Oh my sweet little Max baby you’ve taught me a ton in the last couple of weeks! (Here’s our birth story if you missed it!) You’re adorable and cuddly and smell so good, but you don’t really like to let mama sleep! You’re a hungry growing boy, and I’m happy you’re such a good eater (or uhh… drinker)! Being a new mama is a lot of things including amazing, but let’s face it, anything to help us get a little more sleep/ make life easier is always good! Here are 15+ tips I’ve learned about taking care of a newborn. Maybe your baby will like some of these tips too or maybe not?! These tiny humans are all so different.
16 Tips for taking care of newborns
1. Diaper color line
This is Earth shattering, seriously! Thankfully, I learned it on Day 3 of Max from my friend, Annie. After watching me take off his diaper to check if he was wet/ poopy, Annie kindly made me aware that the yellow line turns blue when the diaper is wet. Freakin’ genius, I tell you! Oh and most diapers have this or at least the couple of brands we have used so far. So, the diaper in the pic below means the front is wet, but the back is not wet. Oh and the line will get more blue than that if you let it sit a little longer.
2. Point penis down in the diaper
A lot of folks told me this, but I guess I needed a hands on learning experience, ha! Just point him down, y’all. Or don’t and he’ll pee all over his belly and clothes. Gross. Oh and pee pee tee pees don’t work that well (see #11). Babies are wiggly.
3. Taking onesies on and off over the legs (instead of head)
We don’t do this all of the time, but if Max is in a mood, we most definitely take the onesie off over the legs and put the onesie on over the legs! Max says this tip is #1 for babies (see his little finger)!
4. Olive oil on bum for meconium poop
At the birthing center, they send you home with this peribottle of olive oil to use on babies bottom for the meconium poop. The olive oil helps the poop easily slide off of babies bum making diaper changing a heck of a lot less work. Just drip a generous amount of olive oil on the bum after each diaper change! Otherwise, the meconium poop is tar like and sticky! Just ask the hospital for an extra peribottle!
5. Car seat trick
Gotta give Andy credit for figuring this one out. The little harness and straps were always getting in the way of putting Max in his seat, and then we discovered these slits in the side of the car seat that fit the little straps perfectly! That way you can slide baby boy with out having to hunt for the harness under his bum. Are these little slits on all car seats?
6. Baby lotion (use coconut oil)
Max had very dry hands and feet so I used some Aveeno baby lotion on him. For whatever reason I decided to read the label… here’s what it says: “If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately!” Really? I thought this was a baby product?! I put the lotion on his hands, and then watched my sweet baby immediately stick his hands in his mouth! Not a fan. I whipped out the coconut oil and it not only cleared up his dry skin but also makes him smell even more delicious! Read your labels, y’all! Check out this post on C.R.A.F.T. facebook with lots more info about babies, lotions, and brands!
7. Change diaper before nursing in the middle of the night
This was another tip from Annie, and I find it essential to our (sleepless) night routine. That way if he does fall asleep nursing, I know that his diaper his clean and I can lay him back in his bassinet without waking him up!
8. Lanolin for diaper rash
I went to a cute little class at our birthing center about baby massage and a girl in class told me that lanolin cures diaper rash. It’s true. Lanolin
–>(affiliate link to the kind we use) is a life saver for nipples and baby bums! Stock up, friends!
9. Rice sock
I feel a little guilty about this one! I basically trick Max into thinking he is laying against a human. My theory is since we nurse belly to belly he likes the warmth of my body. My friend, Natalia, made me the rice sock to use during labor so this sucker is getting double duty. I just heat it up in the microwave for 25 seconds and lay it next to him. I use it the most at night… it’s definitely worth a try!
10. Frozen food is awesome
This is for the mama. Baby boy is getting fed, but mama needs to eat too! I stocked up the freezer with Amy’s frozen goodies while I was prego. Hopefully, you will have sweet friends bring you dinner in early days of baby, but you need lunch too! Stock the freezer, y’all!
11. Mom’s of boys- tee pee pee pee’s don’t really work
They are cute and seem like a good idea, but Max is wiggly and it always falls off. Just cover that sucker up with a burp cloth or diaper when changing. Or let him pee all over you, him, the wall, his changing pad, and the rug. Laundry is fun… Said no one ever!
12. Double up the crib sheet and liners
This one came from a genius on C.R.A.F.T. facebook:
13. The Happiest Baby on the Block
This is the one book both Andy and I read! (Ok, fine I read it to Andy, ha!) Basically it describes why the first 3 months of an infants life are basically the 4th trimester and how the 5 S’s are the perfect recipe for calming a crying baby.
