What will you be doing differently this time?

[Dawnlouise30]

This is baby number 2 for me.

I hope to not gain as much weight, I gained lots first time round.

I hope to not need to be induced, though that is not too likely since last son was so big they may induce me anyway. However if I am induced I will insist on intermittent monitoring when needed, rather than constant monitoring that wasn't really needed and restricted me to staying on my back......not a good position to try and deliver a 10lb 7 baby.

I was very strict with routine first time round and my son slept through from 9 weeks and was a dream. But the downside to me being so strict was he didn't breastfeed as I never did skin to skin with him, I believed skin to skin would have spoilt him, I now know I was wrong. I literally bottle fed him and put him down, never really fussed him with cuddles etc. I will be doing more skin to skin thus time . I will commit longer to trying the breast pump if needed so I can get my milk in.
I would not leave hospital till feeding is established or at least I have good support networks in place.

I would ask for no visitors for a week so my son, new baby, hubby and I can just have family time. Last time we were inundated with visitors and it was madness. Also not condusive to trying to establish breastfeeding.

 

[princess2406]

Baby number 2 for us and we were both very laid back and just got on with having a newborn so in that respect won't be any different this time. Id love a water birth this time, with my ds my blood pressure was slightly raised so they refused and also after birth experience was horrific so hoping for a calmer experience and being able to bond with baby immediately this time.

 

[startingout]

This is our 2nd.

I'll do a lot the same in terms of feeding (all being well), sleeping arrangements and routines but just in a more relaxed way.

I don't feel the same need to rush to get back to doing everything I was doing before I got pregnant and am far more willing to ask for help instead of playing Supermum!

As for labour, I'll just take things as they come and try and stay as relaxed as I can.

Actually getting really excited about meeting Fudge now!

 

[mbg81]

This is my second and definitely will stress less about breastfeeding. My daughter stopped breastfeeding at 6 months so I pumped every 3 hours for 6 months after that. Since I would only get 5 oz total from both sides, I had to pump often. But I managed to always be ahead and had enough to freeze which I never needed to use. So this time if that happens again and my milk supply is low, I will try formula. And I will start solids earlier, probably at 6 months. My daughter is extremely picky eater and I believe it's because I started late. Besides that, I will still cosleep (which I absolutely love every minute of it), cuddle, hold and nurse on demand. I never let my daughter cry it out and she is a happy well adjusted toddler.

 

[Marumi]

For the most part I will do everything exactly the same. Attachment parenting has worked wonders for us. I guess we will do small adjustments.

Same:
Bedsharing
Dreamfeeding
Nursing on Demand
Babywearing
Extended breastfeeding into the next pregnancy

Adjustments
1. I plan to get a seamless cosleeper because our bed is simply to small if I am going to keep my toddler in bed. With the seamless cosleeper I can keep close body contact with the new baby because I believe skin contact to be important to regulate tempearture, breathing, reduce the risk for SIDS (my son stopped breathing irregularily when I started keeping him close at night)
2. Because of a permanent injury to my left wrist I also want to use a stroller here and there. My son hated strollers, I hope this baby will be content in one at least sometimes.
3. My son never had a bottle. He moved straight to the sippy cup at 1 1/2 years, which was also my first time apart from him. I'd like to go out without baby (club etc.) sooner than that this time ^^. So once in a while he will get a bottle of pumped breastmilk.
4. Cloth diapering, I think we will not do this for a newborn, did not work well for us last time. Maybe starting at 6 months we will CD again.

 

[pinkpassion]

Marumi, that's interesting about the cloth diapers. It was opposite for us, worked best when exclusively breastfeeding, never had any stink issues or anything!!! It wasn't until she started solids that it became a headache :/ but we have them so we will continue them!!

 

[Mthoodmom]

With my second baby I didn't introduce the bottle soon enough, so he literally NEVER took one. With this baby I plan on introducing the bottle at 3 or 4 weeks.

We will be cloth diapering with this little guy. My other two were disposable diaper babies.

With my other two I didn't purchase a stroller until my oldest was almost 19 months old. This time we have ordered the stroller half-way through the pregnancy, and I am looking forward to having a bassinet attachment for baby to lay in.

