Without a doubt, being a parent for the first time can be quite confusing. Usually, moms are the ones who take care of the baby’s needs for the most part, so the feelings of exhaustion, fear, and even depression are not an uncommon thing. In order to keep up with everything and get back to normal, moms need to create a good newborn routine. Of course, a helping hand from the partner is more than welcome (necessary, to be more exact) since moms need all the help in the world to get through the first two months after delivery.
Now, experts say that the best way to create a good routine is to write everything down. Purchasing a good book baby tracker can help new moms to keep notes of the day-to-day activities and see whether there is a change in something. This is the easiest way to create a good routine that can keep one’s baby well-rested, full and happy.
The book-like baby tracker can help moms track everything when it comes to their new bundle of joy. On these trackers, moms can log breastfeeding time and the change of sides, baby sleep time, nappy changes, baby playtime, medicines and so on.
Depending on what’s the chosen type of baby tracker, moms can keep track of different things according to personal preferences. There are so many new things to learn and get used to over the first several weeks, and that makes it really hard to remember everything. Having a baby tracker can really ease the life of new moms while allowing them to look back at the past entries and notice if there are any changes. What’s more, once in their hands, moms can keep the tracker forever, helping them remember those days when their now grown children were babies.
Don’t Give up
Now, no matter how fancy baby trackers are, the thing that can help parents succeed with the routine is being consistent. All moms have been there, and know how difficult it can be to keep a routine, but not giving up easily is paramount.
Set Alarms
Usually, newborns need to be fed every two hours, so instead of checking the clock all the time, set alarms. Usually, moms can get so wrapped up in what they’re doing, so quite often they forget to wake up their babies which means one meal less. This is something that shouldn’t happen as newborns need milk not only for being full and calm, but also because a nap period of about 4 hours is not considered nap time. This can literally break their routine, so sometimes they can confuse day and night sleep.
Practice is All You Need
As with anything else in life, practice is what can help parents become better at a certain baby-related task. This requires patience and trusting yourself enough to forgive yourself even if you make a few mistakes along the way. Whether talking about how to give a baby a good bath without any help or changing the diaper, practice is all it takes.
Additional Things to Take into Account
- Get to know the signs – Tugging ears, yawning, eye rubbing, crying and staring off into space are signs of tiredness. According to caregivers and doctors, new moms should not wait for babies to cry to put them in bed. This will likely result in a baby who can’t fall asleep fast and on their own.
- Swaddle the baby at night, and unswaddle during the day – At night, it is recommended to feed them swaddled, while during the day, parents should unswaddle their baby. This will wake them up and help them have better feeding time while creating a better bond.
- Create nap and nighttime sleep routine – Babies should distinguish nap time from nighttime, so the easiest way in doing that is by letting them sleep on daylight during nap time. And vice versa, when nighttime comes, close the blinds and let them sleep in a dark room with soft night lamplight. This can really help in creating a good nighttime sleeping routine.
- Using white noise is allowed – Some parents love the idea of using white noise as it helps their babies get a better sleep. However, this is individual, and there will always be some who don’t like white noise.
- When out, still stick to the feeding schedule time – We all know that when going out, it’s almost impossible to keep the same schedule like the one at home. However, doctors recommend to do your best to keep the feeding time the same as normal, otherwise, you risk having to deal with a fussy baby later on.