Friday, October 14, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #19: Keep Baby Meds in a Designated Spot

It’s the middle of the night, and you’re awakened by your baby’s wail. Keeping all of his/her medications in the same spot all the time can make a tough and stressful situation just a little bit easier.  Even though this sounds like an obvious thing to do, it’s too easy to just leave a bottle by the sink because you get distracted only to really need it and not remember where it is. Taking the extra few steps to put baby meds where they belong saves you time and headaches in the future-guaranteed.
Don’t forget:
Always keep meds out of reach of little hands. Even though new babies can’t grab them right away, they’ll be able to sooner than you think. It’s better just to designate a safe spot right from the get-go so you don’t have to move them later.
Put baby meds in a convenient spot and right within your reach when you most need them. We found the best place for us was above our son’s changing table.
Keep baby meds separate from your meds. Not only is it safer, you also won’t have to go rifling through the medicine cabinet to find what you need.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip # 18: Nursery Storage-Bins are a New Mom’s Best Friend

…which is good because they’re everywhere. I, like so many others, can appreciate a good storage bin because they never fail to be so darn useful, especially in Baby’s room. I recall sitting in the middle of  my son’s nursery, with said son still in my belly, feeling overwhelmed by how I was going to fit all of my newly acquired baby shower gifts into his tiny 10 x 10 ft. bedroom. I had to get very creative, but I managed to organize it all, and storage bins played a major role in this little miracle.
Some tips:
·         Look for wasted space in your nursery-most likely you can turn it into useful storage space with a bin. The most over-looked dead space in Baby’s room is under the crib, but be careful: cramming too many things under a crib can become a dangerous fire hazard.
·         Measure your space BEFORE purchasing storage bins-eyeballing it quickly before heading out to the store can lead to frustrating returns or bins that are too small and don’t maximize your empty storage space. I managed to find THE PERFECT size bins for his changing table because they not only were the right height and length, but the width was so exact that I was able to nudge 3 bins in there instead of 2. I wouldn’t have been able to find those without proper measurements first.
·         Don’t sacrifice fashion for function-if you find the right size bin but you’re not crazy about the color or look, don’t buy it. There’s too many fish in the sea.
·         Do sacrifice a little $$ for perfection-if you do find the right size bin and it’s also the perfect color and look, be prepared to grab it even if it’s not on sale. The Perfect Storage Bin is a beautiful thing.
No drawers on this changing table, but storage bins
still helped me to neatly organize all of his essentials.

These 3 large bins under the crib add much-needed nursery storage in a
usually overlooked spot.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #17: Keep Doubles of Big Baby Items at Places you Often Visit:

You probably already know that traveling with a newborn can be tedious, exhausting and can get a bit ridiculous the way your car becomes crammed full of baby gear. Notice I said “ridiculous” and not “unnecessary”.  Chances are you’ll need and use every item you bring along for your tike (don’t forget Tip # 3 to help you weed out what you do or don’t need for travel). It’s important to keep your baby’s schedule as close to normal as possible when you travel, which makes it understandable to feel the need to lug around Johnny’s nursing boppy or tummy time mat.
A great way to leave some breathing room in your car is to make the effort to leave doubles of all the baby items you often use at places you visit frequently. I’m not telling you to go out and buy a brand name, brand new double of what you have at home; in fact, I think it’s a bit silly to do so. Second hand stores and garage sales are usually chock full of perfectly acceptable baby items that people are usually desperate to get rid of and work perfectly well for the short term. Whether we’re talking about Grandma’s and Grandpa’s for a weekend trip or your sister across the country several times a year, this tip helps make your excursions less hectic and much more enjoyable.
Below is a suggested list of items you might want to keep at your frequent travel stops:
·         Pack n’ Play or Crib
·         Changing table or Changing Pad
·         Yoga Ball (works great as a substitute rocking chair for soothing cranky babies)
·         Bouncer
·         Tummy Time Activity Mat
·         Boppy
·         Diapers/Wipes
·         Bottles
·         Baby monitor
·         White Noise Machine
·         Mobile or Aquarium Soother for Crib
Will and I enjoying a quiet morning on my parent's farm
 and feeling oh-so-glad to have a comfy changing table handy
 instead of a flimsy diaper bag mat. 

