Leo is my third baby, so I didn’t think there’d be many surprises but it’s unbelievable the stuff you forget! So here’s a few notes I took on my phone that I just discovered! And I’m so glad I jotted them down, because I honestly wouldn’t have remembered otherwise. Handy if you have a little one due soon and you’re wondering how to care for a newborn baby and want to be extra prepared (tip: it’s ok to be that mum constantly googling “ is x normal with my baby”)! 


The first 24 hours with a newborn baby

I just quickly wanted to start by touching on the first 24 hours. Honestly……this is a big blur x 3 for me! What I can tell you is that baby doesn’t sleep when you expect them to. I remember this being a little bit of a shock, but then again I was a confused, sore, milky sleep-deprived mess! 

And just because hindsight is always 20/20, here's a few tips:

  1. Have a support person like your mum/relative/friend/doula on hand for any support! Even if that support is just keeping you sane. Pat-your-back kinda thing. 
  2. Looking back, if I were more organised, I would have pumped/expressed some colostrum (the stuff that comes out before your milk comes in. Colostrum is thicker and extremely nutritious for bubs). And then given this to hubby or a support person to feed baby whilst I had a few hours sleep. 
  3. And most importantly - anything you can do to recoup, recover and REST, because if mum is happy, then bub is happy. This is the time to call upon everyone that’s ever said ‘call me if you need anything’. This is when you call. This is when you want the piping hot tray of lasagne delivered to your door. This is when you want your other kids babysat for a few days. This is when you want someone to come and give your baby those precious newborn snuggles whilst you have a shower or a lie down. You’re still superwoman at the end of the day. 

Newborn baby care tips

So here’s a few random newborn baby care tips and things to remember when you have a newborn bub. Of course this is just my own experience, so please take any tips I provide with a grain of salt (and not professional advice by any means). I jotted these down at the time I was experiencing them.

  1. Newborns can be VERY noisy! Like sometimes I am shocked at the noise that comes out of this tiny human. I think he grunts more than he cries! It really is about learning what all their little unique noises mean. For example, when I put Leo down and he’s not 100% asleep, he will perform a series of grunts....at the start I’d pick him up and try to re-settle but I’ve now learnt that if I leave him for a minute, he usually settles. It’s pretty funny actually....like a little mini protest! 
  2. Babies can get ‘baby acne’! It’s a little pimply stage that usually shows up at around 4 weeks old (give or take). It’s the pregnancy hormones leaving their system apparently! His older brothers couldn’t stop talking about the ‘dots’ - they thought they were fascinating and wanted to pop them (probably because mum and dad love a good pop - not on babies though!). These ones tend to disappear themselves after a few weeks thankfully! 
  3. Poonamis/Poo-sasters - you can't stop 'em. Whatever phrase you decide to reference the yellow mustard lava that explodes from an unseemingly tiny little bottom - yes they’re real! We only experienced our first one at around 4 weeks old - and it has nothing to do with how well the nappy was put on etc. It’s simple maths - more poop than the space of the entire nappy = yellow mustardy poop all up the back and drenched through layers of clothing...
  4. Baby farts can really STINK! Now this is something I do not remember with my other kids, so maybe it’s just this one! But whoa....there was one stage when he was just a week old....I can’t tell you how often he would release a stink bomb....up to the point where I was actually embarrassed to have visitors around! I quickly realised that it was probably connected to what I was eating (as I’m breastfeeding). Seems like I had been enjoying those gifted chocolates way too much. Whoops.  
  5. You can't arrive anywhere on time with a small baby. Whether it’s a poonami, or they’re hungry RIGHT before you’re due to leave....throw any sense of punctuality away. Now. In fact, you have a small window of time to use as a completely legitimate excuse to just not commit to things. Use it! 

The end. Now go enjoy the baby snuggles and (nice baby) smells x