Better, and Babies

[ailbhe]

I'm a lot better today. I only woke twice in the night, and I could sort of speak when I woke this morning. It's really just my nose - the pain in my throat is almost all gone. So I went to my antenatal class.

Today was Babycare. We started with a Road Safety bit, whcih was all about carseats and seatbelts. Then we did How To Bath A Baby. Then we did Nappy Rash and Other Scary Skin Weirdnesses.

Getting a carseat is going to be a pain. Generally, one should get one which fits one's own car. They aren't generic. We don't have a car; we wanted a generic one, for taxis and Rob's parents and that kind of thing. Oops. Luckily, immediately after class one woman offered me a lift to Mothercare so I could ask them for help and advice, and there is one seat (not the cheapest) which will fit most carseats. I also discovered that fitting a carseat is something my arms won't be capable of most of the time, so I'll always need help.

Bathing a baby is more or less as simple as I thought it was, and Mum's right, one doesn't need soap, though it's helpful for washing off the meconium. One also doesn't need a baby bath, and I'm glad they told us so, because one or two people have expressed dismay that we intend to use a plastic washing-up bowl.

The Rash bit was the weirdest. I live in West Reading, where there's a pretty high proportion of non-white to white people. The pictures they showed us of skin yukkinesses were all on white babies. Weird. Also, I've had a look for pictures online of non-white babies with rashes, and I can't find any; I used to have some, but they've gone. Double weird.

I'm glad I'm getting better; it means I'll be able to enjoy tomorrow's party. And I suddenly remembered my Ebay responsibilities, and posted off a parcel and a couple of cheques. The weather continues charming.

Comments

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

We learnt all this in postnatal classes, antenatal would have been far better.

I would have thought that a stage 0 car seat would fit most cars as you do some complicated thing with the seatbelt to attach & unattach them. Ours fitted in every car we tried, though I did find that some cars have 2 different length back seat belts, so our fitted in only 1 side in my dad's car & my friend's car. My friend had a people carrier too.

The next stage up car seat is more tricky as it's permanent & needs to fit snug so the baby doesn't risk whiplash.

Our baby bath set (£30) from Mothercare was a complete waste of money. I topped & tailed Kate for the first few weeks & then she didn't like the baby bath, so I used to get in the big bath with her & just hold her & play in the ater. Great fun for both of us :) If Andy came back from work before we'd finished, he's take Kate & sort her out while I topped up the lukewarm water with hot & then washed myself properly & had a few mins peace & quiet.

I didn't use soap or anything for ages. I only started using babywipes later on once I knew that her skin wasn't sensitive. Before that I used cotton wool & luke warm water. Wipes are far easier, but I disagree with putting products onto a newborn babys' skin. I massaged Kate in olive oil after each top & tail when her skin was dry & scaley.

Kate has never suffered badly from rashes, so I have no great Anna/Kate words of wisdom on that *g*