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #16- Make your own baby food

Not only is it healthier for your baby, it’s cheaper AND it can be easier if you do it right.  When I first started making food for Will, I told myself I’d only do it as long as it didn’t drive me to the Looney Bin. Turns out I never had to buy a single jar of baby food, nor did I ever want to.
Here are some tips to keep you on track:
·     Plan ahead-Make your baby food all in one big batch and only make baby food that you can freeze for weeks at a time.  Whenever you need a meal, it’s as simple as grabbing a cube from the freezer and heating it up. Home cooking for Baby is not easier if you have to come up with a new meal every night.  We always had at least one veggie puree and one fruit puree in the freezer so our little guy had some variety in his diet.

·    Splurge a little for the right tools and you’re more likely to stick to it-I bought a baby food puree cookbook (one that keeps it simple is best) and a set of baby food cubes with measurements that are freezer and dishwasher safe. You can also buy a fancy baby food puree processer, but I got by on my ordinary old blender. Below are links to the items I chose, but there are many like them on the market. Make sure you choose the items that work best for you.



·    Select easy-to-puree produce-you don’t want to spend half your life peeling, chopping, or mincing something that only ends up making an ounce or two of baby food. There are so many easy-to-prepare options that you don’t have to sacrifice your baby’s nutrition. Some simple prep purees include butternut squash, broccoli, pears and frozen peas. Bananas and avocados are so crazy easy that all you have to do is mash them and put them in a bowl. Although spinach, mangos, and apples are oh-so-good for Baby, they take a little more prep time and you might not want to plan to make them on a regular basis.
Of course, always, always, always consult your baby’s pediatrician before introducing a new diet.
Our son Will trying homemade sweet potato puree for the first time

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip # 15: Waterproof Mattress Pad on your Bed

Go to the store, buy one now, and put it on your bed. You’re certainly not going to be thinking about it when you and your leaky baby pass out in your bed after a 3 AM feeding.  I had to learn this tip the hard way.
My son Will, then 3 months old, taking a
morning cat nap on my well-protected mattress

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #14: Relax your wardrobe

This might sound like a “duh” kind of tip, but it’s harder to do than it seems. At first, in the midst of all the pooping and spit up, I didn’t care at all that I was spending my days in a t-shirt and yoga pants, but after awhile I caught myself looking longingly at my high-heeled “hurts-like-hell-but-man-do-they-make-me-look-good” knee high boots. If you’re a SAHM like me, it’s especially hard because you don’t get to enjoy fancy outfits during normal working hours away from home. The most important thing about this particular organized new mom tip is that you’ve got to tell yourself you’re going to do it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself buying pretty dresses and strappy sandals yet opting for comfortable shoes and 100% cotton when you leave the house. Trust me. In the long run, dressing down your closet makes life much easier both physically and financially.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #13: Exercise

