Things They Don't Teach in Baby Class (Part 2)

Daylight Savings Time- You are probably wondering why this of all things is on my list. Well, I had no idea that DST was such a bitch until I had a baby. The "fall back" happened when Sophia was about 5 months old. We FINALLY had a schedule and a bedtime routine. She was consistently going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. Until Daylight Savings Time....
As a college kid I loved 'fall back' because the bars stayed open an extra hour and I got an extra hour of sleep. Well as a parent of an infant I hated it. I had no idea that when the clocks magically jumped back one hour that my sweet little baby would that that 5:30 am was 6:30 am and be up for the day. But it happened and it took a week of bedtime adjustment to get her to go to sleep at 7pm and wakeup at 7am instead of 5:30! After the fact one of my friends said "oh yeah, you should keep them up an extra hour so they wake up at the normal time". thanks friend.

Babies R Us - Have you ever been a Babies R US (BRU)? I had never bothered until I was pregnant. And when I finally went in...mind blown. It was like a Bed Bath & Beyond....but ALL baby stuff. Aisles and aisles of bottles, cups, pacifiers, and all things baby. I had never felt so out of my element. Don't worry guys, its not just you. Females however will immediately start scouring the internet, baby books and picking their mommy friend's brains about what is what. These days I am a BRU expert and can spend hours telling you the difference between Chicco and Graco infant car seats or Dr. Browns vs. Playtex Drop In bottles. I could spend hours and hundreds of dollars outfitting Sophia in new gear (fortunately for my bank account, there isn't one close) But man that first time visit is NO joke.

Bedtime Routines- Now although they don't touch on this in baby class, there are literally HUNDREDS of books about bedtime and baby sleeping. You can spend hours researching a how to get your baby to go to sleep, stay asleep, sleep long, sleep later, sleep period. Here is my advice....get a bedtime routine going when baby is about 3-4 months old. Do that same routine every night no matter where you are. Same time, same order, same thing...over and over again. Yes its tedious. Yes its usually too early. Yes you can become a slave to it. So why do it? Because now Sophia can go to bed anywhere if we use that routine. Its been tested in Frederick, Long Island, OBX, OC, grandparent sleepovers, etc. It works every time. Do it....you'll be glad you did.