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Hey if anyone is about to have a baby there are a couple of things that have fully changed our lives. Now all babies are different. They respond to different stuff. But these particular things stopped us from walking out of the house and never coming back -
1) expressing milk is an absolute ball ache. I don’t know how there is time in the day. The first pump I got was a single electric. I had plenty of milk but using this I’d get 40ml in 90mins. Once I got a double electric pump in the bra I could sometimes get 140ml in less time.
(CAVEAT: these are expensive and we were gifted one or two of these items. I wish I could buy every new parent a double pump in bra and a prep machine)
2) We started using formula at about 8wks because I went back to work. It meant we had to warm a bottle = 25mins of crying. We were given a *prep machine*. IT CAN MAKE A BOTTLE IN 2 MINS!!! IT CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED HOW MANY HRS THIS SAVED US MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
If you are splitting feeds (including night feeds) with your partner and using formula this can save your marriage. Not an overstatement.
3) We learnt about swaddling in our ante natal classes. Everyone knows about swaddling. But when you are sleep deprived as if you are being tortured you forget simple stuff. Our baby didn’t nap for more than 20mins mostly in the day. We started swaddling & would get 40mins-2hrs.
4) our bubba had colic. Its the worst thing I’ve encountered in my life. It’s defined by 3hrs (minimum) crying every day for a min. 3 weeks. It went for 8. It’s so exhausting standing up & rocking so A yoga ball to bounce on helped so much get him settled& sleep w/out the walking
5) a speaker cranking out white noise. I used it the first week just on my phone. Didn’t work. In a moment of desperation I put it through a speaker and put it right near his cot. He conked out. We used it every day for months. It really soothed him. Poor little bunny.
6) A friend bought us a packet of 24 washable nappies. If you have a baby with reflux these are amazing. More absorbent than muslin cloths. Great for everything- drying bums. Wiping spills. Wiping wee off change may. Pretty cheap. We had lots of musings but these were more handy
Again, I know lots of these require money. I’m so sorry if they’re out of your budget. I understand that we’re in a privileged position. I was just so desperate when I was in the thick of it, I would have loved to read what helped other without being lectured because I felt so-
Helpless and that I should know how to do this, or that there was something deeply deeply wrong. I couldn’t understand how a baby could cry so much. And why I was making so much milk but not expressing enough. These might not work for you, but by god they worked for me.
I hope there’s someone out there that reads this & finds any of it helpful. If you are crying a lot, & so tired just standing up, & eating one piece of toast a day, & not cleaning/cooking/showering, that was my normal.
I felt so hopeless and helpless. It passed. I still have post natal depression, getting help and on medication. I’m predisposed to mental@health stuff but this is the hardest thing that’s happened to me. But my little fella is now happy and thriving and no more colic 
