First-Time Mom Tips - Pre-Baby

The title of this blog refers to first-time mom tips, however, these could really be for any mom - a first-time mom, a mom of multiple kids, or anyone in between!

When my best friend from college found out she was pregnant last fall with her first baby, my brain went crazy remembering all of the tips I had come across from being a first time mom to a 4 month old at the time!  During our baby shower, one thing the hosts did for our shower was ask everyone to bring in parenting tips.  My friend, specifically said she didn't have many tips at the time because they didn't have any children of their own, so that she hoped I would pass on any tips I discovered along the way when they had children of their own.  So I did just that! And I would love to share them all with you - not all at once though, so stay tuned for more!  This specific blog refers to tips after you've found out you're pregnant, but before the baby has arrived.

*Again, please keep in mind that these are just my opinions and I'm not saying one way is better than another - these are just from my personal experiences and I would love to hear comments from all of you about your own tips to share with my readers!

-Starting anytime after you find out you're pregnant, I'd buy any clearance/sale clothing items you can find - any size, all the way through 24 months.  I've gotten so many great deals on clothes - $2 or less - either at Target or Babies R Us - since before our was born.  Onesies, shorts, pants, pajamas, and socks are all great things to have in every size for the first 2 years.

-Sign up for everything you possibly can - babycenter.com, thebump.com, Enfamil, Similac, Nestle Good Start, Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, etc. - they all send out samples, or get you free magazines, and give you tons of coupons.  Even if you don't use them, there's always somebody you can pass them off to that could use them.  I gave all of my Enfamil and Nestle Good Start formula coupons to other people, but still got other coupons from those companies that I could use - such as bottle coupons, food coupons, dishes/spoons coupons, nursing pad coupons, etc.  Free stuff is great and it always comes in handy!

-If you're planning on having other kids, I'd buy lots of neutral items - pants, shirts, socks, pajamas, onesies, etc. - because that's all stuff you can use with your next kid.  I bought very boy-ish specialty outfits (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 1st Birthday, etc.), but everything else is pretty neutral. Once people find out the sex of your baby, they tend to buy very gender-based clothing items so it's nice for you to have those neutral items on hand so your baby's wardrobe doesn't quickly turn into an all blue or all pink closet!  It's also good to have neutral baby gear - strollers, car seats, bedding, furniture, etc. because those items can be pretty expensive and you don't want to have to buy a whole new set of everything with each additional child.  To be able to re-use some of those items for additional children would be a great money saver.

-A few months before your due date, make appointments to meet with pediatricians - some offices have specific programs designed for expecting parents, others just allow you to come in to see the office and meet the doctors and ask questions.  And in some instances, they'll give you a goodie bag - the pediatrician that we chose had a program for expecting parents and gave us a free book, coupons and a free container of formula.  It's great to get all of those questions you have regarding the pediatrician out of the way before the baby arrives.

-If you are choosing a daycare, I'd start visiting them or at least contacting them soon after you find out you're pregnant.  A lot of them have waiting lists, sometimes very long waiting lists, so you'd need to pick somewhere very soon if that is the case with one that you really like, so that you can get on the list or guarantee a spot for your baby when you're ready to use the daycare (which would probably be a month or 2 after the baby is born, however long your maternity leave will be).  This is especially true for large cities I've found.  The daycare we chose had a 6 month waiting list so it was good to get him on the list so that when we were ready, they would be ready for us.

Please feel free to leave any comments you might have, and let me know if you have any Pre-Baby Tips of your own!

Welcome and Quick Overview

First, I'd like to welcome you to my blog! This is what I hope to be a new beginning for me and all of the followers I hope to bring along with me. I am a new mom of a 16-month old boy, and I feel I have a lot of good information to share with the world based on my experiences, tips from others, trial-and-error situations and good old fashioned reading! As of now, I'm planning to post a new tip each week - such as tips for new (or veteran!) moms, organizational tips, savings tips, etc. I'd love any comments that you have - even if it's just a quick hello or keep up the good work! I hope you all enjoy my new adventure as much as I hope to, and feel free to mention my blog to anyone you think could benefit from it! If you could become a "follower" of my blog, and click on any ads that interest you as well, that would be a huge help to me to get this blog out there for all to see!

This is just an introduction to my blog, and I hope to post my first "real" entry this week. Stay tuned and thanks again for following!