10 things you must do as a first time mom

10 things you must do as a first time mom.

 

1. Breastfeeding isn’t easy in the first few days of life: Your baby will fuss and cry a lot because he is not latching properly.

   If you have a kitchen stool, sit on it, a chair that has firm back and bum rest, sit on it to breastfeed. Avoid sitting on cushions and your soft bed to nurse. Sit and hold the baby like shown on the image above.

   If your baby has a great appetite and can suck for hours “Foodious baby” try changing positions to avoid back ache. You can start with Cradle hold, then change to cross-cradle hold, lying on your side to breastfeed or doing the laid back method.

   These are the best breastfeeding methods taught at antenatal and post natal clinics. When you lie by your side to breastfeed, ensure that you do not fall asleep o.

   Your newborn can choke on the freshly loaded boobies. If you wake up at night to feed and still feeling sleepy, try your best to sit.

   ALSO READ: How to give bath to new born baby

2. You need some new mom breastfeeding essentials like breast pads to keep the loaded milk from soiling your clothes, ask for either disposable or washable breast pads at the baby items shop.
   

   There’s so much in the disposable packs that you may not exhaust all before your breast milk stops leaking. Remember that stale milk has an odour and as you breast feed, deodorants are very essential.

   If you must use anti perspirant in your armpits, let them be mild, not the ones with strong fragrances as the baby’s nose is always close to the armpits while breastfeeding.

3. Personal hygiene is very important so you don’t begin to suspect that the house is smelling or food is sour when it’s you that’s oozing. Bathing twice a day is a must o.
   

   Please remain shaven so that some nyama-nyama things will not get stuck in the “under forest”. Sometimes, the nurses clean you up and shave everything down there during delivery, maintain the habit, it’s a good habit.

   Abeg o,dear mom, don’t let the shrub grow back as you nurse, keep it neat and tidy. If you bathe with medicated soaps, the pregnancy dark spots and areas appear to disappear and clean up faster than when you bathe with toilet soaps.

   Use good medicated soaps and bathe with sea salts. Sea salts worked wonders on my skin, I scrub some soap on the sponge, pour in some salt before scrubbing my skin and it just has a way of cleansing even dark spots that have been on my ankles and knuckles for donkey years.

   Not the salt we use in cooking pepper soup o, sea salt is different, not for cooking.

4. You’ll have some challenges with excessive farting (passing gas), please eat less milk and sugar), sweating a whole lot at this time especially if you gave birth in the dry season or harmattan.

   Ensure that you change your bra at least once daily. Do not repeat the bra you used yesterday unless you want to start smelling like rotten fish. Even with breast pads on, sometimes milk still touches or drops on the bra, please change them daily.

   You don’t need to own a ton of bras to change daily, even with just two bras, one can change daily if it’s not rainy season.

   New moms wash daily so, while one bra is being washed, the other one is worn and washed the following day.

   It’s best to wash your bras and under pants with detergents than with bar soaps, soak for at least 30 minutes before washing undies and remember to rinse with plenty of clean water or rinse twice sef.

5. This fifth point, hmmmm,  I can’t type here without mentioning it oh. My first girl suffered a lot with cold, we were always going to see the Doctor and giving different medications while continuously exposing her to cold with daily long baths.

   If the weather is not hot, bathing a baby daily is not necessary. With my other kids, I became wiser and started to observe the weather.

   In the  case that the mornings and evenings are very cold, bathe at noon and that’s it. Your baby doesn’t do any work yet, is neither a mechanic nor an engineer, just needs to be kept clean and warm.

   Sometimes just wiping without putting baby in water is enough. Never do the “baby must bathe twice a day” thing if the weather feels cold.

   If omugwo mummy says that’s how you were taken care of, tell her to please postpone the bath to the following day. If your baby is coughing off and on and off and on, sometimes it could be cold from regular bathing in cold weather, watch it.

   Imagine we had winter in Nigeria, will you dare bathe baby twice daily in December? This doesn’t mean that we leave our new babies hot.

   Over covering and lack of ventilation too are not good, open the windows wide, let air in, the baby needs fresh air and in dry season, turn on the fan, air the room moderately, the fan should blow low or moderately, not high please.

   Leaving the baby hot can cause skin rash. Air-conditioners…

   I use fans in my house for now until God takes me from glory to glory next level, if you use AC, let the temperature not go below say 18 degrees, I hope I’m right sha.

