeks of middle of the night toilet trips, baby is finally here. The first few hours will almost certainly pass by in a blur, as various midwives, paediatricians, nurses and doctors check and weigh and help and support, but pretty soon it’s time to go home.

You get home, excited and with the realisation that right there, sitting on your lounge floor in a car seat, is a tiny, teeny person who is completely reliant on you for everything. All the books you read, classes you went to, people you talked to, seems to pale into insignificance as you gaze at the life you created. Sitting there. Screaming!

You do know how to do it!

You might get sick to death of people telling you about ‘maternal instinct’, but it does exist, no matter how helpless you feel right now. Somewhere inside you, there’s an amazing mum just waiting to take flight. Everything your little one needs is yours to give; all you need is a little confidence.

Essentially, your baby needs three things – food, shelter and love. Whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding, you aren’t going to let your baby go hungry. You have a home to live in, so shelter’s ticked off too, and no doubt you’ve already fallen in love with that cheeky little face. Don’t worry too much about the ‘rules’, routines and recommendations of all those experts at this stage; just do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and you’ll be fine.

Do you have what you need?

There are some things which you may have bought already, or may have completely forgotten; here’s a reminder of the essentials for taking care of a newborn in those early days:

Feeding: Breastfeeding makes feeding time super easy, but you might want to have a bottle in reserve so your partner can help while you rest. For part or full bottle feeding, you should have plenty of bottles, formula (or a breast pump), a selection of teats and a means of sterilising the bottles and teats.

Bathing: Baby needs to be cleaned, but you don’t always have to immerse them in a full bath to do this, particularly to start with. Check out our super soft wash cloths, perfect for a strip wash at the end of a busy day, and our matching cuddle dry towels, so snuggly for a lovely cuddle after bath time. If you have the space, a free-standing baby bath is a great investment as it sits at a good height to save your back; alternatively, a chair or baby bath to use in your big bath can be a good compromise.

Health: Newborns sometimes struggle with all this living outside of the womb business. They may struggle to regulate their temperature, so a thermometer can be a good way to keep an eye on this. Colic can be very painful, so using anti-colic teats, always winding after a feed and keeping some colic remedies around is a good idea too. Finally, always have some good barrier cream or antiseptic cream on hand to treat uncomfortable nappy rash fast.

Fun: Newborn babies don’t need much in the way of stimulation or toys; just coping with the brand-new world is usually enough. However, it can be a good idea to have a stash of songs and nursery rhymes up your sleeve to soothe and relax both of you from time to time. Don’t forget to enjoy the kisses and cuddles as often as possible – they really do grow so fast (another phrase you’ll be sick to death of soon!). Take a look at our super-cute Whale star projector musical night light with 10 different nursery rhymes and heartbeat sounds to use as part of their sleep-time routine.

There are lots of other bits and pieces you can invest in for your baby, but in some ways, it’s better to buy the very basic essentials and then top other things up, as and when you need them. As well as caring for baby, looking after yourself in the early days is crucial too – watch this space for one of our upcoming posts which will be all about you!

We specialise in all the most essential things for your newborn, so do have a browse through our collection to find high quality, mum-designed items to make those early days easier, then you and your baby are going to be happier!