50 Newborn Baby Tips I Wish I Knew Sooner

The newborn phase is a beautiful but absolutely exhausting time. You can make this time more beautiful than exhausting with these genius newborn baby tips.

50 Newborn Baby Tips I Wish I Knew Sooner

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Newborn Baby Hospital Tips

Bring Clothes For Skin To Skin

Newborns benefit from skin to skin contact, especially in that golden first hour at the hospital. Mom’s hospital gown is accessible and makes skin to skin easy. But unless Dad is comfortable with his shirt off in the hospital he may want to bring a button up shirt.

Limit Visitors

I was so excited for my family and friends to come meet the little bundle of joy we brought into the world. I welcomed visitors but I should have set a time frame and made sleep a bigger priority.

Take Advantage Of The Nursery

If your hospital still has a nursery do not feel bad for utilizing it. After labor and delivery you may have been awake for over 24 hours and you need sleep.

Newborn Baby Feeding Tips

Learn Baby’s Hunger Cues

Crying and fussing is the last sign telling you that your baby is hungry. At this point it can be hard to calm your baby down for a feeding. You can tell your baby is hungry when they:

lick or smack their lips
suck on their hands
move their head from side to side

Use A Reminder For Nursing

Sleep deprived moms of newborns often forget which side they last nursed on and accidentally nurse on the same side two feedings in a row. This can lead to supply issues and engorgement. This nursing clip can be left on the breast you last nursed on as a reminder.

Dream Feed For More Sleep

If your newborn is already asleep when you’re ready for bed you need to give your baby a dream feed. This is when you feed your baby without waking them up. This helps your baby sleep longer, resulting in more sleep for the both of you.

Collect Leaking Breastmilk

If you’re anything like me you’ll leak a half a bottle of breastmilk into a nursing pad while your baby is nursing on the other breast. It’s a total waste. You can use these milk savers while your breastfeeding to saved all of that leaked milk.

Breastfeeding Basket

During the newborn phase a nursing mother spends a lot of time stuck sitting for feedings. Be prepared with a breastfeeding basket next to the spot you nurse most. Your breastfeeding basket should include:

water bottle
snacks
breast pads
burp cloth
phone charger

Store Pump Parts In The Fridge

Save time by only having to wash your pump parts once a day when you store them in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

Store Frozen Breastmilk In Soda Boxes

For easy and organized frozen breastmilk storage keep your breastmilk in empty soda boxes.

Newborn Baby Sleep Tips

Have A Consistent Nighttime Routine

Creating a nighttime routine for your newborn will help them associate the routine and going to sleep. Try a bath, followed by a feeding, reading a book, and singing a song every night before bedtime.

Swaddle Your Baby

Most newborns sleep better and longer when they’re swaddled because it recreates the snug feeling of being in the womb. I found regular swaddle blankets to be too small and they always unraveled. I preferred these larger muslin swaddle blankets instead.

Use A White Noise Machine

Parents of newborns that don’t sleep well have found the use of a white noise machine to be a game changer. Parents specifically like this one because you can control it from your phone.

Use Blackout Curtains

Some newborns are great sleepers and aren’t bothered by light while other see any light at all and they’re wide awake. If your baby is frequently taking short naps you may want to try these black out curtains in their nursery.

Use Your Scent

This genius trick is used for those newborns that seem to only be able to sleep in moms arms. Try covering the bassinet mattress with moms shirt so baby can still smell mom while they sleep. Just make sure it’s flat and tight just like a fitted sheet for safety.

Warm Their Bed

Some newborns seem to open their eyes the second you put them down. This is sometimes because the temperature difference jolts them awake. Try warming up your newborns bed with a heating pad before you lay them down. Never leave the heating pad on the bed with baby.

Follow The Five Minute Rule

Some newborns just won’t fall asleep on their own and they need to be held to sleep. If that isn’t bad enough a lot of the time they wake up as soon as you put them in their crib.

After a lot of research on sleep cycles I learned it can take five minutes or more for your baby to fall into a deep sleep enough for you to transfer them to their crib. Try waiting five minutes after baby falls asleep before you put them down, or longer.

Layer The Crib Sheets

There’s nothing worse than changing crib sheets with a crying newborn because of a diaper leak in the middle of the night. To make things easier start with a water proof mattress pad, then sheet, another mattress pad, topped with one more sheet.

This way if there is a leak all you have to do is take off the top two layers and then you can both go back to sleep.

Try The Snoo

If you’ve tried everything and your baby still isn’t sleeping well it may be time to try the Snoo. This smart bassinet hears baby start to fuss and uses motion and white noise to soothe them back to sleep.

Some parents have found it to be a life saver but if it doesn’t work for you then you have 30 days to return it for a full refund.