The 5 S’s are:
- Swaddling
- Side/ stomach
- Shushing
- Swinging
- Sucking
At least for Max, swaddling, sucking, and shushing are the perfect combo!
14. Mama’s hair
If you have long hair, wear it in a pony tail or braid to bed. Baby boy has a good grasp and will get a hold of the hair mid nursing if it’s not out of the way. If I don’t do this, then I end up hunting for a hair thing like a maniac in the middle of the night with a crying baby on my hip… not fun. Major plus: my hair looks kind of fun the next morning with braid head. Side part and a few bobby pins… who needs a shower or a blow dryer with a baby?!
15. I asked for new born tips on the C.R.A.F.T. facebook page…
And y’all did not disappoint! Read all of the newborn tips here! Check it out! There are lots more great ideas including jammies with zippers, phone app suggestions, gas drops, and gripe water + tons more. Lots more infant tips here!
Do you have any tips to add to the list? Did these things work for your infant? I’d really LOVE to hear!
Psst… here’s another fun post called “You know you’re a new mom if…“!
Comments & Reviews
The car seat slits are for securing the car seat with a seat belt if you are in a car that doesn’t have the base! I’m pretty sure all car seats should have them. Now you know you don’t always have to take your own car or transfer the base to another car!
I Always battled getting boogers out of my 7 week olds nose and it really bothered me until a nurse showed me a little trick. You just roll up some tissue paper into a thin rod and gently stick it in your babies nose ( aim for the booger) it will either encourage your baby to sneeze or latch on to the booger and pull it right out. Magic
Another useful tip that I’ve used with both of my boys: I use disposable diapers, but hate going through more than one when I change a diaper just because he peed on it. So I lay a cloth diaper on my changing pad and after I take the dirty diaper off I flip the end of the cloth diaper up and let him sit while I get his second diaper ready and get any cream that I plan to put on him on my finger. This gives him a chance to pee if he wants without it getting everywhere or dirtying another disposable diaper.
I loved these tips. My son is 5 today and i’ve started thinking about my second baby. A tip i wanted to add for moms with little boys is: before you pull the wet/dirty diaper down, lift it slightly away from baby then push it back down and wiggle. This will help stimulate him and he wont immediately pee when the cold air hits him. My kid peed on us alot until i started rubbing him with the loose diaper which caused him to pee in the diaper and not on me!
I’m a huge fan of baby gowns! Baby can curl up nearly neked under them just like in the womb & its super easy to change diapers in the night because there aren’t any fasteners.
Those “slits” on the car seats are actually used for a seatbelt should you need to strap the baby into the car without the base.
Really great and helpful list, but I wonder if the rice pillow is a suffocation hazard?
Just a couple of add-ons from a pediatric RN and mom of 5, soon to be 6: most, if not all, products say “harmful if swallowed” and/or “call poison control”. It’s a legality issue more than a safety issue. We get calls, almost daily, from parents concerned about things their children eat, swallow, and/or lick. Most of the time, the amount ‘eaten’ isn’t enough to even cause indigestion, but always call poison control to be on the safer side. Their national number is 800-222-1222.
And for those boys with sprinkler systems activated by air contact, a tissue is quick, cheap, disposable, and all you really need!
Good to know! Thanks, Jennifer!
Idk if someone mentioned this before, didn’t go through all the comments. Regarding issue #11-wipe his belly just under the belly button with a cool wipe or washcloth before you open the diaper to change it. Usually that will stimulate them to pee if they need to, thereby avoiding the pee everywhere problem.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
This is an excellent list!
Great tips! I have a 5 yr old & one on the way. My 5yr old had constipation probs so in her diaper changing “drawer” I kept cotton swabs & a jar of petroleum jelly. If wipes alone didn’t clean her well, I’d douse a q-tip in jelly, rub it on & let it sit a minute then wipe off. It came off SO easily everytime! Another thing- breast feeding didn’t work well for us after about 6weeks- I stopped producing milk- so ahe had to go on formula. I kept bottles filled with water-enough for the night feedings left out on the counter so they’d be room temp & I didn’t have to try & warm them when she was crying & hungry. Then just added the formula & mixed and it was ready! That way it wasn’t too cold or too hot & she could eat more quickly. I’m sure there’s more tricks I used, but these are the ones that I remembered while reading 🙂
First of all great list. Wish I had a bunch of these when I had mine. I have 3 but they are now 22,20,&14. My oldest is having a baby now. Even though I’m not old enough to be a grandma.
