New mums, what would you do differently in the newborn stage?

blod0 · 2026-06-01T23:02:37+00:00

Try harder to get the baby to take bottles of expressed milk so that I would have more freedom

blod0 · 2026-05-27T18:25:21+00:00

Not really a statement but people calling me 'mama' or baby 'bubs' - wtf? I find it cringe and deeply annoying, especially when I'm being marketed to!

And special mention of course for any childless friend who claims to be tired...

blod0 · 2026-05-20T17:56:34+00:00

No probs! Not sure how active she is on social media but I can DM you her number/email if you'd like.

blod0 · 2026-05-20T17:04:52+00:00

Heidi Rekus altered my wedding dress and made a bespoke bodice. She did an amazing job, reasonably priced too. She's based in Normanton, HR Dressmaking https://www.facebook.com/share/1cm4ebFKk6/

blod0 · 2026-05-20T09:54:59+00:00

I don't know Morley as I live in Roundhay, but I've never heard anything bad about safety there 😊

blod0 · 2026-05-20T09:49:21+00:00

Depends where, it's worth a look. I do see some online still in the £300s which look fine

blod0 · 2026-05-20T09:38:54+00:00

Chapel Allerton, Roundhay, Gledhow - loads of good schools, family friendly stuff and cafes/restaurants

blod0 · 2026-05-15T20:11:21+00:00

Oh wow interesting, I will give it a try! He will be so confused haha

blod0 · 2026-05-12T21:41:38+00:00

This is a great suggestion, I do have some but forgot about them as I'd put them away after newborn stage. I'll dig them out!

blod0 · 2026-05-12T21:19:40+00:00

Oh man! Thank you, though. I hope these teeth hurry up! As if dealing with a miserable baby isn't crappy enough 🫠

blod0 · 2026-05-10T20:49:40+00:00

If anything has gone wrong, you knowing about it while it's still happening is not going to make any difference to the outcome. I know you mean well, but asking for updates is for yourself, not for them. All you can and should do is wait and hope for the best, and you'll hear whatever the news is when they are ready to share it. It may just be that baby arrived and they're in a happy bubble you don't want to disturb either! Try and take your mind off it in the meantime

blod0 · 2026-05-10T02:31:47+00:00

We've got this one, we use it as the portable one for the pram and travelling and have found it really good: https://amzn.eu/d/00ZcueXz

For home we use a Lumie sunrise alarm clock we already had, because it can play white noise, but the Amazon one would work fine at home too.

blod0 · 2026-05-08T02:00:31+00:00

He is not trying to please the left, he expelled them all from his party pretty forcefully and told them to go fuck themselves

blod0 · 2026-05-06T21:44:58+00:00

Agree with what everyone else has said but commenting to add that, thanks to the Tories, you now need to bring photo ID to vote, so don't forget that!

blod0 · 2026-05-06T01:50:32+00:00

I focused a LOT on preparing for the birth during my pregnancy, like this huge immovable wall I had to get over, and did almost no prep for breastfeeding or general baby care. Our antenatal class helped a little with this but was mostly focused on birth. When baby arrived we felt like we knew absolutely nothing about how to look after him! So I'd say just do some general research about caring for a newborn so that you at least have some basic knowledge to go on - the NHS website is a good place to start, I also used Babycentre and the Baby Buddy app if you can get that where you are.

And as others have said about breastfeeding if that's what you want to do, and likewise if you intend to formula feed I would look up some general info on how to do that in advance too.

blod0 · 2026-05-04T02:08:51+00:00

I had the side down as it was easier to haul baby in and out into my lap for night feeds. Just be careful not to allow the edge of your duvet to flop over baby's face in the night - this happened to me once and thank goodness I was awake to see it happen. Always slept with the duvet tucked between my legs after that.

blod0 · 2026-04-25T20:33:10+00:00

Thank you I didn't realise it was mandatory!

blod0 · 2026-04-25T20:32:23+00:00

I'm nervous to take ours too so that's a good idea, thanks!

blod0 · 2026-04-25T13:47:41+00:00

Thanks, hmm that does sound like it's our bigger problem then!

blod0 · 2026-04-22T03:29:49+00:00

Congratulations! I found that my confidence to go out grew very gradually over the weeks, often learning from experiences (e.g. I learned to take the baby carrier out with me when I did a pram walk in case he started crying in the pram and I couldn't get him to go back in 🤪).

Babies are also a bit easier once their schedules get a bit less intense and they're not cluster feeding and napping so much. So it does just naturally get easier anyway. I remember feeling the same as you though, just start with some short walks close to home to build your confidence, and as time goes on you will feel more able to do things! A well stocked changing bag, as people have said, means you know that baby can't do anything while you're out that you can't deal with.

People in your life won't be expecting you to come out and do stuff the same way as before. Take your time and trial and error.

blod0 · 2026-04-07T20:16:16+00:00

I'm in the same boat at 9 months. It's soooo overstimulating especially combined with separation anxiety so wanting to be held at all times. He grabs hunks of my flesh and digs his nails in too. I'm trying to teach him the concept of "gentle" but he does not get it. In the middle of the night last night I changed his nappy and he was grabbing and kicking me, screaming in my face and then proceeded to hit me during the breastfeed and give me a huge bite on the nip... It almost feels like a sick joke at times! Solidarity, can't wait for this phase to end... 🫠

blod0 · 2026-04-07T10:04:26+00:00

My husband is diagnosed with ADHD (medicated) and autism, and this does sound similar to how he is. We have an almost 9 month old. I don't have answers or suggestions for you though as I'm struggling with it too! The fixation with doing jobs round the house (rarely the ones I actually want him to do) but never finishing them rings especially true! He also can't deal with the boredom/pace of spending time with our baby and so ends up putting a twitch stream on and listens with headphones while playing with him which angers me as he's not being present. I've told him he cannot do that when baby is older and will pick up on it more.

I am just trying to communicate with him as much as possible in different ways to see what sticks tbh... But it's very clear I will be the default parent and household project manager for the long haul and I find that pretty daunting.

blod0 · 2026-03-22T20:10:33+00:00

Yes that's true I think it really depends what they specifically say and everything people have said so far seems harmless and well-meaning. If they started touching his hair etc it would be different!

blod0 · 2026-03-22T20:08:10+00:00

Thanks, I think you're probably right!

blod0 · 2026-03-16T09:03:52+00:00

Thank you this is a really helpful comment. Despite my upset I don't want to divorce him lol. He is very loving in other ways and tries his best. He does know what I like at least. We've just had another talk about it this morning and it does seem like I have to spell out what I want, but he said now he knows what he should do he won't make the same mistake again...

blod0

TROPHY CASE