RELATED READING: What I Should Have Put On My Baby Registry

Newborn Baby Bath Tips

Warm The Room

Some babies don’t like bath time at all and this may be because they’re too cold. Try turning the heat up a few degrees before bath time or heating the bathroom with a space heater.

Test The Water

You can’t trust your hands to check the temperature of babies bath water. What feels warm to your hands may be too hot for babies delicate skin. Instead check the water with your elbow.

Only 1-3 Baths A Week

Parents of newborns may be happy to know that 1-3 baths a week is fine. Your babies skin is too sensitive for daily baths and because newborns aren’t eating messy solid foods or crawling on the floor they aren’t getting very dirty at all.

Pre-fill Rinse Cups

When I would bathe my newborn I thought it was very helpful to pre-fill two rinse cups full of warm water before I started giving her a bath. I would periodically pour the water over her body to keep her warm.

Be Prepared

The best newborn bathing tip I can give you is to be prepared for bath time by collecting all your wash cloths, soap, towel, new diaper, etc. Never leave baby in water unattended to grab something. It’s also very helpful to have another person around to help.

Get The Timing Right

Nothing’s worse than thinking your done cleaning baby just to have them poop in the tub and have to start all over. I learned the hard way to wait until after baby has a bowel movement and bath them soon after.

Take A Bath With Baby

Giving newborn baths was always exhausting for me and sometimes it was just easier for me to get in the tub with my daughter. It relaxed us both before bedtime.

Newborn Baby Care Tips

Clip Baby’s Nail When They’re Sleeping

Clipping baby’s nails while they’re awake is nearly impossible and accidental pinches too common. It is way easier to wait until your baby is asleep to clip their nails.

Use Socks On Hands

If your newborn is scratching their face with their finger nails and you don’t have any mittens you can use baby socks.

Burp Cloth Under Baby

Avoid having to constantly scrub baby seats by placing a large burp cloth under baby before putting them down. It’s a lot easier to just toss a burp cloth in the washer than scrubbing a baby seat with a cloth.

Use Gripe Water

Some parents swear by gripe water for colicky newborns. If your newborn is inconsolable I’d say it’s worth a shot.

Try Saline Drops

These nose drops work like magic to loosen up mucus so you can easily suck it out with a nasal aspirator. You’ll be happy to have them before your baby gets sick.

Beware Of Foamy Baby Poop

Breastmilk is comprised of foremilk and fat rich hindmilk. If you notice your newborn is passing foamy looking stool in their diaper this is an indicator that they aren’t getting enough hindmilk.

Make sure you are nursing long enough on one breast before switching to the other breast. You may be able to give baby a full feeding on just one breast.

Use A Bib For Drool

Some newborns drool and spit up a lot. Instead of changing baby’s clothes every time this happens keep a bib on baby and just change that when it gets dirty.

Newborn Baby Diaper Tips

Stash Changing Supplies Everywhere

Keeping diapers and wipes in a basket in any room where you might change baby is super convenient.

Wait A Few Minutes After Baby Wakes

Don’t change baby first thing when they wake up because this is usually when they’ll pee. My daughter peed all over her changing pad and soaked her clothes a few times before I figured out I should wait a few minutes after she woke up to change her.

Cover The Boys

You can’t always get the timing right and there will be a few times your baby does pee right in the middle of a diaper change. It’s not such a big deal with girls but boys will shoot pee everywhere.

You can simply use a wash cloth to cover him or use these super cute Peepee Teepees.

Notice The Wet Diaper Indicator

Most diapers, especially those that fit newborns come with a yellow line on them. These will turn blue when they’re wet letting you know it’s time to change baby.

Pull Onesie Down For Blowouts

Onesie have overlapping fabric around the neck because they are meant to be pulled down when your newborn has a blow out. This way you don’t have to pull a poopy onesie over their head and make more of a mess.

Have Several Changing Pad Covers

Changing a diaper gets messy a lot of the time so I recommend getting a few changing pad covers so you always have one while the others are in the wash. Some moms recommend not using them at all but I disagree.

I’d rather toss a changing pad cover in the wash than have to hand wash a changing pad.

Start With An Open Bag

I don’t know if anyone else does this but I always started a poopy diaper change with an open plastic bag near by. Instead of trying to keep all the used wipes in the dirty diaper I’d toss them into the plastic bag and it really helped contain the mess.

Then you can put the dirty diaper in the bag, tie it, and it contains the smell too.

Separate Wipes Before You Start

Whenever I forgot to do this I would always regret it. When you have a poop covered newborn that’s squirming around you don’t want to be wrestling with the wipes to get them out. If you know you’re changing a poopy diaper take out 5-6 wipes first so your ready.

