Hotslings and Boppies

Infant motherhood after a 12 year gap should prove to be an interesting time in our lives. After two and a half years of thinking 'Toddler" it has been surreal revisiting the newborn stage. I actually picked up a copy of "What to Expect the First Year" and after I got through the 50 pages on the advantages of breastfeeding, I found that there were actually a few "New" things about babies I didn't know! Good thing I got the book!!!

* Infants do not need their bottles warmed. Room temp is fine. I probably warmed Chris' bottles for 6 months, until summer time. For Kate, I think I will begin warm and slowly work toward room temp.

* Do not change your 'wet' baby during nighttime feedings. What? The book said, that the way disposables are that they can miss a change or two. The act of changing a hungry baby in the night will wake her more and keep her up longer. Hmmmm, this explains all that late night info-mercials I watched when Chris was an infant! I will have to see about this one, maybe this idea is sponsored by the Butt Paste company!

* Use a sleep positioner to keep babies on their backs. The "Baby Wedgie" (as Jim calls it) is to keep the baby positioned during sleep to keep her from sleeping on her tummy, thus preventing SIDS. When Chris was a baby, I thought the positioners were to keep them on their sides, now they recommend keeping them on their backs.

Besides reading "What to Expect", trips to Babies' R Us have been an adventure! I have found are how many things are exactly the same, and how many things are different. A lot of baby basics are exactly the same, they may have come out with new colors or styles but for the most part, I knew what I was doing with, bottles, bibs, blankets, diapers etc. They even still make the Diaper Genie! That was a new item when Chris was born, it was all the rage.

Now, the Boppy is all the rage. When I 'cutely' asked the lady at Babies 'r Us, "What is a Boppy, do I need a Boppy, would my child be detrimented if I didn't have a Boppy and would all the other (young) mommies judge me if I didn't provide my baby with one?" She said, "They're for breastfeeding." (deadpan) I love, this kind of service!!! You can't make it up.

Alas, Kate won't have a Boppy but she will have a "Bumbo Baby Sitter" basically a Nurf chair every baby of the new millennium needs to be socially accepted by her peers.

One thing I am most excited about is how baby carriers have come a long way. With all our research on bonding for Hope's adoption, I am most looking forward to holding them close. I did some research on baby slings and ordered this "Hotsling" last night. Jim sat with me and we ended up paying the extra $10 so it would reverse to brown... Like his masculinity is in jeopardy? Have you seen my nursery??

(I cut the model's head off because Jim commented on her 'Come Hither' look! Really!)

So I am trying to get up to speed, remember all the infant stuff, and in the end combine my wisdom from the past with what is 'Hot' for today so Kate and I can get the most out of our first year together.