Lessons Learned from the First Year

All good project managers know that at the end of a project, you should do Lessons Learned. The purpose of Lessons Learned is so that they can be reused on future projects to either leverage successes or avoid mistakes.

Things that went well...

I like to research stuff before I buy it. I'm a Johnson. It's in my blood. For the most part, I think this paid off. I used the book Baby Bargains, Consumer Reports, and customer reviews on babiesrus.com, diapers.com, buybuybaby.com, and amazon.com before making major (and sometimes not so major) purchases. Another great tool was Facebook. I'd say "ok Facebook moms, what do you think about X or have you tried X?" and I'd get several responses from real mommies that were very helpful. I've been satisfied with most of our purchases, especially the big ticket items. One example is our infant carseat. Graham is 13.5 months old and we just now quit using our Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat because he is almost too tall for it.

I also learned from other mommies. My friends that had already had kids were great at sharing advice when I asked. I used these resources for researching things like what pediatrician to use. Also, having a mom friend with a child close in age to yours that is going through the same things was great. Not only can you share ideas, but having someone to talk to is great too. Sometimes you just need to vent when you've been to the pediatrician for the 3rd time in a week. (Thanks Sherry for all of your support!)

My pediatrician selection criteria has also worked out well. I wanted one that was open on the weekends and that had a well clinic. We've had to go on the weekend several times.

You can never have too many bouncy seats. If you get multiple at your baby shower, keep them. We have a three level house and got one as a hand-me-down and bought another. And still it seemed like we never had a bouncy seat where we needed one. Also, due to his reflux, Graham slept many nights in his bouncy seat by our bed or his swing. A side-to-side swing was a must for us. We also had a hand-be-down swing that we kept on another level. Exersaucers probably fall into the same category as bouncy seats. We only had one that was a hand-me-down but thought several times about buying another one for another level of the house. All of these things keep your baby contained while you do things like get ready for work or clean the house. Unlike a crib, a bouncy seat or exersaucer can be moved to whatever room you are in and sometimes just having you in sight is enough to keep your baby happy.

Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes. Graham was about 14 days old when a friend told me that Huggies wipes were superior. We've never looked back. (Of course, all this is personal opinion and every baby is different. I have a friend that uses Huggies diapers and Pampers wipes.)

Around 4 or 5 months, we had to start using Overnight diapers. Huggies Overnights are worth their weight in gold. Graham hardly ever wets through a diaper at night. (Again, this was a recommendation from a mommy friend.)

My sister swore by the Ultimate crib sheet and got me one for my baby shower. I have two and also think they are essential baby gear. It prevents you from having to change an entire crib sheet and just snaps on and off over the top of the regular sheet. It is also leak proof.

Couponing. I am not an extreme couponer, but I feel it is almost a must with a baby. You can save a lot of money on diapers, wipes, formula, etc. Also, if you are lucky like me and your mommy friends have different preferences, you can swap coupons and end up with more. Also look into Amazon Mom and Diapers.com.

Relax and enjoy spending time with your baby. He's only a baby once! I have a "live each day to the fullest" attitude about everything baby related and keep reminding myself that he will never be a baby again. He's already got 5 smocked outfits...so what! He's only a baby once! Ok...I say that tongue in cheek, but you get my point. Just make sure you save for college too. =) Also, I used to try to keep the house clean, run errands, etc and let my husband keep the baby. This meant I did not get the quality time with him (I was talking about the baby but I suppose it applies to the husband as well). I still do this to a point but make time to play with Graham every day. Who cares if the towels get folded.

Accept that life is different. There were times when Graham was a tiny baby that I missed having a social life or getting out of the house. It is definitely healthy to have a break from the baby every now and then, but I have learned not everything can be planned out. We are more flexible and make sure not to over plan our weekends. We also take his schedule into consideration when making plans. I had a bad habit of over-committing myself. Now I have no commitments outside of Brian, Graham, and work. I am just at a season in my life where that takes priority. I can volunteer for stuff again later. In one word - simplify!

Things that could have gone better...

According to Parents magazine, the magic age for getting your child to accept the sippy cup is 7 months. We missed that window by about 3.5 months. I introduced the cup at 9 months I think and he just banged it on his high chair. It did not become important again until time to move up to the next class at daycare. By this time, Graham had a difficult time adjusting to losing his bottle.

I regret putting a bookcase in Graham's room. At least, I regret putting one where he can reach the shelves. All he wants to do is pull all of the books off of the shelves and make a huge mess. Something with doors on bottom and shelves on top would have been better. (However, this does seem to be getting somewhat better with age.)

I learned that outfits with small collars do not work well on young infants for photographs. They are always flipping up and are never laying right in the picture. For newborn pictures especially, choose a gown or outfit that does not have a collar.

I wish we had splurged for a leather chair in the nursery. Graham had reflux and spit-up was a way of life for at least the first 6 months of his life if not longer. Leather would have cleaned up much easier. However, I did learn from my mommy friend who also had a baby with reflux to "surround yourself with beach towels at all times." We pretty much kept the chair and the floor in front of it covered at all times. This makes clean up easier as well.

Diaper Bags. If you find an ideal one, let me know. I have had three and ended up liking my Kalencom the best but it still leaves some things to be desired.

We should have bought stock in batteries. As I said, the side-to-side swing was probably our #1, couldn't live without it item. (Thanks Stacy, Karen, and Yvonne!) But it ate batteries. We learned that the Copper Top really does last longer than the ones with the pink bunny and that cheap store brand can leak. There is a swing that plugs into the wall which we almost registered for instead but it got some negative reviews about noise. However, it is probably worth looking into if you are newly purchasing one of these. We have ours in our bedroom and it is noisy enough if you have to have it on all night so the cost of batteries was probably worth it for us.

I am sure there are probably many more...