Use The Diaper For The First Wipe

This is a thrifty trick moms use to save on wipes. You can use the clean end of the diaper to wipe off a good amount of poop from babies bottom and use less wipes.

Use A Changing Pad At Night Too

During the time my newborn slept in a bassinet next to my bed I always brought the changing pad to our room at night. I can’t count the times the changing pad saved my bed from getting covered in pee during middle of the night diaper changes.

Use A Diaper Rash Cream Applicator

Diaper rash cream is some stinky sticky stuff. Even after washing it off my hands I could still smell it. That’s why instead of applying it with your fingers you should use a diaper rash cream applicator.

Newborn Baby Clothing Tips

Use A Soak Bucket

Its almost unbelievable how many times your newborn with have a diaper blowout and unfortunately we can’t just toss those outfits in the trash. (Although I’ll admit I did toss a couple) You’d run out of baby clothes real quick.

You won’t often be able to stop what you’re doing right that second to clean the clothes so I always had a big bucket of water in the laundry room to toss poopy clothes in so it wouldn’t dry on. Then I would take care of the mess at night.

Spray ‘N Wash On Poop Stains

I could not get the poop stains out of my newborns clothes to save my life until someone told me about Spray ‘N Wash. Spray on the stain, rub it in a little, wash and the stain is gone. It was seriously a lifesaver.

Mesh Bag For Socks

This fun trick saves a lot of time sorting socks with little effort. Just clip a mesh laundry bag to your newborns laundry basket and put all their sock in it. Wash the socks in the bag and they won’t get lost.

Basket For Outgrown Clothes

Your newborn is going to grow and out grow clothes fast. I always kept a small basket in the nursery so I could toss in clothes she had out grown to be organized and put into storage later when I had the time.

Avoid Clothes That Snap

If you haven’t already done your clothes shopping for baby, when you do, avoid any clothes with snaps and stick to pj’s with zippers. I don’t even know why they still make baby clothes with snaps.

Baby’s wiggle and squirm when you try to dress and undress them. The last thing you want to do at 2am is try to wrestle your newborn back into their pj’s and try to get all those snaps back together.

Newborn Baby Travel Tips

Use A Yeti As A Bottle Warmer

Yeti’s are so incredible at keeping liquids hot for long periods of time that moms are now using them as bottle warmers on the go.

Emergency Car Kit

It’s always nice to be extra prepared, especially when you have a very needy and unpredictable newborn. Moms find it very helpful to not only pack a diaper bag but also have an emergency stash of newborn care items stored in a basket in the car. You might want to include:

extra clothes for baby
extra clothes for you
diapers
wipes
first aid kit
breast pads
bottle
formula

Store Pacifiers In To Go Cups

Dirt, fuzz and hair will find their way into the diaper bag and get the pacifiers dirty. You can easily keep them clean by storing them in little to-go cups.

Setting Up Your Home For A Newborn

Have Multiple Places To Put Baby Down

It is extremely convenient to have some sort of safe place to set your newborn down in any room of the house you are frequently in. The living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom etc. This can be a baby swing, baby seat or even simply a laundry basket with a pillow in it.

Store Burp Cloths Everywhere

I learned very quickly to store burp cloths everywhere. I had them draped on each arm of every couch, on the arm of the rocker in the nursery, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere. You will use them.

Tips For Moms With Newborns

Use Disposable Dishware

Those first three months with baby are exhausting. Give yourself a break from dishes and stock up on some disposable dishware.

Make Freezer Meals Before Baby Comes

This is one of many things I wish I did before my baby arrived. Trying to cook dinner with a needy newborn around is near impossible. So try stocking your freezer with freezer meals while you’re still pregnant.

Sleep When The Baby Sleeps

You are no good to anyone is you do not get enough sleep. Do not feel bad for sleeping when your baby sleeps.

Wear Your Baby

If you have a very clingy newborn the only way you’ll be able to get anything done is let baby cry it out or you can wear your baby in a baby carrier.

Don’t Be Hard On Yourself

Looking back I can’t believe all the time I spent trying to keep my home clean and feeling bad when I couldn’t during the newborn phase. It only lasts three months and your baby will never ever ever be that little ever again. DO NOT feel bad that your house isn’t spotless, or that you didn’t get the laundry done and it almost never gets folded.

Do what you need to get by during that time and do not waste a second feeling bad about it Mama.

Always Accept Help

Have you heard the phase “it takes a village”? We were not meant to mother alone ladies. Take any help you can during the newborn phase and beyond from family and friends.

I hope these tips help you care for your newborn! If you have anything to add please share your newborn advice in the comments below. Don’t forget to pin this post to Pinterest ❤️