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This is the follow on to Part One of this article. It is mainly for Dads but Mums may also be interested. This is my personal experience of the first month of being a first time Parent. How you may feel, the tasks you will be doing, and what to expect from your baby.
By Dad
It was a little over 4 months ago that our first baby was born. I've been wanting to write this article for some time now, before I forget everything. So with the help of all my notes I made during the first month here is what I have. This is the second part of the article and covers the following areas.
1.Tasks
2.Equipment
3.What to expect from Baby
1.Tasks
The main tasks are nappy changes, feeding, dressing, and bathing. We bottle fed formula so can't comment on breast feeding. All these tasks were so simple, neither of us had changed, bathed, or fed a baby before but it was still very easy. Before I even knew it I'd done a few baths and lots of bottles, I didn't even think about it. Nappy changing was the one I was dreading.
I'd waited a day but we were getting visitors day 2 so I needed to be able to do a nappy. Clare was on hand to instruct but before she could give me any advice the old nappy was off and the new one on. Okay the smell and wiping a bottom isn't my idea of fun but it is easy, and changing the nappy is as easy as changing a light bulb.
I could give instructions on all the tasks but it is just so easy. I'm sure we will do specific articles on all these tasks when we have had comments and tips from our Website visitors on how to make things even easier. The one mistake I did make quite a lot was when I screwed the teat and teat holder onto the feeding bottles. I did this like you would open a stiff jar or turn on a tap/faucett (ball grip) so the palm of my hand touched the teat, the way to do it is between first finger and thumb with your palm on the side of the bottle.
2. Equipment.
What should you buy and what's going to be a waste of money?
The number one mistake I made was with the feeding bottles. I looked at the full range and studied them to make a short-list. I bought a selection of the best as I didn't want to limit myself to one brand. This was a school boy error, now every time I go and get a bottle I've got to find the correct teat to fit the screw on teat holder I've picked up. Then I need to identify the correct bottle body to fit that, finally I have to find the correct lid. Do yourself a favour and buy only one type of bottle.
The best bottles where ones you could sterilise in in the microwave without any extra equipment. Ours were Mothercare brand, you clean them and put a little water in the lid. Then you put the teat, teat holder and tongs in the lid and put the body on. Then after 90 seconds in the microwave you are good to go.
I wouldn't recommend you use the microwave functionality for regular use. We just dump them in the steriliser but in a pinch we have found it has come in very handy now an again to be able to use these self contained bottles and a microwave. If you are visiting, or don't have a sterilised bottle prepared for some other reason, etc.
We were told a bottle warmer would be a waste of money so didn't get one. It would have been a waste I think. For us a baby bath would also have been a waste we just use our bath. We were told a nappy bin would also be a waste but bought one anyway. It was not a waste and I'd recommend them.
They are little plastic bins and you buy cartridges for them. These cartridges just contain a very long sock of plastic bag. You tie a knot in on end of the sock and put a nappy in the bin, when you twist the lid of the bin it twists the plastic sock locking the nappy in. You keep doing this and end up with what looks like a giant string of sausages inside. When it is full it cuts off the sock and you chuck the whole lot in the bin and start again. There is no bad smell at all and it's very practical. We use nappy bags so all the nappies are double wrapped, I dread to think about the environmental implications though.
You will probably have a car seat, ours doubles as a little rocking chair and we have had a lot of use out of it both in the car and in the home. It's crazy heavy though, even I struggle carrying it any distance with the baby inside.
The baby monitor we chose has a movement sensor. An alarm is sounded if the baby doesn't move for 15 seconds, and when the baby does move you see a green light flash. This turned out to be a star buy, although I'm a slave to the green light at least I don't have to keep running to the nursery every few minutes to check for breathing!
Our monitor is also portable so you can carry it around the house. My Sister was very impressed but it turned out to be a waste. It chews through batteries and is not very practical at all. After 4 or 5 battery changes we took to just plugging it into the wall and moving the whole unit from room to room. If you are going to go for a portable get a rechargeable unit.
3.What to expect from baby.
I expected more than what happened, I expected more eye contact but there was actually very little.
I also expected her to be picking things up with her hands. All in all we humans don't do an awful lot more than drink, poo, cry, and sleep during our first month of life.
Your little one will grasp a finger, and has a natural tendency to stand and put one leg in front of the other (if you lift her, take her weight and move her forward) which they will soon lose. They also have a reflex to hold their breath under water although I'm not suggesting you try it in the first month.
We had plenty of smiles but every baby is different. Although it was 3 months before our baby managed to roll over we have just had a feedback comment left by a visitor telling us about his son who has been able to roll over since he was 5 days old (Thanks Mike).
In summary your baby seems to ease you in to parenthood, they will be doing much more in the coming months and before you know it this first month will be a distant memory.
It just goes to show every baby is different. My 9 month old Louis didn't roll over until he was 8 months old. (He was capable of doing it from about 4 months, but it seemed to me he didn't want to - I think it was because he hated being on his tummy.) However a week later he pulled himself up to standing and stood on his own for a few seconds. A week later he crawled and was able to stand for about 20 seconds without holding on, and by 8 months and 3 weeks he had taken his first step unaided. He is now all over the place and if I want to leave the room (even to go to the toilet) I have to put him in his playpen or our living room would be carnage. I think 3 months is pretty early for a baby to roll over from what I have seen of my ante natal group babies so fair play to your baby! Thank you btw for doing such a great site, I wish I'd found it earlier! x
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