 

[Buttercup84]

We're team yellow for the first time so that's been a different but nice experience, so excited to find out the gender at birth
I'm hoping not to have to be induced again (my girls were both post dates inductions at 11 and 13 days overdue) but since I don't want to go over 42 weeks this may well be out of my hands, will give all the old wives tales a try though
Hoping to breastfeed this one a bit longer than I did my girls (3 months each)

 

[Left wonderin]

Ill cherish every second even the tough days as no 2 will also be my last . Ill do more baby wearing and in general try enjoy every second
Can't really say anything else as I won't know little miss personality until she arrives

I truley can't wait!!!

 

[Marumi]

Marumi, that's interesting about the cloth diapers. It was opposite for us, worked best when exclusively breastfeeding, never had any stink issues or anything!!! It wasn't until she started solids that it became a headache :/ but we have them so we will continue them!!

We were simply not able to keep our son as dry as with regular diapers and he had a constant rash and just seemed to hate them. They were also so bulky at first. He seemed happier with newborn regular diapers and by about 6 months we switched to cloth diapers unless we left the house for a long time.
Poop was never really an issue and he started solids late too (16 mths) but he peed like a horse ..

 

[pinkpassion]

You're right, they are extremely bulky!!!! I forgot about that part :/

 

[StephtheHiker]

They're bulky but dang I love the money savings! And we pay per garbage bag to take to the town dump so it's nice not having all the extra waste, too!

 

[Marumi]

We don't pay extra for garbage luckily. But it sure does save money.

 

[Em260]

This is baby number 2 for us.

I will be a lot more relaxed about breastfeeding. I had to give my DD formula a week after birth because I developed mastitis and had to go on heavy duty antibiotics vs the reg ones that are normally safe while breastfeeding. I let the lactation consultants bully/scare me into thinking she wouldn't be able to breastfeed after being introduced to a bottle so early but guess what she is 22 months and still breastfeeding .

I'll be more relaxed about not having baby on a schedule. I was pressured by family to try to get her on a schedule and it drove me crazy until I gave up and she just sort of fell into her own schedule. I will also ignore the constant criticisms of our semi-attachment style parenting where I fed on demand and held her a lot. She ended up being a great night sleeper so i didn't "spoil" her by holding her all the time.

So in summary I'll just ignore all the outside voices and do what I feel is best. Which is basically what I did last time but not without a lot of worry that they were right and I was "messing" everything up.

Oh lastly I'm avoiding an induction this time and having a scheduled c-section. I had a failed induction last time and after 18 hrs of labor had an emergency csection. Hoping to avoid the craziness that goes along with the emergency c-section.

 

[xdxxtx]

I have two toddlers who suck their thumbs all the time. I love that they self soothe, but they bring home germs and get us sick CONSTANTLY. If my newborn sticks a thumb in their mouth, I'll pull it out and stick a paci in right away. My first took a paci, and I took it away at 6 months. That was it. So easy. My second sucked his thumb, and I thought it was great! Until 8 tummy bugs and 2.5 years later when he would rather stand around, sucking his thumb instead of doing anything! My third baby isn't so bad. She sucks her thumb when she's tired or upset, but she has still gotten us sick a few times over the summer by bringing those germs right into her own mouth with that thumb!

 

[Marumi]

..I will also ignore the constant criticisms of our semi-attachment style parenting where I fed on demand and held her a lot. She ended up being a great night sleeper so i didn't "spoil" her by holding her all the time.

So in summary I'll just ignore all the outside voices and do what I feel is best. Which is basically what I did last time but not without a lot of worry that they were right and I was "messing" everything up.

Not that I worried about messing up as I was very certain AP would work for us, but the SAME situation with my family! None of it became true.
A few things my parents said:

1. Your breasts will hang to your knees with all the breastfeeding!
Reality: As perky as ever, having a 32D cup.
2. He will never let anyone else watch him.
Reality: Only took him 2 visits to my parents to be okay with spending a day or even a night away.
3. You will have trouble putting him in Kindergarten bc he is so attached.
Reality: Adjusted better and faster than any of the other kids and after 2 weeks did not even want to stay home anymore.
4. He'll be a Mama's boy.
Reality: The only way he is a Mama's boy is by having a very close and loving bond with me. I am his "princess" that he wants to protect and cares for. Not bad material for a future husband imo.
5. He will never eat solids and be a bad eater because of all the breastfeeding.
Reality: He never needed mush, became a great eater and ate every healthy food on the planet. Actually the only thing that messed this up for us is ny parents stuffing him with noodles, bread and sweets only so now he wants these foods rather than nutritious foods.