Ugh. I know. Sometimes the last thing a new mom wants to do is pull on her yoga pants (that are probably a bit tight because of the baby weight) and hit the gym. Believe me, I can sympathize.
I gained around 50 lbs. with my pregnancy, and I was anxious to get it off ASAP.  I remember being disappointed when my doctor told me I couldn’t do anything but light walking for exercise for 6 weeks after giving birth. So I walked. I walked and I walked and I walked – lightly. I was slowly losing weight but I discovered something more important happening. I felt FANTASTIC when I was walking. Everyone knows the stresses of a new baby can make you feel like you don’t have much control in your life. I found that exercising-even just light walking-gave me back that feeling of control. My focus on losing weight suddenly faded away and I was able to relax and just enjoy my daily exercise.
When I was able to do more strenuous exercising, I worked hard to make time during the day just for me to work out, and it paid off. Not only did I end up losing more than just my baby weight, I became a much happier, much calmer, and more organized new mom. Exercising is now just a part of my daily life, and if I skip it, I feel like something is missing.
Not sure how to get started?  Here’s what worked for me:
·         Take your baby for a daily walk. Like I said before, it’s all you’re allowed to do the first 6 weeks.
·         Once you’re ready to do more, schedule a light workout while the baby naps, because the dishes are less important. I started with a post-natal yoga video while Will slept in the bouncer next to me.
·         Join a Mommy/Baby Yoga or Exercise class. Since I’m not into group workouts I never did, but I have mom friends who did and really enjoyed them.
·         Find a workout facility that offers drop-in child care. Once you find the right one, you’ll be hooked. I still take Will to our local rec center at least once a week. You’ll get an uninterrupted workout, plus your little one gets to socialize with other babies.
As everyone says, start slow. If you find yourself dreading your workout, stop immediately and find a new one. Before you know it, you’ll be in the market for a smaller pair of yoga pants. J

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #12: Keep Essentials on or Near the Changing Table

Everyone knows to keep the diapers and wipes near the changing table, but what new moms don’t realize is how many other things you need to do for your baby on the table besides wiping a bottom.  I quickly realized after Will was born that I needed to overhaul the whole changing area. The hanging mobile was moved from the crib to the table where he enjoyed it all the time, as you can see from the picture to the left. 






Here’s a list of everything I kept handy around the changing table the first few months after Will was born:
·         Diapers
·         Wipes
·         Diaper Cream
·         Baby Tylenol/Other Meds
·         Thermometer
·         Baby Toothbrush
·         Baby Nail Clippers/File
·         Nose Aspirator (the bulb thing)
·         Extra Pacifier
·         Comb
·         Onesies
·         Baby PJs
·         Baby Socks
·         Bibs/Burp Cloths
·         Receiving Blankets
·         Extra changing table cover
·         Sunscreen
·         Kleenex
·         Hand Sanitizer
·         Small Squirt Water Bottle
·         Extra Rattle or Board Book
Although this list seems excessive, I used every last item from this list almost daily, and I suspect other parents do too. Most of these items are small so they’re much easier to organize than at first glance. I have some open storage below the changing table for the linens, so if you actually have a dresser, you’re set. For the rest of the little items I hung pocket storage above the table which works perfectly, since it’s important to keep meds out of reach of grabby little hands.  The pictures below give you a better idea how I organized the table area. Keep in mind that I now have a 19 month old, so the items pictured are a bit different from the above list. 

Convenient pocket storage hung to the left of the
changing table keeps meds and small items
out of Baby's reach 


Interesting images, toys, and books keep Baby happy-
I had to take the mobile off when Will started
pulling it down, but he used it for a good 9 months :)

Storage baskets are a new mom's best friend.
I also have some big storage baskets underneath the crib


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #11: Create an Online Baby Wish List

If you have a large family like I do, prepare yourself for the wonderful support system that will surround you and your newborn baby. You must also prepare yourself for the plethora of questions from loved ones about what baby products/clothing your bundle of joy will doubtlessly need.
It’s a no-brainer to create a gift registry when you’re pregnant in preparation for your baby shower, but news flash: you don’t get everything you need at your baby shower, especially since babies don’t stay size 0-6 months forever. Since loved ones feel the need to buy adorable little babies cute little presents now and then, I quickly discovered the perks of creating an ongoing baby wish list.
Here are some recommendations for getting started:
·    Make sure your wish list is accessible online, especially if you have family and friends who live out of state.  
·    Choose a store that has a variety of products. I’ve had anything from board books to bath toys to teething necklaces on Will’s baby wish list.
·    Keep it simple.  Stick with 1 or 2 of your favorite baby stores and keep your lists at 1 or 2 pages. Your goal is to make it less difficult for people to buy a gift for your baby, not more.
·    Maintain your wish list. Check it every couple of weeks to make sure that everything is up-to-date and your baby still needs the items on the list.
·    Choose a variety of products at different price points. I know it’s shocking, but not everyone wants to spend over $100 on your baby.
·    When a person asks you about buying a gift for your baby, be tactful. Say something like “I know that he/she will love whatever you choose, but if you’d like some ideas, I have an online wish list at ______".  Around Christmas or birthdays, I send out a small e-mail with a link to the wish list to JUST the people I know who are planning on getting my son a present. Again, be tactful to avoid any hurt feelings or awkwardness.
Let me take this opportunity to say two things. One, to those of you reading my blog that have ever gotten my son a present NOT on his wish list- we LOVED your gift. It was perfect and exactly what he needed. Two, a shameless plug: create a fabulous online baby gift registry at my website http://www.justdelivered.net/giftregistry_home.asp. Check it out. You’ll feel better if you do.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #10: Two crib sheets on the crib

