Advice

I'm not a big advocate for offering up advice for parenting unless first asked because its super annoying, however I'm going to make an exception today. my best advice for new mothers is this: "IGNORE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE SAYS, INCLUDING YOUR DOCTOR!" Obviously this doesnt apply in EVERY case, but over-all, I stand by it. I'm no pro by any means, i vouge for that... but i have had four babies, and i can say with complete assurance that all kids are DIFFERENT. Know one knows their child better than the mother. You think its necessary to have them sleep on their backs?? the risks are there no matter how you put them to sleep, just monitor them. once my kids could sleep on their tummies, they slept through the night... so this time around i did it right off the bat, and guess what, Hayden sleeps through the night. most adults like to sleep on their backs, so why wouldnt a baby?? now, there are exceptions, some babies prefer their backs, or their sides.... let your baby choose! same with pacifiers, one of mine hated them, two loved the big fat straight ones, and Hayden loves nuks... again all kids are different. swings?? I stressed and stressed about getting a swing this time around because it was a life saver for my first three...guess what, i now have a swing sitting in my living room that is only used when landon tries to get in it. Hayden hates it! swaddling... none of mine liked it! they always fussed until they were free, but some babies do...again, let them "tell" you. diapers.... cloth or disposable: personally, im all for convenience, but everyone is different... do what works best for you. The whole saving money thing, im still not so sure i agree... i spend about $410 a YEAR for two kids, it would have cost me about $900 to buy USED cloth diapers to last until potty training...2 years, so in this particular case, i'm spending less for disposable. its all about what YOU want and what works best for you and your baby.  No caffeine?? i drank it a few times a day with all my kids... so much for low birth weight since mine were all over 8lbs. If your baby is acting like something is wrong, and you feel that they need to be seen, odds are, they do. Im pretty anal about not going to the doc unless absoltely necessary, especially for rashes and stuff because so many things can cause them. But landon had one a few months back that i knew was more than just a typical rash,