Baby dos and don'ts

This one is going to be long way off from anything I've discussed recently, but that's okay.  It's my blog and I'll post what I want to...

Baby Do's and Don'ts.

First: I'm not a medical doctor.  I don't play one on TV.  This from my experience.

This is going to be more of a cheat sheet than anything else... 

Do: get a swing.   Let the baby sleep in the swing.   

As a parent, you will get better sleep faster.

Why?  As a mom walks around, she sways back and forth constantly, rocking the baby to sleep.  So the baby is used to getting rocked to sleep.  After birth, we expect them to instantly fall asleep on their backs (which they haven't been laying on for the last 9 months) on a stationary object.   That's a recipe for disaster. 

Just try and change the way you sleep.  Go ahead.  I'll wait. 

And for the record, I've done this before.  Even minor sleeping changes are a pain.

Do: ignore the schedule the hospital gave you.   

Yes, you should feed the baby.  Yes, you should verify the baby is peeing and pooping enough.    But mechanical feeding every 4 hours?   Get real.  Since when do you do that?  If the baby is hungry, it will tell you.  By yelling at you and crying. 

Don't: pay super strict attention to the schedule the hospital gave Mom.

What?  You mean you don't want Mom blocked in sunless room devoid of exercise for the first two weeks?    No. I don't. 

Sunlight and light exercise (walking.   Just walking)  are the best things to stop post partum depression before it starts.  Depending on the delivery, and how your body feels go for walks and gets some sunlight. 

If those two things are normally linked to getting rid of depression, then you should probably do them. 



That is all for this round. 
And yes, I do have kids.   4 of them, now.