I have finally worked out how to add the ticker. Now I really am pregnant!
I have many questions I was hoping the bloggie sisterhood would help answer so to start the call rolling (drum roll please) here is the first question.
1. How many diapers do I need to get for the first 2 months? And which ones to get. I know I ought to go the environmentally safe route but I am afraid I going for disposable. We have 2 kids (hopefully) and no experience!
Bonus question: what's the one piece of advice that you wish someone had told you before you had your little one/s?
I personally loved Pampers Swaddlers (they come in Newborn, Size 1, and Size 2's. I would estimate about 10 diapers/day per kid.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of advice: I know newborns are, well, new and sometimes challenging, but they will never be "newborns" again. Enjoy everything about their first couple months. Specifically, I can't wait to enjoy again:
-cuddles from a newborn
-newborn falling asleep while burping her over my shoulder
-newborns that sleep everywhere and anywhere (i.e. I'll be going out a lot more with my next newborn, since my current 6 month old does not sleep anywhere but her crib.)
:)
Hurrah for the ticker!
ReplyDeleteI figured 8 diapers per day per kid. I am using the G Diaper. www.gdiapers.com They are biodegradable or can be flushed. Can't help you on the bonus question...yet!
ReplyDeleteI like Huggies - I think they fit my daughter better than Pampers, but mostly because they sell them at Costco! Altho Pampers has the wetness strip (so you know if they peed) on more sizes than Huggies, and I love the wetness strip! In the early days we were checking the diaper all the time, so is was great to have that strip.
ReplyDeleteAdvice - get help for YOU in the early days after they are born. Once DH had to go back to work (1 week after she was born), my mom came over a few times a week, and cooked meals for me, did laundry, and helped with my daughter in between feedings. Just having a good meals was great, especially when breastfeeding. And for the times when my mom couldn't come over, I had a doula come to help with meals, and general advice (what is this rash? how do you give a bath, etc.)
Also - take video. I don't have nearly enough video of when she was a newborn
As part of my baby shower, guests were asked to bring a pack of diapers to enter into a raffle at the end of the shower so I received every brand out there. Pampers Swaddlers are my favorites. They definitely are the softest. Huggies aren't bad except they feel like paper towels to me.
ReplyDeleteWe go through approximately 10 diapers/day per child. We got in the habit of changing diapers at each feeding and we were feeding every 3 hours when they first born, if that helps.
Also, I'm sure you'll be breastfeeding for a period of time but if/when you decide to switch or add in formula, you'll go through a large can every 7 days or so.
Words of advice -
* Order on-line! I use www.diapers.com for everything. Most orders are eligible for free shipping and it comes within a day or two. Also, I started using grocery delivery services and it is a life saver!
* Work out a schedule for help. Everyone wants to come during the first 2 weeks and then you're left with no one. I put out an actual schedule and had people coming for a month.
* Everyone says it but, try to sleep when the kids sleep. Sometimes, it's next to impossible because they don't always go to sleep together but you've got to make an effort to nap during the day. Don't get caught up in doing chores!
Yay for the ticker!
ReplyDelete1. We liked Pamper's Swaddlers as well. Very soft. They recently changed their make up, so I don't know about them now, however. But we really liked them. I would, as others, estimate 10 diapers/child/day.
Bonus Question:
* take all the help you can get. Someone wants to cook you a meal. Take it. If you are trying to breastfeed, but need a break and someone else will bottle feed the baby for you? Take it!
* dream feed: when one baby needs to be fed, but the other hasn't woken up yet. Beat him/her to the punch and feed him/him while their sleeping. Otherwise, you will end up like me and waking up every 1.5 hours ALL NIGHT LONG in order to feed each baby on his/her individual schedule.
*I agree with the poster above: order things online. Diapers.com, Target.com, Amazon.com, Walmart.com They deliver to your house! Yippee!
* If you go with some formula, the off-brands are A-OK. Seriously. They have to meet specific standards, so they are all the same (unless they have the pro/prebiotics). BTW, if you want an inexpensive prebiotic formula, Wal.mart has a Par.ent's Choice brand that is really nice.
* Have someone (or yourself) take loads of pictures. It is amazing how quickly they change in the first few weeks!
* As with any baby, and especially with twins, let your mantra be: "This is a marathon, not a sprint." They don't sleep through the night miraculously at 6 weeks, or likely 8 weeks or (for us even 8 months--we sleep trained at 9 months and are now sleeping through the night mostly--hurrah!).
* Remember that YOU are raising your babies: all the books in the world will give you advice on how you should sync their schedules, breastfeed tandemly, etc. This is just advice. Cut yourself some slack, you are doing the best you can! Your babies will be just fine :)
Brenda (hopespringsinfertile) I signed in using a different account :)
I like the Swaddlers Pampers, too. My one piece of advice is this: you do what you have to do in the moment you have to do it. I remember everyone giving me advice about what not to do (i.e. don't use a paci b/c of nipple confusion, only BF at specific intervals, etc etc). The thing is, each child and each mother is different and no one else is going to have to deal with a screaming baby who wants milk even if it's not time yet. I had to make decisions that maintained my sanity and they weren't always what my friends or a book said. My children were fine.
ReplyDeleteLove the ticker! So exciting to count down the days.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm in the majority and love the Pampers Swaddlers too. They seem to fit best and the pee strip is great (a little yellow line down the front of the diaper turns blue when the baby pees). You'll need them by the hundreds initially. My baby is 5 weeks old and we're still in the Newborn size, and have gone through boxes already.
Advice: well, let's see. Keep receipts. You might want to try products and return them if they don't work out. Get some plain white cloth diapers - we use them as burp cloths and to wipe things up and they come in handy for 100 different reasons. If you want to have newborn photos done (those cute ones with the babies in baskets and such) schedule the appointments ahead of time for when the babies are 1-2 weeks old. Apparently they sleep best (and allow the photographer to position the babies while asleep) best when the babies are 2 weeks old.
As others have said, you'll go through between 8-10 diapers per infant per day. So, to do the math just because it's fun and using a 30 day month, that will be between 960 - 1200 in two months. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of things I'd wish I'd known:
Newborns move A LOT -- reflexive, jerky, sometimes jarring movements (much as they did in utero)
In addition to keeping receipts, ask for them, too. We gave a way a lot that could not be returned w/o a receipt. Receipts are a must these days.
Nap when babies nap, no matter how short a span that is.
Try to at least brush your teeth daily :)
Plan meals (for you) in advance for at least the first 10 days home
Try to relax, enjoy, and "be". The newborn time (and infancy and toddlerhood for that matter) go by WAY TOO QUICKLY
Take care to do the firsts: save the umbilical stump, get some professional pictures, make note of when they hold their heads up, get hand/feet impressions. They are mementos you will cherish as they grow
Do NOT sweat the small stuff