Before my daughter’s birth, I’d never held a newborn before; I had a lot learn about babies. In the 23 months between my daughter and son’s births, I learned tons: breastfeeding, baby lead weaning, board books, battles not to fight. Yet, if I were to start again, there are still a few changes I’d like to make for both kids.
- More snuggles and less interference after birth. The doctors whisked my daughter to look for meconium in her lungs. Even though there were no complications, it felt like forever before I held her. You better believe that my birth plan for my son was quite clear about holding him immediately! He was placed directly on my chest, and there he stayed for at least an hour. But then I learn about delaying the first bath to keep the vernix on baby’s skin longer, and about skipping erythromycin eye drops altogether. But more so, there was no reason for my family to be on any time schedule. If my baby and I were healthy and happy together, then why end our early bonding time for any intervention?
- Try cloth diapering. I have one friend who cloth diapers, and the whole process still seems a bit complicated to me. But, so did regular diapers. I clearly remember changing my daughter’s diaper alone for the first time and how nervous I was. If I had started with cloth from the beginning, it would have become second nature, just like previous generations of women.
- No battery operated toys. Any toys with batteries for the first year did not hold my kids interest for more than a few minutes. Still today, aged two and four, my kids ignore the battery functions or skip those toys altogether. I’ve grown a distaste for toys that claim to teach through repeating a set of sayings or songs. My kids use their imaginations more without the batteries, and the toys are far less annoying.
- Buy or borrow more used clothes. I had clothes for the first few months for both of my children, but after that, I bought their clothes new for a long while. I wish I spent more time finding where to buy good used clothes or been daring enough to ask other moms I knew to lend me some.
- Make a greater effort to babywear, including while nursing. I had a sling for both children, but never put in the effort to make it second nature. If I were to do it all again, I’d get past the awkwardness in the beginning, and push through to babywearing all the time, especially away from home. Oh how empowering and convenient to have been able to grocery shop while nursing!
If you were to restart your parenting, what crunchy changes would you make?