This is one of my favorite tips, so listen up! 
I remember being almost full term, wrestling with my son’s crib sheet for the first time and dreading having to change it after every spit up, diaper leak and illness (which would end up being almost daily). Later that afternoon, I was sorting through all my sisters’ baby hand-me-downs and came across a miracle. It was a waterproof crib sheet that fits on top of the crib mattress by stretchy strips of fabric you can snap around the crib rails. I’m not sure of the exact brand that I have, but I found a similar brand on this you tube link:
With this little wonder, I was able to concoct a super baby linen formula that would allow me to go at least a couple of days without having to change the evil crib sheet.
1.       Place a waterproof pad on the bare mattress.
2.       Place the extremely frustrating, hard-to-manage fitted crib sheet over the waterproof pad
3.       Take a 5 minute break to catch your breath J
4.       Place the top crib sheet that attaches to the crib rails on top of the fitted crib sheet
When your baby makes a mess in the middle of the night, now all you have to do is remove the top sheet and you won’t have to perform The Dance of the Crib Sheet Fairy before putting your little one back to sleep.  If I wash the crib topper sheet soon enough, most times there’s no need to change that nasty fitted crib sheet before putting the top sheet back on. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #9: Create time for yourself

Everyone tells you to do it, but how often should you really take a time-out for yourself without feeling guilty? The answer is, as often enough to keep you out of a straight jacket. Those first few months alone with a newborn can be a bear, and by bear, I mean one of those gargantuan Kodiak Island Grizzly Bears.  I LOVE my son and treasure our time together, but between my lack of sleep, feedings every 3 hours, and finding myself covered in indiscernible fluids, I came to realize the true meaning of “it takes a village”. 
A few suggestions:
·         The only way you’re going to get some free time is if you plan for it. When Baby first comes home, the offers pour in right and left to take care of him, so take advantage. After awhile, life gets back to normal, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t still need a break here and there.  Find someone willing to come on a regular basis to babysit so it’s already planned, even for just an hour or so. I am fortunate enough to have a sister-in-law who still babysits my little guy every week so I can sneak away. (Thanks, Rachel!)
·         I know it’s hard, but when you do get a little time, don’t spend all of it catching up on lame housework or errands.  Try to save some of it for something fun or relaxing- aka pedicure, coffee trip, or window shopping. This isn’t selfish-it’s necessary.
·         Since this is a blog about staying organized, I feel compelled to suggest that you don’t use ALL of your free time for fun.  Also use this time to do those little things that are so much more difficult with a little one attached to you.
·         Show your gratitude for the help. Let your significant other know how much you appreciate him or repay that babysitting favor however you can.  Make it clear how much their time and effort means to you.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #8: Shop online

