Bathing a Newborn/Infant

Before I had my baby, I went online and watched several videos on how to bathe a newborn.  It really helped me feel prepared, and if you are new to parenting, I suggest you do the same.  However, below are some things specific to our bath time routine that you might find helpful.

First off, I decided to go with an inexpensive baby bath sponge to place on a counter for sponge baths, then to place right in the tub after our baby's cord stump fell off, rather than a baby bathtub.  Those tubs take up a lot of space, and are only used for a short time until your baby can sit up on his/her own.  The sponge cost about seven bucks, stores/dries right in my tub, and the warm water soaks in and helps keep my baby warm during bath time.

Speaking of keeping baby warm, my son HATES to be cold.  The first month of baths were miserable for everyone, because our son wailed through pretty much the whole thing.  We tried running the shower to steam up the room before bath time and turning off the AC, but nothing worked.  However, my mom saw a baby bath cozy for sale at a local shop that stopped the tears and made bath time an enjoyable experience.  The bath cozy is essentially a fish-shaped towel that you wet with warm bath water and then drape over baby to keep him/her warm.  My son LOVES it.  From the moment we started using it, he stopped crying at bath time.  Now that we know about the concept, we just use a hand towel to drape over him if the bath cozy is dirty.  It works like a charm!

My son has sensitive skin, and we couldn't get rid of some skin irritation, despite using a few all-natural baby body washes.  My pediatrician just told us to switch to Dove soap for sensitive skin; hopefully it will do the trick! (Edit:  It didn't, so I'm going to keep using California Baby unscented body wash and shampoo.)

I hope you find these tips helpful!

Newborn Must-Haves

In no particular order, here are my must-have items for newborn care:


water-proof flannel-lined changing pads - I use these to place under baby and myself when nursing in side-lying position at night.  This keeps the bed dry, and the flannel is nice and soft to lie on.

bibs with waterproof backing - These are great for keeping milk off of baby's clothes.

My Brest Friend nursing pillow - It is made of foam for firm support, and buckles in place.  It also has lower back support.

burp cloths, prefold diapers, or hand towels - I put these under baby and myself when I am nursing with my nursing pillow using the cradle hold.  This keeps my clothes and the pillow dry.

button-up and v-neck shirts, nursing camis - These make nursing easy.

Aden and Anais muslin swaddle blankets - The larger size sold on Amazon has made swaddling easy, and swaddling helps baby keep from startling himself awake.  Plus, they grow with baby, so I don't need to keep buying different sizes.

sheet savers - these keep me from having to wash crib sheets all the time when baby spits up or has a diaper leak

sound machine or fan for white/background noise - This helps baby sleep in noisy situations (like when traveling).

Tommee Tippee pacifiers and bottles - so far these are baby's preferred pacifiers and bottles (However we just started bottle feeding and I haven't tried Playtex drop-ins or Dr. Browns yet.  So far we've ruled out the Medela bottles I purchased, because even the slow flow nipples are much too fast.)

bottle drying rack - The one we have looks like grass, and you can purchase little trees and flowers to place on it as structures on which to hang tiny bottle parts.  We got ours at Target.  I like it because it's a special, extra clean place to dry all of the tiny bottle and breast pump parts.

Medela steam sterilizing bags - These are great for sterilizing things when you're in a hurry.  I use them for pump parts if I know I'm going to have to pump again later in the same day, instead of painstakingly washing each tiny pump part.

Medela breast milk storage bags - You can pump directly into them (provided you have a Medela pump) - very convenient.

Grovia Magic Stick - This is a cloth diaper safe diaper rash cream that comes in stick form.  This makes it super fast and easy to apply to baby's bum. 

baby washcloths - I probably have about a hundred of these for use as cloth wipes.  Regular baby wipes break out my baby's bum, so I just use these instead with plain water.  I also use them for wiping away spit-up, and for baths, of course.

Prince Lionheart cloth wipes warmer - I just keep water in this and dunk my cloth wipes in.  The warm wipes keep baby much calmer during changes.

Fischer Price snug-a-bunny swing - This will get baby to sleep when nothing else will.

Infantino play mat - It has lots of bright colors and interesting toys, and a mobile that my baby loves.  It also makes a great surface for tummy time, and is easy to take out and put away.

pacifier clips - These keep that precious paci from hitting the ground.  The last thing you want to do is stop to wash off a pacifier when your baby is screaming.

Planetwise wet bags - I use these instead of having a diaper pail.  I have two of the large size that I alternate using while the other is in the wash.  I hang one on the back of the nursery door by our changing table.  All of my cloth diapers and wipes go inside, and I dump the whole thing in the wash - easy as pie!  Also, I just leave it unzipped so that air circulates inside and the diapers don't stink at all.  I also have two of the medium size and one small bag for use in my diaper bag.

Motherlove nipple cream - This has absolutely saved my nipples from drying and cracking, and has significantly reduced my pain.

Mylacon and Gripe Water - Our baby is gassy, and these medicines have really helped.

no-scratch mittens - I've never had a problem with these falling off like people kept warning me about.  They stay on our baby's hands just fine, and keep him from scratching his face.  I ordered a pack from Amazon that are a bit larger, so even though he is a month old right now, he can still spread his hands out inside them.

gowns and zip-up sleepers - These make for quick and easy nighttime diaper changes.

Things I've Learned After Being a Mom for 10 Days

• If you are cloth diapering, and plan to use cloth wipes as well, then baby washcloths make great cloth wipes.  In fact, I use them for a ton of other things as well - baths, of course, and wiping baby's face, even as a makeshift breast pad in a pinch.  I use them so much that I went out and doubled my stash when I caught some on sale.  
• Don't be surprised if your baby never fits into newborn size clothes and/or diapers.  At nine pounds one ounce, our bundle of joy went straight to size 1-3 months.  Luckily, I was warned about this, and so didn't have much newborn stuff to begin with.  Bring a newborn size and a 1-3 month size outfit to the hospital, just in case you have a big baby!
• If your baby is crying but just ate, has a clean diaper, and isn't sleepy, try feeding him/her again.  Our little man went through his 1-3 week growth spurt a few days ago, and I felt like all I did was feed him.  Every hour, day or night, he would want to be fed.  By the time I would feed, burp, and change him, he would be ready to be fed again.  I was worried about it at the time, but after a few days of this (and a great weigh in at the doctor's office), things settled down and he was sleeping through the night with only one midnight feeding, and wanting to feed every two to three hours during the day.
• Stick it out if you're breastfeeding.  The baby's latch will get better, and you will work out the kinks.  Google and your local lactation consultant are your friends.  I had oversupply issues, and a Google search led me to try block feeding, which seems to be working so far.
• Your baby's fingernails are sharp, even after you file them down really well.  It looks silly, but put socks over his/her little hands to keep scratches from happening.  I recently found a pair of hand-me-down baby mittens in my son's sock drawer and gave them a try.  I didn't buy any because I read everywhere that they just fall off.  Well, I love the ones I have.  They stay on great and don't leave sock fuzz all over his little fingers.  I plan on buying some more next time I go to the store.
• Breast pads - you will need a ton of them.
• Nursing tanks are awesome; get some.
• If you are breastfeeding, get lots of cloth bibs with a plastic backing.  They absorb breast milk, but don't let it soak through to baby's clothes.
• For postpartum recovery, stock up on comfortable pads, Tucks pads, hemorrhoid cream, and A+D Cream.