The biggest mistake a couple can make early on is to think a baby will be nothing but joy. It can strengthen your relationship, but it NEVER starts out that way.

The first few night after you have the hospitol to help out. You still get sleep and can see your baby and hold him or her when and for as long or little as you like. It seems like he or she are always asleep or at least when they aren't they are quiet and content. Even diaper changing and feedings aren't too bad. Don't let that fool you though. Prepare for sleepless night for at pleast the first two weeks, thats as long as the little one is as perfectly healthy as mine was.

The first night or two home you begin to learn what your little one is really like. A bottle every three hours doesn't sound too bad until you realize that that is an around the clock. I got the easiest schedual set with mine. Noon, three, six and nine.. but that also meant midnight, three in the morning, six in the morning and nine in the morning. if your lucky the baby will take a half an hour to eat then sleep mostly for two and a half hours, but it's more likely to eat for ten minutes, wait the next fifty till the bottle is bad by smiling or squirming around to see the world then wanting more before their next bottle is due. It's hard to tell your precious child 'no' and if you are anything like me, you won't. This upsets your three hour scheduals like nothing else will. All of a sudden he eats at 17 after and knows if he's still hungry he'll get fed sooner rather than later if he doesn't eat the whole thing in that hour after you open the bottle. Dad will only want to help every once in a while at first, and only if the baby is currently happy, leaving mom to do 90% and the hardest ammount of work.

The lack of sleep for both parties reguardless soon leads to arguments, grumpiness and misplaced blame for their unstable emotions. If you manage to get through the first two weeks of near constant feedings and sleepless nights you've gotten through the roughest of the emotional and physical areas of raising your baby. But this doesn't end the financial parts. Formula in large cans of dry powder (which lasted anywhere from two to three weeks that first can) range from 23.97 at wal-mart to 27.95 at k-mart. Mine was about one week when he jumped from needing an ounce to three ounces a bottle and about two and a half weeks when he jumped from 3 to 4 ounces and at three and a half he jumped to five ounces and now at two month and three days requires six ounces however he may be jumping up again soon, and since the day he was born has jumped from weighing 6 pds 13 ounces to 10 and a half pounds his last doctor visit which was a week and two days ago and grown two and a half inches. He's half my size, can stand with little to no support, walks and crawls with support and has said 3 words already. Not every baby will grow this fast nor be able to do these things so young. The best advice I can give for feeding when it comes to bumping up ounces is 1, ask your doctor what a child at his/her weight/height requires normally and 2, if he/she is crying for an hour after eating each bottle and has finished the whole bottle before hand then only waits an hour then cries again- if this happens for three or more days even if you add mylocon to his/her bottle the likelyhood is he/she is is still hungry. Again ask a doctor first just to be sure it isn't something else making your child cry such as acid reflex.

Mylocon has proven a wonderful asset to me. So far it's the only thing that has helped my boy with his gas problem, easier to burp though he needs less burpin and can usually get rid of the gas on his own. The thing we purchased that proved entirely useless was the baby tylonol. Even before it was recalled we spoke to a doctor to discover it should not ever really be used for it's main purpose. If a baby has a fever you're to immediately take it into the doctor, not do anything yourself for it. Also If you think ANYTHING is wrong, don't worry about a bill, your baby is more important than money (this from someone who has little to none most times so far), take the baby to the hospitol. DO NOT TRY TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM BY YOURSELF. This could not only could hurt your child but may kill him or lead to fights with family members if it could be something serious. By taking your baby in, even if it turns out nothing is wrong, you can allieviate your own worries and might even discover he/she has something very minor wrong that you didn't even know or think about. I took my boy in thinking he had a sore throat and urinary tract infection only to find he had neither but had acid reflex and just personally hated wet diapers.

ALWAYS burp your baby after two ounces and if he's drinking an odd number at least try to burp him after that last ounce. You never know if the little one has gas and if you try to skip it cause your tired and put him to bed you could get that hour of sleep only to spend all the rest of the night up with a crying in pain baby. Trust me, I've done this once or twice, it isn't worth it once you realize that extra ten minutes you took each feeding adds up to four hours of sleep instead of one. And don't worry, it does get easier during the night. eventually baby learns to sleep more ours at night between bottles though he likely won't during the day. Spend time with them when they are awake, even if it seems like a waste not only do you get the joy of lots of smiles but it helps baby grow intellectually and emotionally stronger.. not to mention it helps them develope faster physically to have help attempting new things. Don't be afraid to support your baby standing no matter how young. It won't hurt the baby as long as you honestly hold them while they stand and support their head. repeating real words when they do things can also help the baby catch onto speech better. Just saying 'up' when they stand up and 'down when they sit back down will eventually aid them in knowing what the word means. Baby talk is ok, but try not to make it the only sounds you give him/her to work with, it doesn't teach them anything and it will make it harder for them to learn real words and their meanings. An example being my next door neigbors little girl. She's only two and she speaks as clearly and fluently as most adults, because her father refused to talk baby talk to her. I believe thats also why my little boy already says and understands 'up' 'Ma' and 'Da'.

Children will be both a joy and a challenge. Don't think you'll get a whole lot done after the baby arrives.. he or she will require your attention nearly all day and night. Give it though because whether they remember it conciously or not they will always feel it in their subconcious whether or not you loved them so much whe they were so little. It builds esteem and emotional stability if you show them love and compassion for even the smallest of their needs or desires. picking them up and holding them while they sleep, singing to them, talking to them, watching TV with them, feeding and dressing them and most importantly helping them to learn and grow.