Not only is this a shameless plug for my online baby product business, it’s a useful tip I picked up soon after Will was born. I was never a big online shopper before he was born, mostly because I loved the experience of leaving my house to hop from store to store to browse and price compare. Needless to say, the luster soon wore off when I wasn’t so much hopping from store to store with my little guy, as I was trudging.
With the click of a button, I was hooked, although I assume you’re a kindred spirit since you’re reading this blog right now.  Shopping online made it so much more convenient to buy that last minute birthday gift  or order that replacement filter for the refrigerator, and I could do all that while simultaneously cradling my newborn in my arms – a much nicer alternative to wrestling the car seat or scrambling to find an appropriate place to nurse in public.
Here are some online shopping tips I’ve picked up along the way:
·         Most competitive websites offer some sort of free shipping deal, especially around the holidays. If you find a product you like, but the site doesn’t offer free shipping, look for the product on another site before purchasing.
·         If you’re buying a gift, check to see if the recipient has an online gift registry. Traditionally, most people create gift registries for weddings and baby showers, but more and more people keep an ongoing registry on their favorite sites. Plus, if they do have one, your shopping just became a lot less complicated.
·         If you’re not shopping on one of the online giant stores, make sure it’s reputable. You can tell a lot about a website by paying attention to their attention to detail. What’s the presentation like? Have the owners made themselves accessible to customers? Do they have an “About Us” page?  I’ve found some wonderful small online businesses by straying away from Amazon (once in a while). J

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #7: Extras, Extras, Extras

Don’t let anyone tell you differently-it’s true that your teeny-tiny bundle of joy needs a U-Haul to carry around all of his newborn stuff.  This tip piggybacks a little on a couple of my previous posts, but it’s worth noting, and I think the title pretty much says it all. From pacifiers to burp cloths to rattles to receiving blankets, you can never have enough. When planning your nursery storage, plan space for extras because you need double, triple or even quadruple of everything.
If you’re short on cash, don’t worry. There’s no need to break the budget:
·    Register for extras. If you’re having a baby shower you can always ask for 3 hooded towels instead of one and let your friends and family shell out the dough (Click here to create a gift registry at Just Delivered-we carry tons of fun and unique baby essentials J)
·    Hit up your friends with kids. Trust me; they’re probably looking for a place to unload all of their baby things.
·    Shop at baby consignment stores. Since babies have been known to grow quickly, so much baby stuff at these stores are almost new and at least half the price of retail.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #6: Schedule one thing a day from your to-do list

There were several days back when Will was new that I felt I never got anything done and I went to bed with that overwhelmed, nagging, staring at the ceiling until 3 AM kind of feeling. Then, I felt even worse because I was sleep-deprived not from a newborn but from simply not being able to sleep when I should have.  For a control freak like me, it was driving me crazy.
While it’s completely normal to find yourself behind on normal day-to-day tasks when you are in the throes of new motherhood, I found a solution to help me feel like I had some sort of life preserver to keep me afloat.  It’s really as simple as pulling out your organizer, your cell phone, your wall calendar, or whatever you use to keep your life in order and scheduling just one little task everyday to accomplish.
If you really do have a love affair with organization like I do, I know you have a little calendar contraption of sorts. Mine until recently was my cell phone calendar which just turned into my Galaxy Tablet calendar. It really doesn’t matter what yours is, as long as it helps you stay organized and feel caught up. Here’s how I used mine to help me sleep like a baby (when I wasn’t taking care of one):
·         Make sure the task you schedule for yourself is easily attainable; otherwise if you don’t finish it you’ll end up feeling even more overwhelmed and frustrated.
·         Choose your daily task wisely. To help you decide from your mountain of must-do’s, schedule the one thing that would make your life the hardest if you didn’t get it done.
·         When you finish the task, go back and cross it off your list. This is nothing but therapeutic, but it still gives me a little surge of satisfaction whenever I do it. This silly little step really helped me through those especially frustrating times.
·         As you find yourself feeling ready to take on more daily tasks, go ahead and schedule them in slowly. Eventually you’ll be back to your old self juggling tons of appointments, errands and other adventures. The only difference now is you’re doing it with your baby on your hip.
I’ll leave you with an example of my initial calendar schedule when Will was first born. You can see I was not joking when I say to keep it simple at first.  Obviously I did more things during the week than what is listed below, but again, the point of this calendar is not to keep a log of your daily occurrences, but to help you get through that one rough day of the week when nothing gets done and to stay motivated and optimistic for the next one. God speed.
Monday: Water plants
Tuesday: Wash sheets
Wednesday: Groceries
Thursday: Target – Gotta love the Bullseye! J
Friday: Laundry

