Definitely the way I handled breastfeeding bc it was so stressful and I feel like I didn't have the knowledge or support system to cope very well....as it is for most new moms. Ahhh the things we wish we knew then that we know now
Definitely give pacifier earlier and start formula earlier. I was able to breastfeed 6 months but after that with my anxiety I decided to give her formula and it made me more happy! Also where did you get your watch band? I loved it. Can you give link? Thankss.
I wish I would have included my partner more with putting my baby to sleep, taking baths, trimming nails, sucking out boogers etc. because now I have to do it all on my own since I’m the only one who knows how. I also gave up on pumping after I tried once and it was a nightmare 🙈. My baby is almost six months and he’s EBF and I’ve never tried a bottle. I wish I would have given pumping a more solid effort so that other ppl could bottle feed him from time to time and I could get a break 😩.
a regret is that in the beginning I almost automatically took over all the organisational responsibilities like when are what appointments and what method are we gonna use for sleep training and what method and what meals for baby led weaning... My partner did the sleep training with me and prepped meals ect but I was the one deciding and researching what we were gonna do, and I totally held that against him subconsciously sometimes but he would have done it if I'd have let him
Taking your baby out on your own can be tough! I love it when my husband is around to help me on outings. One thing I did to help me with that was practicing on my own! In her first few weeks I made myself take my baby on little outings by myself! It was a little nerve racking at first but once I did it a few times I felt more at ease taking her places by myself! :)
Love these sit down chats, I’m nowhere near parenthood but love watching your videos and am learning so much for my future family! Hope your arm is doing better xxx
not accepting more help is something I'd definitely do different if I could go back. Letting other people help and even letting them look after my baby while I do something, accepting that I could use help or advice with some things like sleeping. I felt like I was a bad parent if I let other people have my baby while I wasn't working
I always try to leave a comment because I know(or at least I think 😅) it helps your channel-Your hair looks so beautiful and shiny in this video! I was watching this while sitting waiting in the doctors office for my daughter's 9 month appointment. So many emotions for sure! I feel the same way about a lot of the things you said. However, know that even though there are things you may do differently, you are an awesome Momma and did the best you could in the moment! I try to remind myself the same thing. Rowan is so lucky to have you!
I’ve been watching your videos (starting with the birth vlog) since I was 8 weeks pregnant and I am now 33 weeks and you make me feel a lot better about everything and I just wanted to say thank you so much I appreciate ALL of your content! I’m hoping to have a safe natural birth ❤️
I had similar anxiety about breastfeeding my daughter and then I read “My Child Won't Eat: How to Prevent and Solve the Problem” by Carlos Gonzalez and it helped me immensely. I really recommend the read even now because it changes the perspective of feeding your child. And one thing I would like to point out, half of all children don’t sleep through the night at one year old and it is completely normal (and sleeping through the night means 5 hour of not disturbed sleep). I understand that in USA it’s hard to work and have a baby that is constantly waking you up hence different sleep training methods, so I absolutely don’t judge and it is great if it works for you, but please don’t say things like a baby should sleep through the night at 5 months old. For majority of babies it’s just not possible because it requires a lot of mental skill and capacity, just look at how many adults have problems with insomnia. I say that because I felt so much pressure that my baby should sleep through the night and was worried that something was wrong, and then I consulted a children sleep psychologist and a pediatrician and they both said that it is normal when baby is waking every two hours at night, and it is ok even up to two years of age. That’s why please don’t put pressure on parents by saying things like “he is 5 months old and still isn’t sleeping through the night” or “he is developmentally ready to sleep through the night” every baby is different and is ready when is ready. If baby needs sleep training then the baby isn’t developmentally ready that’s why you are helping him by training.
ALL OF THIS!!!!!! sleep training is definitely a “western culture” thing. In so many other cultures, bed sharing and co-sleeping are the norm. We put a lot of pressure on babies (and toddlers) to be independent and to sleep like adults sleep a lot earlier than what they are developmentally capable of. I also believe that the “sleep training industry” is just a big money making industry.🙄 they prey on the fears of parents that their children will never sleep through the night. I think the best thing we can do is better support our children in their sleep and not to put pressure on them because someone else said they “should” be sleeping through the night at X age.
Stopped the bottle for a week and that was enough for bottle refusal. I’d do one bottle a day for future babies! I ended up joining an online, out-of-state mommy group and it was so helpful. Hopefully in-person is possible with future babies.
