Now that I've been a parent for a little over a year, I'm looking back at the top 5 hacks that I found to be of huge help to aid in reoccurrences that can be draining. I'm still a newbie, discovering helpful tips, but if there's anything I want to continue doing, is sharing simple, tried and true tips and techniques that brought me peace. So I've listed a few things below that I either figured out by accident or found via scrolling the web on a late night or two lol. Enjoy, be sure to share your tips that were lifesavers for all us newbies (I'm sure there are even new things OG mom's are discovering now that weren't available then).
1| Blanket Over Nursing Chair & Crib Sheet | Let me walk you through my first few months where my child had reflux and would throw up minutes to twenty minutes after. My poor son had some milk sensitivity, went through a couple formulas and would regularly have to be changed due to a lot of throw up, forget spit up. This began about a week after we were home from the hospital and lasted almost four months. I revisited my days of stage work and did many costume changes of my son and myself but what was always exhausting was the changing of the bedsheets and the unfortunate stains created on our nursing chair (I have a solution for that too mentioned below). Early on I always layered our nursing chair with multiple blankets, for a nice cozy aesthetic, but quickly realized it was extremely useful of collecting vomit. The accounts my poor son would let it all out while burping, or just letting him rest elevated on my chest. Spit up was expected but I didn't think a river of what looked like wet oatmeal splattered was to be so constant. Having a large blanket spread to collect all the damage was the easiest cleanup. I would then strip whatever soiled clothes I had and the baby's and stick that thing in the wash with one quick grab.
I was very lucky and grateful that many people would put together baby gifts that would include blankets and burpee pads, because I quickly began to use them to line the crib as well (If your child still hasn't mastered rolling over). For extra dryness and easy cleanup, I would use under pads for beds, like the ones they put under you at the hospital, then on top a large burping pad or blanket from baby shower gifts. So I never stressed having to strip the crib sheet every single time. This also works well for post circumcision with the inevitable diaper leaks.
This may seem like a lot if you don't have a newborn that spits up a lot or vomits, but if you know someone going through this with their infant, I promise this will be a helpful tip for them! They are probably running on fumes and have extremely dry hands for over washing and spot treating areas. If you are going through this, remember this is only temporary and you WILL make it through this.
2| 3-4 Sets of Baby Linens (Crib Sheets/Swaddles/Sleep Sacks) & Changing Pad Covers| I don't know how severe your child's spit up, vomit, blow-outs, leaks occur BUT you can never have too many crib sheets, swaddles, burpees, sleep sacks or changing pad covers on hand in case there is a major mess. Picture yourself a month or two in, you're sleep deprived, it's 3a.m. witching hour and your poor child just let out an apocalyptic amount of fluids everywhere. The last thing you want to do is be out of the necessary linens to reset and comfort your child back to sleep. There were a couple things on my registry that came in sets and sometimes a glitch will happen buying items online and I got doubles of said sets. Instead of it being an annoyance and having to return, I was very quick to keep the extra linen items that were purchased on my registry and boy has it helped! Hope this helps save you a trip to the store and you store the extras a little bit longer before to see if you need it.
3| Severe Diaper Rash Combo & Treatment Recommended by Pediatricians | Please confirm and get approval with your pediatrician before applying this combo on your child as I am not a doctor. When my son at eight months got severe diarrhea for a week, this poor child's bum was so burnt, even had what looked like a blister, needed more than just diaper cream. I swear by Triple Paste diaper cream but it was not cutting it and what they told me to do was " Create a proper barrier when the child skin is raw or blistered, apply the diaper cream then layer baby powder that is cornstarch based and that will help keep a protection barrier." They also recommended baking soda in their bath time twice a day, along with a few times a day post soil going diaper-less for the baby's skin to breathe and air dry post washing with lukewarm water. Wipes can be too stripping and cause additional discomfort on their already sensitive and burnt skin. I have never again have had my son come close to what i witnessed in that very difficult week for him. Trust me it is not pleasant seeing your child's pain manifest like this and I wish i knew about the double layering and baking soda in the bath before this ever happened. So please write this in your notes on your phone or mentally in your back pocket, it will help alleviate your child's bum.
4| Emergency Diaper/Clothes Bags to live in Cars & Frequently Visited Homes | Yes we pack a diaper bag and fill it with all the things, but distractions happen. There have been many times where I forgot this or that in the bag and you either catch in time to turn back home whilst being late to whatever appointment, or shorten your errand run because " F%@& I NEED THIS NOW" happened. I noticed this problem happen not in the early stages but in the later months where my son no longer required certain items and you're so used to packing one thing and when coming to a stop, it throws you off in providing other items. It's hilarious and frustrating how that happens. So I now made sure to have an essentials bag prepped in all our cars and incase there are homes you frequent like abuelas, tias or your bestie pack one too. I'm sure the family members that get it already have that available but when your child first comes into the world, provide it for them.
What I recommend in the Newborn/Toddler Essentials Bag:
Diapers
Wipes
Diaper Cream
Baby Powder
Bibs
Plastic Ziplock Bags (incase of soiled clothes)
Change of Clothes (buy Target/Walmart under $10 comfy simple outfits)
5| Bissel Little Green Multi Purpose Cleaner | So what if you're already a few weeks in your couches, rugs and anything upholstery got stained with vomit, food, milk or other? The Bissel will be your new bestie. Absolutely worth having this strong mighty but tiny machine! Sure you can hire a company to come in and spend several hundreds of dollars to offer you a great service, or buy this machine that yoyos from $98-$120 in your pantry and when ready spend 15 minutes or less cleaning your nursing chair and maybe any splatters on the nearby rug. Knowing that I have this option at my fingertips, it's priceless. If you are stressed that you may have old stains on your upholstered pieces and debating if it's still worth it. I would like you all to know that when we bought this for our house, there were two massive stains on my nursing chair that had been hard to remove by hand and were indeed few (maybe five lol) months old that DID come out after using it! You know I only share tried and true items, so this is no different!
Alright fam, those are my top five hacks that may have come naturally to you, never thought to do or needed a reminder of. I hope this helps you or your friend who's about to embark on potentially some sleep deprivation
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