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #5: Keep an umbrella stroller in the car

I used to keep Will’s umbrella stroller in the garage, and I kept finding myself out and about wishing I had thrown it in the car. Then I wised up and actually threw it in the back of the car one day and it hasn’t spent one more night in the garage since. I love the fact that it’s one less thing I have to remember.
Obviously if you have a newborn, umbrella strollers don’t do you much good yet. Here’s a list of other baby carrier items that are useful to keep in the car:
·         Baby sling
·         Baby backpack
·         Baby Bjorn
·         Grocery Cart Covers (I used one of these exclusively for months)
Think about your day to day life and keep what is useful to you in your vehicle. It’s much more pleasant than either forgetting it or having to lug it back and forth from the garage to your home.  Save the workouts for the gym.
One of Will's many cat naps in his umbrella stroller

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #4: Different “diaper” bags for different trips

At my baby shower, I was so excited to receive the oversized, adorable diaper bag I had registered for.  When Will was first born, I carried it around with me everywhere, but by the time he was a few weeks old, my perfect diaper bag became more like dead weight.  Not only was I lugging around a baby carrier (with a 6 week old who was in the 100th percentile in height AND weight), I was dragging around a monster diaper bag which was only half full.
Here’s the solution: have 2 or 3 different sized “diaper” bags packed at the ready. If you’re just going for a walk, grab the small messenger bag. If you’re going out for a morning of shopping followed by playgroup, take along the backpack or tote. Save the oversized gargantuan diaper bag for full day or weekend trips.
This might mean you need to get duplicate items for the different diaper bags, but for me, it was totally worth it knowing I could just grab a bag and go. Here’s a list of a few essentials that I always had packed in ALL of my different bags:
·         2-3 diapers
·         Wipes Case
·         Changing Pad (for the small bags, I just used a small disposable liner)
·         Pacifier w/ Clip
·         Change of Clothes
·         Baby toy
·         Receiving blanket (this can also double as a nursing cover)
·         Bib/burp cloth
Of course, the bigger the bag=the longer you’re away from home=more things you’ll need to pack for Baby. The above list of items is just what I needed almost all of the time in every different scenario of my day.  
One more tip: upon arrival back to your humble abode, be sure to replace any baby essentials that you might have taken from your bag during the trip BEFORE you put the bag away; otherwise, the whole bag system goes down the drain. Trust me, it’s not pleasant being stuck in the grocery store bathroom with nothing between you and your baby’s bottom but a thin piece of receiving blanket fabric. J

The diaper bag that ate Tokyo: perfect for a weekend trip
(not for a trip to the store)

My preferred small day-to-day "diaper"  bag
Go Rox

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #3: Create baby checklists for different excursions

