If you are like me, you love Pinterest. I have pinned over 4,000 things. Not even joking. You can find all of my boards here. But as a new mama, you could see how one could get overwhelmed with the plethora of information. I’m here to help you sort it all out and show you what the best of the best pins are just for you, the new mama, in regards to what you need to know about life with a newborn. These pins are focused solely on the time period of the first few months with your baby. I’ll be linking to the articles directly to save you from having to hop around too much. Now, on to the best articles and pins.
If you are having a hard time with getting your baby to sleep, there are ways to help. I was extremely sleep deprived for the first nine weeks of Charlotte’s life. Turns out, she was a reflux baby. Once she was put on medication for her reflux, things started to turn around. It was at that point that she started sleeping seven hours through the night. That’s when this pin came into action. I relied on this article to help guide me to a new day of normalcy. I followed this schedule very loosely and it worked for us. The nighttime sleep progressively increased the older Charlotte got. This mama shares a wealth of information. Definitely save this pin.
Because I found the first pin, it led me to this most fabulous blog. This is another great resource for getting your baby to sleep on a schedule. She does an amazing job in laying it out step by step and by your baby’s age. Fantastic resource. I also referenced this site plenty. Charlotte has been “on a schedule” since around nine-weeks-old. It’s thanks to these two pins for building the foundation.
If you are breastfeeding your baby, this article is a must pin! I wish I would have pored over it sooner. It’s a timeline of what the average breastfeeding journey will look like. Granted, we are all different, but these facts listed are pretty spot on. It documents what breastfeeding will look like Days 1-5, Weeks 1, 2, and 3, then by the month thereafter. This article reminds me of What to Expect When You’re Expecting but for the breastfeeding mama. Such a great source!
What was the world like before Buzzfeed and Pinterest? I have forgotten. This list is a amazing. Numbers 4-23 are all for life with a newborn. Perfection. You can find diagrams for things like what are the bare necessities, how to swaddle, what to eat while breastfeeding, how to correctly strap your child’s harness in the carseat, a newborn survival guide, a formula feeding guide, how much sleep children need at each age, and much, much more.
I was very fortunate to be a teacher when I had Charlotte. She was born in February so I only had to return to work the last few weeks of the school year. That being said, I had to store up my breast milk before I went back to work, and I had to pump while at work. This article from Happy Home Fairy has some great pointers for pumping. She does mention that she never froze her milk, but I had to. I let it thaw out over night in the fridge to be used for the next day. Other than that, this article is definitely another must pin.
Learning to play and interact with your infant is so important for your little babe’s brain development. This mom has come up with a ton of activities that you can do with your baby to work on just that. Genius. I was always trying to find ways to interact with Charlotte when she was just a little bitty thing, and these are some helpful suggestions.
I was that mom that did not go anywhere before Charlotte received her two-month shots. But we did have to go to the occasional doctor’s visit, and I did get brave once before then and took her out to eat at a big airy restaurant. That being said, I packed up everything I could grab in my huge diaper bag. This article lists 10 items that are necessities. That’s all? Yep. This is all you will need in your baby’s diaper bag until they are a little older than a newborn. The only thing I did not need from this list was the doctor’s chart. My doctor kept the records of everything in her office. And instead of baby food as listed, life with an infant will require a bottle of breastmilk or formula or a nursing cover-up. Your choice. ;)
I love HelloBee’s website. It has so many resources for life with a child. This list of infant toy favorites is perfect. Charlotte had a similar version of everything on this list and loved every single item. Little babies are the easiest to entertain. Primary colors will dominate your house for the foreseeable future, so I hope you like bright things. ;)
Another favorite from HelloBee is this list of favorite board books. Board books are all the rage for newborns because once your baby learns how to grasp, these puppies will quickly go straight to their little mouth. Then you can read them over and over as they look on in wonder. It is the most precious sight.