6. If you have the time, choose breastfeeding over formula. Be baby friendly, even though I breastfed exclusively with just my first alone.

   The others didn’t suck only breast mil because that my first show me shege, she refused to take solid food after the baby friendly ended.

   Formula isn’t bad, but if you are fine and you are spending sometime home with the baby before resuming work, breastfeed as much as possible before introducing formula but again, one thing about introducing formula late is that your baby might reject it.

7. Be watchful and cordon the bay off with pillows even if you have to leave for a moment. You never know when they start rolling and this leads to accidents.
   

   At all times, ensure the baby has pillows blocking him by the sides, front and back, if your baby is in the cot, make sure it’s latched properly.

   Don’t let that first fall happen before you learn.You think she cannot move, she’ll give no notice about when the first rolling and tossing will start.

8. You are a mother now, love yourself. Don’t compare yourself with other moms o, our bodies are not the same, it was easier for my stomach to bounce back to flat with my first, second and third than with the fourth girl.

   This is your third or second, that’s her first and you have been there tay tay. Stop being a self critic, you’ll be fine. Just don’t eat too much of pounded yam and eba, starch, plantain, fufu, semovita.

   If you can make corn fufu, great because corn has very low calorie content. Some women don’t have that type of stomach that bounces back immediately, it takes a while so, be patient and do  not be too hard on yourself.

   Your old clothes might not fit immediately after birth, get a few bigger sizes to use at this time as even boobs are heavier and bigger than normal.

   READ: 8 Sure things that happen to your body after you birth a baby

9. Seek Help oooh, don’t even try to be a super mom. The body has gone through months of carrying and growing another human, it needs time to rest and rejuvenate.
   

   You need people around to help while you spend more time with the baby. If you must ask, do not be shy, it’s your right at this time. Let relatives and friends come in to help.

   If you try to do all by yourself, you’ll burn out quickly and become too tired, angry and even depressed.
   I never rested well after I had my baby about 2 years ago and it still affects me till now.

   Baby arrived on a Thursday, Saturday was the girls’ visiting day and even when I complained that I couldn’t do it, that the girls will meet their brother during holidays, no body understood, the begging was too much and I agreed to go visiting.

   Walking from the car park to the School’s courtyard took me so long because the episiotomy was still very fresh and I was scared the stitches might come off.

   so I had to walk really slowly and at the same time trying to disguise the fact that I just gave birth 2 days earlier.

   Waiting at the car park was out of it because the students are not allowed to come even close to the car park to meet their parents, it has to be at the visiting venue and I suffered that day.

   Once we settled down, I fell asleep while visiting my girls and slept till evening, they had to tap me to wake up as visiting hours were over.

   His father carried him the whole time because he’s the one that begged and begged that I follow them with a two days old baby.

   We came home, there was no permanent help at that time, I had to do more than necessary and then to also face my then irregular posting on the blog and take care of the ones who went to school every morning, in short, long story.

   I hate to ask for help and this is not a good thing. I like to act “strong woman” and honestly that doesn’t pay at the end of the day. When people come to help bathe the baby, I kind off feel like I can do this after all it’s not my first and I tell them not to bother.

   Even my mom sef, we never agree 100% during omugwos so, I end up taking over after a few days of her bathing the baby.

   I don’t agree with the massages and some of those things like giving water while bathing so I’d rather do everything myself. I’m a perfectionist and that doesn’t help either.

   Let people help you with errands and chores, if you must sleep the whole day, do.

   If you can, get a massage and sleep well. If there is no one around to help, do not kill yourself, the house is yours, no one will flog you for not mopping fast enough, you can sometimes look the other way and just rest with the baby.

   Tell hubby where you need his help around the house and eat well.

10. Ger ready for Doctor visits and whenever you are going to the hospital, ensure you pack extra clothes, bips, face towels, diapers and wipes because you may need to change him more than once.

    Never forget these extras. If possible, leave them in the baby bag permanently and replace as soon as one is exhausted.

    You’ll visit a lot of times for immunizations, do not miss any and avoid shaking and playing with the baby unnecessarily after taking injections. Sometimes, just changing a nappy can cause a flu and you might end up at the Doctor’s office.

    Always change quickly, keep all the items ready before taking off baby’s clothing and please wipe quickly.

    Do not leave your baby uncovered to go dispose the soiled diapers, drop everything beside you and only leave when baby is fully dressed. Bathing for too long too can cause a cold that will lead to the Doctors, so be ready for these visits.