Anyhow...my family is quiet now. I suppose it will be more peaceful with this Baby.

 

[KozmikKitten]

Baby #2 on the way for us as well....
This time I "might" give BF a try...but still on the fence about that. Didn't even try with DS.
Planning on using a cosleeper that goes next to the bed this time, in the hopes that being close to baby and being able to stay in my own bed will help with bonding, feeding, and sleeping.
Hubby and I will probably "take shifts" and the one not on duty will sleep downstairs in the spare room. That way we both can get uninterrupted sleep at least 1/2 the night. (This is not really a change but once we started doing it with DS a few months in, we were both a lot happier).

 

[Em260]

Not that I worried about messing up as I was very certain AP would work for us, but the SAME situation with my family! None of it became true.
A few things my parents said:

1. Your breasts will hang to your knees with all the breastfeeding!
Reality: As perky as ever, having a 32D cup.
2. He will never let anyone else watch him.
Reality: Only took him 2 visits to my parents to be okay with spending a day or even a night away.
3. You will have trouble putting him in Kindergarten bc he is so attached.
Reality: Adjusted better and faster than any of the other kids and after 2 weeks did not even want to stay home anymore.
4. He'll be a Mama's boy.
Reality: The only way he is a Mama's boy is by having a very close and loving bond with me. I am his "princess" that he wants to protect and cares for. Not bad material for a future husband imo.
5. He will never eat solids and be a bad eater because of all the breastfeeding.
Reality: He never needed mush, became a great eater and ate every healthy food on the planet. Actually the only thing that messed this up for us is ny parents stuffing him with noodles, bread and sweets only so now he wants these foods rather than nutritious foods.

Anyhow...my family is quiet now. I suppose it will be more peaceful with this Baby.

Yes to all of this!! I heard the same things from family and some friends. And none of it came true. The thing I heard the most was that she wouldn't be comfortable at school and although she's not in actual preschool yet, we do take her to little classes and she is 100% fine being there and so social.

Also heard so much crap about the food thing because I followed the newer advice to wait until 6 months to introduce solids (it was actually closer to 8 months when we started) and I always gave milk first and then solids until she was 1yr. We did modified baby-led weaning and I never heard the end of that either haha but now she is a great little eater and not any pickier than any other toddler we know.

I still hear little comments because she is still breastfeeding like "how long are you going to do THAT?" and I just tell them until she is ready to stop. Or sometimes I will say "at least until first grade" just to get a real rise out of them hehe

Yes, hopefully you are right and it will be more peaceful this time around

 

[pinkpassion]

I'm laughing because I get the EXACT SAME thing from my family... "how long will you breastfeed" "you need to put her in mothers day out or she won't be socialized and have separation anxiety!" "She needs "real" food" "sugar won't hurt her" "you use CLOTH, ewww I wouldn't be able to handle that it's so nasty!" ... yep I got them all, but once people started seeing how awesome dd is , social butterfly, no separation anxiety, best eater around, sleeps 12-13 hours at night, healthier than most kids, cloth diapers really aren't nasty if done right (yes it's work but it's manageable ), they shut up pretty quickly .... and I won't be hearing any of it this time!!

Oh and my MIL FREAKS out every time I wear dd, thinks she's going to just fall out. She literally will walk right behind or beside me.. one time I shrieked really loud and grabbed around dd like she was falling and she about died. I laughed hysterically and just reinstated "I wouldn't do ANYTHING to harm my child, I love her more than anyone could! So let it go!" Personally I think she was just jealous that she didn't get to hold her

 

[Marumi]

Omg I just died imagining your MIL

Oddly I never got anything about babywearing. Just was told I will ruin my back and my back is totally fine.

I have been breastfeeding for 4 1/2 years and I s t i l l get the "how long will you breastfeed" question.. You'd think people would give up, but no...what others do is way too interesting. My husband said my family wants me to do everything like they did, and if I do something different, I am wrong. He is right about their thinking.

My son is also so social. Very open and smiles at everyone. He is almost too nice because if other boys hit him he won't do anything. He told me he does not want to hit them cause they are his friends.