I regret that I didn't go to mummy and me swimming classes earlier because it's something so sweet and fun that you can do with your baby and you meet other mums who have babies similar age By the way, I'm leaving multiple comments instead of one long one because I heard that it helps the algorithm but if it annoys you please tell me
I find that a scale can be a source of anxiety if used after each feed or multiple times per day. What we did was weigh our baby once per week, around the same time and in same conditions (ie after bath, without a diaper). Also, babies don't gain the same amount constantly. It has happened that he gained 100 grams instead of 200 and the next week 300 instead of 200, getting the desired 400 in 2 weeks. After the first month I starter to weigh the baby every month instead of weekly.
sleep train or implement it earlier, and use a sound machine from day 1! also 100% with you on the formula! i was so against it and then finally let go of my anxiety and switched at 9 months. fed is best ❤️
Idk if you have the option but if you’re a mom in the US, maybe consider working on weekends for 6 months if possible instead of getting the full maternity leave we all need…
I feel you! I’m a pandemic mom too and I still feel like I’m “practicing” when I go out on solo trips with baby🙈 I totally agree about the skin to skin also❤️
Amazing video and so many things I can relate to! Have a 6 MO now and will definitely implement some of your advice. Btw I browsed the phone during overnight feeds too. Only thing that kept me from going exhausted to miserable.
We bed shared the first 4 months and while I’m so glad he now sleeps all night in his crib and has since about 4 months I wish I had appreciated the night cuddles more. Because I miss it SO much sometimes. I know it’s so much healthier for the both of us but I can’t help but think I didn’t cherish it enough since now I get no type of cuddles unless he is sick. He just turned a year last Friday.
Loved this video! As a first time pregnant mama it makes me feel relieved to know that I’m not dumb I’m just new… thank you for this video! Subscribed 😍
Thank you for all the suggestions! I'm on my 32 weeks pregnant now still a month to go to see my little one🥰 Love your videos and they helped me to ease out my stress a lot through this pandemic preggo situation.
I totally relate to the "I need to do it all" feeling. My husband wanted to help from the beginning, but neither of us knew what we were doing, so unless I gave him specifics he didn't know how. Which led to bitterness on my part because I just expected him to help 😂 which was totally my fault! And even family, my family was totally willing to help but I would never ask.. it would have saved me a lot of burnout. Definitely so much I'll do differently next time
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad I've done the 1 second a day videos too!! I had planned on taking a lot of random videos throughout my little guys first year and didn't even realize that 1 second a day was an app until after a few weeks of him being born! But it's going to be so great to look back on when he turns 1 in October :)
Great tips! I can totally relate to worrying about milk supply. 5 months in. So stressful because she doesn’t take a bottle. Which brings me to my next point. I think, not 100% sure, but I think that’s a form of nipple confusion. She did it while young but now has forgotten how to suck a bottle nipple. I hear it requires a different tongue action than sucking from our nipples. My last hope is introducing a cup 😬 but hearing about Rowan, that’s tough! Thanks for doing this video.
I wish I had more of a realistic attitude about getting my body back to pre-baby. I worked out like crazy when I was given clearance, but I didn't loose anything after a month so I gave up. Within the last two months, I have been doing BodyfitbyAmy, and she is tough but makes me feel so good about myself even though most of my extra weight is now turning to muscle. I need to give myself grace and feel more positive of my mom bod. Anyway, while talking to other moms, many say it could take a year or two to begin to feel like yourself.
I feel the solid foods thing so hard. I didn’t do near enough research and now it’s like I’m playing catch up. I also wish I looked up how to get over the anxiety around choking. My baby is 8 months old and every time I give him solid foods my anxiety sky rockets
I totally agree with you on skin to skin and pacifiers. I was exclusively pumping and desperately trying to get my LO to breastfeed that I was to tired to relax and enjoy the first year. :'(
I had a smaller baby as well and I bought scales. To be honest I think most of the time just made me anxious and disappointed because I’d be like “I tried so hard and she still has only gained x”. Looking back I realise my baby was never meant to be 50th percentile. These weight and height things are such a range. Some babies are just meant to be smaller. As long as baby happy and hitting milestones it’s all good! I had my first in US (where it’s percentiles obsessed) versus Second in Australia where you dont see a dr between the 6 month and 12 month check ups. Both ways are fine, you know when there is something wrong with your baby. They are natural eating machines and will dip up and down with weight at times.
I wish I had pumped earlier and used the let down collection I didn’t start until 3 months wish I would have done earlier because my baby did not want a bottle for along time
So many points apply to me as well! My baby is 8 months old and I regret not doing more skin to skin. Personally I wish I'd done more videos. I took tons of pictures thinking I would not rewatch videos that much :( Also I wish we would have done "nicer" hospital photos of baby, hubs and me after bith, cherished the golden hour more. It was just all such a whirlwind and we were so exhausted we just took a couple of shots. Solid Starts has been a lifesaver for us as well! I follow many blw accounts but they are simply the best.
Videos are my favorite (could you tell? Haha!) I took so many “aesthetic” videos but honestly some of my favorite ones are just the ones Matt took on his phone and I wish I had done more of that too!