Have you heard about the Wonder Weeks? We all know that children have physical growth spurts. The wonder weeks are mental growth spurts. Here’s one of the explanations from The Wonder Weeks’ website: “It’s not your imagination–all babies go through a difficult period around the same age. Research has shown that babies make 10 major, predictable, age-linked changes – or leaps – during their first 20 months of their lives. During this time, they will learn more than in any other time. With each leap comes a drastic change in your baby’s mental development, which affects not only his mood, but also his health, intelligence, sleeping patterns and the ‘three C’s’ (crying, clinging and crankiness).” The Wonder Weeks app is a handy tool for you to identify when your baby will be going through a leap and what you can do to help them through it. I loved this app.
I had to pin this book myself, because it was a saving grace. One of my BFF’s told me about this book when I was crying in desperation at one point in my sleep deprived life. I bought it immediately and learned its techniques as quickly as I could. This is not the first time I’ve mentioned it here on the blog. That’s how much I love it. It taught me so much about how to calm my sweet baby when she was having a full fledge melt down, and for that I am forever grateful. It worked wonders for us, and I hope it will do the same for you.
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There you have it, friends. These are my favorite pins to help you adjust to life with a newborn. I hope you find some helpful tips.
If you want to pin all of these articles individually, I’ve created a special board on my Pinterest page to do just that called Best of the Best: New Mama 101. Find them all at your fingertips HERE.
Before I go, did I miss anything? Are there any other items or topics you would like to see to help you get acclimated to life with a newborn? Just let me know and I’ll see what I can find. If you didn’t already know, I am the research queen. ;)
May God watch over you and your sweet baby as you learn a new normal. Life is certainly sweet.
This post is part of the New Mama 101 series. Be sure to check here for previous posts in the series and to see what else is in store.
***See where I’m linking up here.
I love these pins! You make my mommy life easier. I can just go to your blog and see what I need! :)
So glad you like them, Vi! :) And thank you so much for your compliment. You are too sweet!
I love this! I have a six month old and wish I stumbled across this sooner. There is so much on Pinterest that you're right, it can be so overwhelming for a new mum. This is so helpful though, thankyou.
So glad you love it, Rachel! Pinterest is the best, but there is so. much. stuff. I plan on covering all age groups during the first year and beyond, but it's a work in progress. ;) Is there anything in particular you'd be interested in seeing?
That would be great. I look forward to seeing more! At the moment we are tackling keeping our little one entertained. She hasn't quite learnt how to crawl yet, so she will get frustrated when she wants to be on the go. Even just activities to do with our babies that help strengthen fine and gross motor skills?
Oh, for sure. :) I might not get to a post for the six months old age group fast enough for you, but I remember when Charlotte was on the verge of crawling, she loved her jumper. It builds strength in their legs, and the one we had was full of toys and activities to do. She also loved playing on her Fisher Price playmat. She rolled over and over until she was strong enough to crawl. I would put toys in front of her to entice her and she would work her way to get it. I just pinned both of them to my Mommy Tidbits board on my Pinterest page. Hopefully you can find something similar in Australia. Good luck! Six months old is such a fun age. :)
It's always so encouraging to see a mom, who also found Babywise Mom to be a fabulous resource. Love all the things you listed, but by far, the wonder weeks and babywise mom are my favorites!
Yes, I loved using these sources! I hear a lot of debate about it, but it worked beautifully for us. I had a healthy, happy, and thriving baby. I'm so glad she took to scheduling. :) I really do heart all of these I listed, and those two you listed are so great. Thanks so much for visiting!
Great post! I am currently preg w my 2nd, so these posts will be a nice refresher!
Awesome! Congrats on baby #2! :) Such a fun an exciting time. Even though I'm sharing the wealth for others, I also will be glad to look back on these if I ever do have another. ;) Thanks for visiting, Ashley!
Absolutely pinning this for my future lil nuggets. :)
Wonderful! Thanks, Alyssa!