Tips for First Time Moms....

******UPDATES IN PINK******

Labour pain : feels like the worst period pain you've ever had, lasts a while then goes away, comes back for a while goes away. Start timing the duration of the pain experienced and the time between when there's no pain.

Water Breaking : Literally feels like a "pop", then instant release of pressure, followed by TONS of liquid, sit on the toilet and once you're ready to go to the hospital put a thick sanitary pad in your underwear.

After birth : bath with salt in the water, it will burn but it will help the healing process. Also in case you don't already know, you'll continue bleeding for at least a month after birth. So stock up on pads.

Don't worry about stocking up on size1,2 & 3 diapers, you'll quickly move to size 4 and then 5, stock up on size 5.... believe me.

Breastfeeding : I could only breastfeed both of my kids for 5 days. There's absolutely no shame in not being able to breastfeed. Some of us can't. Fed is best, so have formula and bottles stocked up in case you are like me and your milk supply suddenly dries up. 

The after birth poo, is almost worse than the actual act of giving birth. Nope not being over dramatic here and it can take a LONG time for this to go back to normal (a nice relaxing poo if you will)

TOP TIP from one of my readers Angie Bar (thanks hun!) invest in a baby wrap/carrier! This is a life saver and I cant believe I forgot to mention it. Helps you get stuff done while still bonding with baby.

There's a great app called Baby+ I've used it with both kids, you can time their naps, log their feeds and diapers. The app also works if you don't have data or internet, so that's a bonus.

Unfortunately if you don't already know, you're hair is going to fall out at an alarming rate once you've given birth. So if you can stay on your pregnancy vits after birth or get a supplement of either folic acid or collagen.

Create an email account for your baby, there you can email your baby messages and of course photos. Then when they're older, give them the password so that they can read all of your amazing messages over the years. 

Very important tip when you do start baba on solids, start with veg, not fruit purees. Think about it, if the first thing youre offered is something sweet then suddenly vegetables how would you react? Exactly. And my son still loves veg to this day, broccoli is his favourite!

If you're bottle feeding, serve at room temperature. Don't get caught in the crazy cycle of having to go warm bottles in the middle of the night. trust me on this, room temperature is perfectly fine.

Don't buy onesies, they're a pain in the ass, especially in the middle of the night, the last thing you want is to spend 5 minutes completely undressing your baby to change diapers. Go with separate top and pants instead.

For diaper rash, sprinkle maizena in diapers and change more often. If it doesn't work get zinc and caster oil cream from clicks/dischem. Both are extremely cheap.

Don't need to buy "brand name" diapers, checkers, pick n pay brand are just as good and way cheaper!

Don't use "baby" products there's extra chemicals in them (this advice was from our sons pead). Plain dove soap is best. Not even baby dove, normal plain dove. Pro tip, get the pump bottle one.

Baby powder isn't good, dries up natural body oils, bad for them to breathe in and traces of arsenic has been found in them.

No honey before the age of one!

Solids only at 6 months unless advised by paediatrician. Same with giving boiled water "straight".

Watch out for postpartum depression, unfortunately there isn't much advice on this online, check my blog for tips that have worked for me, as I suffered with severe PPD after the birth of my daughter. Or pop me a message if you need help.

No popcorn before the age of 4. Article here : When can my baby eat popcorn? | BabyCenter

All allergens to be given for the first time, in the morning in case of any reaction.

Any baby bottles are fine, you don't need name brand. In fact we were given a bunch of brand name bottles for my first child and he refused them all. Ended up buying the R20.00 bottles from Checkers and that's what we've used with my daughter too.

Infacare is one of the cheapest but best formulas. Unless baby has any kind of allergy or medical condition, Infacare is great.

Advice on cradle cap: Only wash your babys hair once a week. Gently apply about a teaspoon of olive or coconut oil to babies hair about an hour prior to bath time and gently brush hair/head, then wash off. DO NOT PICK AT CRADLE CAP!

Washing of bottles, normal dishwashing liquid is fine. Thereafter sterilize the bottles at least until baby is 6 months old.

Washing of clothes, normal washing powder is fine, you don't need to go and buy "special" washing powder. You also don't need to separate babies clothes from yours, everything can go into the same wash.

For congestion:  baby vix under their feet and put socks on.