When I had my youngest that was a boy I learned the downward facing p the hard way. I did the clean diaper quick swap as someone else mentioned.
For diaper rash I had an old doc tell me to dab malox on with a cotton ball. Diaper rash is irritated by the acid in the urine and it creates a water proof barrier which helps it heal in no time. No one ever believes me but the key to diaper rash is actually keeping it dry. 3 kids and I still swear by it.
Love the olive oil idea cause those black stools r awful.
When they r little I always let the baby lay on my chest. It comforts them because they can hear your heartbeat which they listened to for 9 months.when they were almost asleep I would put them down and they would sleep good. Also I would wake the baby and feed them one last time when I was ready for bed at 11 or so, then they would sleep a solid 6 hours. Learned this with my second. That really helped.
Best idea I had with my little one:
Adult bed liners made the best changing pads. Soft and absorbent on one side, other is water resistant, and disposable if they get messy.
Number 12 is also a great tip for the boppy. I always double up on my boppy covers. If baby throws up, spits up, or you have older children like I do who like to play with the boppy, you can just pull off the dirty cover a voila a clean one is waiting .
LOVE your post! I’m 2 months into life with three under five (4yo daughter, 2yo son and 2mo baby boy) and I still learned some new things! …..and btw, I NEED that “Lettuce Turnip the Beet” shirt! Where did you find it?!
Glad you liked the post 🙂 And holy cow, 3 under 4!! You’re amazing. Here’s the link to the etsy store with the cute tee: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coup
You are funny. So after two boys, It really doesn’t bother me if they pee. I just put my hand over their pee pee as they pee to block them from peeing all over everything else and let them finish. I have to wash my hands after changing a diaper anyway, right? This way I don’t have to wash a burp cloth or wash cloth too. I guess I’m just lazy. 😉 but I’m also used to being puked on, peed on, pooped on, having boogers wiped on me, etc – so a little bit of baby pee doesn’t even phase me anymore. 😉
#7 I found impossible with mine. Day or night, they poo’d every time they nursed. This article was great. Brought back a lot of fun memories. And your little guy is gorgeous.
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
My little guy is almost four months old and all of these tips hit a bell with me. So funny! We were told to point his penis down so we’ve been doing that since birth. My friend however did not, and regretted it many times – ha! I actually just posted a baby tip post on my blog if you want to check it out!
I saw the little tip about the zipper slppers and personally I prefer the snap ones! With the snap ones you can undo baby from the bottom, just up enough to change his diaper, if you have the zipper, you have to completely unzip and pull baby out (legs, not whole body). With the snap ones I just undo the snaps until about mid-tummy and then just push the rest up like you would with a onesie. =]
I learned the hard way to be careful with snap sleepers before the umbilical cord comes off. My daughter’s snagged on the snap on her sleeper and ripped almost completely off way before it was ready. She was screaming in pain, and there was green goop coming out of it for a few days. After that, if I put her in a sleeper with snaps, I put a onesie on underneath until her umbilical cord was completely healed up.
My car seat definitely did not have those. I’m jealous.
Never tried the teepees with my 4 boys, but I always put the clean diaper under the dirty one before opening it so I could be really fast. Boys are dangerous.
I’ve got 5 kids and have never heard of putting the onesie on over the legs. This is brilliant. So hard to get it on over their floppy heads. Don’t know how I missed this. My sister has a 3 week old. I can’t wait to tell her about this.
Fun to hear all the things that make being a momma easier.
Someone told me that right after my daughter was born, and I still use it to put onesies on and off now that she’s 14 months. She hates shirts going over her head.
First and foremost, your son is absolutely adorable.
I won’t be having kids for another few years (I say that but we will see!) but I love hearing different tips and tricks from different mommas. Oh the things books don’t tell you.
Oh and one random thing, lanolin is actually the oil (grease) from sheep wool. Crazy right? All natural!
I did not know that about Lanonlin… crazy!
I’m on baby boy #2 and due with baby #3 in August, and I’ve never known of the car seat trick! Excited to go check ours for slits 🙂
The olive oil thing on their little bums is GENIUS!
AND, the doubling up of the crib sheet/mattress liner is also GENIUS! Why had I never thought of that!?
Max is adorable, and I love his name….you’re doing a great job mama!!
Glad you found a few tips useful 🙂 Being a mama is hard work… I can’t imagine having a newborn with 2 other littles… you rock! Can’t wait to meet your bambino in August 🙂