Dang I’m early I recently came across this acc and have been watching following on their journey and love them so much!! I look up to them as parents and I hope I’m as lucky as she is with her husband being as invoked as he is 💖💖💖
I would tell myself not to stress over sleep training so much. He was able to put himself to sleep by 8 weeks but once teething came into the picture (at 4 months 😭) it has messed with his sleep schedule and he needs cuddles and to nurse more. I was so strict on not having him sleep with us but now I just bring him into our bed nurse him and let him sleep with us. Many say it’s not safe but I feel confortable and he is not going to want to sleep in our bed forever so I stopped stressing it 🥺💝
Those cuddles are so precious! I miss when Rowan would fall back to sleep in our bed after nursing in the morning and I would just hang out with him until he woke up 🥺
Great video! My biggest regret is not getting rid of the pacifier at 4 months. My son is almost 6 months old and still relies on his paci to fall asleep. Does Rowan still use a pacifier and did it become a problem for you? I’m planning to get rid of once we start sleep training at 6 months 🙈
I sleep trained my baby at 6 months, one week and I thought about taking the pacifier away but what happened is that I just put 6 or 7 in the crib and my baby is just helping herself to it whenever she wants (I was going to get rid of it because I thought that I would have to go and replace it when it fell out, luckily like I said she is taking care of that herself). Also she only gets access to the pacifier in the crib plus a chew toy). As for sleep training I used the “Ferber method” but for my baby I ended up just doing one check at 5 minutes and then just let her cry until she fell asleep. The crying decreases with every night until she got it, about 6 days, it also worked for naps. It is glorious to lay her down in the crib and she falls asleep within minutes. Also consistency is key. Good luck!
i wish I would have introduced the bottle more frequently as my daughter would not take any bottle and only breastfeed after 6-7 months. (I ended up breastfeeding for 21 months.) Hopefully something to figure out with my second daughter - I am 39 weeks +3 days today - due any day now!
Love the video! I said the same thing about bottles after #1. #2 had an awful time nursing the first few months and developed nipple confusion in the strangest way. Everything I wanted to do < baby saying absolutely not
My first baby is only 3 months old and I already have so many regrets. I wish I had done more skin to skin for sure, next baby will be in diapers for the first month at least. Breastfeeding has been so difficult too. He got supplemented in the hospital, and I spent way too much time triple feeding and not enjoying the journey just because I was so set on giving him breastmilk (why do we do this to ourselves?). I'm downloading the app right now! I also regret not taking more pictures and videos, I barely have any from when he was a newborn. We had a rough first two weeks in and out of the hospital. I'm starting my research on BLW now. I actually came back to your chanel to see what chair you use, because the ones I see are so ridiculously expensive 😭
My son turned 8 months today and there are so many of these I've dealt with too! I wish I had put less stress on myself in the beginning about having to switch to formula because of a milk protein intolerance.
I would definitely do more skin to skin. I wish I had done more, and also I would one hundred percent agree with the infant scale. My son had some issues when he was born and I didn’t get much help with breastfeeding. I had to supplement occasionally. Even then I had really bad anxiety because I was always worried he wasn’t gaining weight correctly. Also, My son would never take a pacifier either so I was out of luck there. I was his pacifier and my nipples suffered. 😭
I have a 9 month old baby boy. And totally agree. Wish I would have taken more advantage of baby cuddles. They grow to fast 😅🥺. I was only able to breast feed 3 months. He has always had formula since 🙌🏻
Both kinda haha! I did them myself but I was a digital media specialist before RU-vid and that included doing a lot of professional photography so I already had all the equipment/backdrop and everything!
My baby is 3 months tomorrow & I needed to hear this. I felt like I was spending too much time on the phone while breastfeeding & it’s true. Just out of nowhere 3 months have gone by.
One thing that helped me with my baby gaining weight was pumping for the first 2 months or so. I would nurse and pump and he gained weight then later he got used to drinking the amount of milk I would pump. When it came to eating I started with purees and later offered both food he can eat alone and purees. I didn't introduced pacifier or bottle because my first had a hard time letting it go and would bite me constantly but spending alot of time with babies it's very important they learn sooo much I regret not teaching my first born at a young age specially the first year I've learned so much and my baby now is very smart for a one year old he does so much on his own and yess it's very hard nursing and being home with the baby but trust me if you did it the other way you would regret it I did it with my first baby and I'm doing the opposite this time I couldn't be more happier my baby is communicating playing with toys learning his colors potty training and more
Same here in NC, at least for most jobs. I was a middle school teacher and decided to take the next few years off because there was no way I was going back after that short of a time.
I definitely relate to the desire for more skin to skin and not spending as much time on my phone. It felt like suuchhh an effort to do skin to skin once we were home from the hospital, wish I had spent more time in bed snuggling. I think I just wanted to feel normal and to get into the swing of things. I had had a pretty rough time and was on meds that made me feel like shitttee. And same with the phone thing. My baby took 40-60 mins to feed each time so I needed my phone to stay awake etc but especially in recent months I am trying to leave it and soak up the time breastfeeding. I've been reflecting on those early days a bit as we are approaching 1 year. Those newborn days seem so easy now from the perspective of chasing a crawling, standing explorer, and entertaining them, and cooking 3 meals a day and then cleaning up haha. But when you are in the thick of the newborn phase with no sleep, healing from birth, adjusting to this massive life change and trying to keep this human alive, it seemed so so massive!
