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OK – here’s a big one that I can reflect on now that the stage has ‘passed’.

Never, and I mean never be without a burp-cloth!  It seemed any time I didn’t have this essential piece of fashion draped over my shoulder, Miranda’s innards would spontaneously erupt.  Onto me.

You can buy special ‘burp-cloths’ I guess, but what we ended up doing was buying little batches of wash-cloths from Target that had bunnies or whales on them.  Cheap, washable, and they did the trick.

You don’t need anything expensive.  You just need something!  I’d say that by the time Miranda was six months, I could go without the burp-cloth over the shoulder, but there was one within reach still.

The spitups were much less frequent.

By now, at 10 months, its hardly an issue thankfully, and it seems we can put that behind us, but for those of you wondering about the ‘essential’ items to buy – burp cloths are up there.

Wow! So its been awhile since I posted – perhaps you thought I had enough an ran away!

Nope!

Actually, its gotten a little easier overall. Looking back (8-months old yesterday) I’d say by the fourth month things got much, much better. I’ll save that for another time.

I thought that now, with the benefit of hindsight, I’d reflect upon some of the items we purchased and if I’d get them again or not.

The first item I’ll review is the Graco Pack ‘N Play.  The model shown is the exact one we received at the baby shower.

Originally, we got it because the baby’s room is pretty small and this is smaller than a crib in length. (Just about the same width though). Actually, we thought it would make a good crib because of its portability too.

In that regard, the Pack N Play did fine. Our baby slept in it for three months! At that age, she couldn’t move around much, so there were no worries about keeping it at the uppermost setting.

But, by three months as weight started to come on, and she was leaving a little dent in the thin pad it was clear she needed a crib.

So, in a nutshell…based on OUR experience.

The good. (for us)

It’s easy to set up, fold up and move.
Not that expensive.
Potentially versatile as a portable play yard – but that is yet to be seen!

Cons. (for us)

Mat is flimsy for sleeping on. OK for awhile, but they need something more stable with some weight. Obviously, it is not a crib and it isn’t marketed as such, so perhaps this criticism is not fair. Actually, I know it isn’t fair!

Its now in the basement. Baby girl will not tolerate being caged up! We’ll see later when it warms up if she’ll play in it outside. My feeling is that if she’s mobile, the area is too small, but we’ll see!

In conclusion.

I liked the idea of the Pack N Play. A portable play area that did double-duty as a crib while we were shopping for a ‘real’ crib. Does what it says, decent construction considering its intent.

However, I would probably steer clear from it next time because as a crib, it won’t work for long and you’re better off putting that money toward a real crib – which you’ll have to do anyway. If your baby happens to love it as a play-yard, then you have a winner. If not, and in ends up in the basement as ours it – well, at least it folds up nicely and fits into the travel bag for storage!

You can read more about the Graco Pack ‘N Play on Amazon
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Did you get this product? What did you think?

Almost nothing is as difficult as responding to the middle-of-the-night screams of a newborn.  Didn’t I just feed you an hour ago???  Along with the screams reminiscent of someone being gutted in a cheap horror movie you’re simply exhausted.

Every second it takes to get that bottle of warm milk into that infant’s mouth seems like a blood curdling eternity.  (At least it did to me.)  My baby girl can scream like ten ordinary baby girls.

Going through the diaper-changing routine while be bottle is slowly simmering in the bottle warmer reminds me of an Army Drill Instructor yelling in your face to try and disorient you.  Don’t think, just act!

Well, with the yelling and lack of sleep, its hard to think straight when the clock reads 3 AM and Princess wants to eat.  Now.  So, I’ve found a way to shave critical minutes off of the middle of the night baby feeding ordeal, except if you’re using expressed breast milk or are breastfeeding at that hour, this isn’t going to help much.

If you’re feeding formula, try this.

Measure out the amount of formula that you need before hitting the sack.  In our case, I get two 4-ounce bottles ready by adding the powder, but NOT the water.  Next to my pre-prepared bottles, I keep a little 10 ounce bottle of bottled water.

When baby girl starts her vocal rampage in the middle of the night, I’ve found that I can knock minutes off of my response time with this method.  The main benefit is that the water doesn’t need to go into the bottle warmer because its already at room temperature.  If I did want to warm it, it would likely be faster for the same reason as compared to the pre-made bottle sitting in the fridge.

I know it doesn’t sound like much, but this little trick allows me to get to feeding a little faster, usually before she’s worked herself into a frenzy so the whole thing goes a lot smoother.

Which makes a bit difference when you’re tired and disoriented.

Have any middle of the night baby feeding time saving tips?

Wow.  I can’t even post once per week!

Needless to say, its been a whirlwind.  Currently, baby girl is in her swing, sleeping which gives me a few precious moments to pop in!  She’ll be three months old this week, and I’ve learned so much about being a new dad…I’m definitely going to share it!

But now that couch seems to be calling me….

Well, we’ve come a long way since our colicy baby caught us by surprise!

Turns out, the formula was the issue.  Most people say that so long as the formula is the ‘same’, meaning cows’ milk or soy based, you should be able to switch to another brand that is either cows milk or soy without issue.

Well, we had issues!

We switched back to the Enfamil, ans as disgusting as it tastes to me, baby girl seems to like it, and we don’t have the marathon screaming issues after feedings like we did during the switch.

Lesson to me.  Don’t switch formula if what you have is working, or, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

So, now that that issue is ‘resolved’ its been a lot easier figuring out what she’s crying about.  Usually, its hunger.  when she’s hungry, SHE IS HUNGRY!  She screams like its the end of the world! (and for her, it might seem that way actually.)

The other time she screams is for the diaper changes.  Not sure why, but I think she’d rather have a dirty diaper than be changed.  I’m working on my speed, but its still an ordeal for all involved. 

Other than that, shes sometimes just fussy and that crying can range from the solo squawk to the full-blown screamfest.  As soon as she’s picked up, she settles down.

Problem is, we can’t always pick her up!  The next challenge for us is to be able to sooth her, or get her to learn to soothe herself.  Its always something new with kids!

Do you have any infant soothing tips?