EVERY new mom, organized or not, has done it: you think you’ve got everything you need, you load it all in the car, and when you’re too far from your house to go back, you turn to your significant other and say “Oh $%#@, we forgot the  __________!
Making a baby checklist for different types of excursions all but eliminated this problem in my house. Here’s how I was able to utilize my checklists successfully:
·         Use your computer to make the lists. What your baby needs can change almost daily, and it’s important to be able to edit and save your lists at will.
·         Make different baby checklists for different adventures.  For example, a checklist for a daytrip looks completely different from a weekend trip to the mountains, which looks absolutely alien from a 2 week vacation to (sigh) Hawaii. I had two different lists- The “Daytrip List” and the “Weekend Trip List” since those are the ones we did the most. We never needed a baby checklist for Hawaii. If you do, then you are awesome.
·         Check off each item on the baby checklist as you pack your baby’s things. This might seem a little silly, but there were a few times when I didn’t and regretted it. Let’s face it, you can get a bit scatterbrained when you’re trying to pack your child’s things while also cleaning up spit-up and keeping your baby happy in his bouncer.  It takes less time than you think and you’ll have peace of mind knowing you didn’t forget something essential.
·         Be specific about what you need to pack, especially on the big trips. For example, instead of just having bibs on your list, write down how many bibs you’ll need per day you will need so you won’t fall short or have to do thousands of loads of laundry.
·         Have a special section on your saved baby checklists for extra items that you don’t take with you all the time but need to remember to bring just the same. By extra items, I mean birthday presents, that book you borrowed and need to return to its owner, or the bottle of wine you said you could bring to the party.
·         Save seasonal baby checklists. You’ll need all that swim and sun gear in the summer, but not necessarily in the winter.
·         Keep the baby checklists as simple as possible. I just wrote mine in Microsoft Word with bullet points that I could fill in as I packed the needed baby item.  No spreadsheets or color coding are necessary. Cool, but not necessary.
Attached to this entry are a couple of my baby checklists from when Will was a wee one. Please use and change to make them work for you.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #2: Create a Universal Battery Charger Station

Before our son was born, batteries were something that we purchased maybe a couple of times a year. After he was born, and I found myself shelling out a few extra dollars every other shopping trip for 2AA’s here, or 4 D’s there, I finally broke down and bought a universal battery charger.
Baby toys take all different sizes and quantities of batteries, and oftentimes they drain them quickly.  When I made the move to rechargeable, I cringed at the initial cost, but I ended up saving money in the end.  It also gave me peace of mind knowing that if my baby’s bouncer ran out of batteries, I wouldn’t have to bundle him up and take him to the store to buy more.
Here’s some hints to help make your battery station something you can’t live without:
  • Make sure you buy double the amount of batteries you need so you can use those while the others are charging-this little tip saved my life several times.
  • Designate a spot in your home to create your rechargeable battery station, so everyone knows exactly where it is. 
  • Keep all of your extra batteries at the station, along with a screwdriver for taking off all of those protective covers on all of the toys; otherwise, you’ll find yourself hunting through the tool box every couple of days.
  • I also used this spot to place my camera battery charger and miscellaneous USB cords which made it easier to keep track of all of our gadgety-cord things.
  • Go ahead and place the station out of reach of little hands now, since your baby will be walking before you know it.
One more tip about batteries: I recommend not using rechargeables for all of those little knick-knack toys your baby might have. Most likely you have so many of these kind of toys, it simply becomes too hard to keep track of which ones have regulars and which ones have rechargeables, not to mention that these type of toys can drain rechargeable batteries in a matter of hours. Save the rechargeable batteries for all of those space-hogging but necessary newborn items, like the bouncer, mobile, swing, crib soother, etc.

Our family rechargeable battery station-
simple and to the point

Will, at 4 months-thoroughly enjoying the rechargeable batteries
while sleeping soundly in his vibrating bouncer
(Sophie the Giraffe available at http://www.justdelivered.net/ )


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Organized New Mom Tip #1: ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE

When I say routine, I don't mean that at 9:07 a.m. Baby must be down for his nap or there's gonna be trouble. It simply means doing things in a certain order.

I don't care if you decide to sleep all day and be awake all night, just make sure you do it consistently. This was the best thing I could do for my son and was the most integral part in salvaging my sanity.  My husband and I were hermits for the first few months of his life because that was the routine that worked for us. Besides, once a routine is firmly established, I found that I could change it occasionally. We could keep him up a little bit later to go to a ball game, or miracle of miracles, my husband and I could go on a date once in awhile.

However, you don't necessarily have to stay at home to keep a routine. If you are always out and about, that could be a part of your routine. Once Will was a few months old, we went out all the time, but I just made sure I built it into his daily routine. Shopping was always after his morning nap, and walks were always after his afternoon snack.  I firmly believe he was a much happier baby when he knew what was coming next, and a happy baby means an ecstatic new mom.