Any organizational tips for new moms or moms again?

Did catch a late nap last night while precious was sleeping, but have not done the extra clothes bag. ThankU!!!

Because the girls were on several medications when they came home from the hospital, I made a chart of who got what and when. Also, I mixed up a pitcher of formula each morning and filled a bunch of bottles so I was able to grab one as needed. I learned the hard way to ask for help when it was needed and accept it when offered. Almost gave myself a breakdown in the first couple of months because I was trying to be SuperMom to medically fragile, preemie twins. Even if someone just comes over and holds the baby while you take a shower - take advantage!!! Bajj had some great tips - keeping extra clothes and diapers in the car. In the first few months, I left the house once without diapers, once without formula - and my husband forgot the diaper bag altogether when we went away for Thanksgiving!! Needless to say, we didn't discover it until we were two hours from home so I make a frantic (expensive) trip to Safeway to buy all the necessities. The girls are six years old now and I still haven't let him forget that.

A few things I found helpful:1. I bought decorative containers for each room where we spent much time w/ baby---living room, basement family room, upstairs study. I stocked each w/ diapers, wipes, a disposable changing pad, a burp rag, a receiving blanket and Purell. If H needed to be changed, we didn't have to cart him back to his room each time. 2. I made bottles once a day and put them in the fridge. In the evening after dinner, we put the ones we needed for nighttime feedings on ice in a small picnic cooler (the size you'd use for a six pack of soda) and put it in H's room near the rocker so that the night duty parent didn't have to stumble downstairs to get the bottle. A few weeks into it, my mom actually gave us a small dorm sized fridge for the nursery, so we started stocking the premade bottles in that. Frankly, at about $89, I thought the fridge was worth it. 3. Dh loaded a lullaby playlist on the iPod, and we used that w/ either the stereo adapter or a speaker set in H's oom. 4. I second the car bag---you may even want to include a clean basic T shirt for yourself in the event that your own outfit becomes....compromised. 5. Load the ped/babysitter/poison control numbers into your cell/PDA. Do an emergency list and post it inside a cabinet door at home. 6. Subscribe to PARENTS or one of the other parenting mags---there are always great ideas in there, usually grouped by kid's age.

These are all awesome, thank you - this helps me out a lot. I have to say at first I was making one bottle at a time and that got very tiresome... our oldest daughter gave me the same tip about pre-made bottles. lol.. phew...this makes it a whole lot easier. thank you all,,,

I didn't do the pre-made bottles at night, because I didn't want to go and heat them up (lazy, I know). We didn't do warm bottles, we did room temperature. So, I had one of those little containers where you can divide out formula, enough for 3 bottles. I put water in the bottles and left that and the container with formula on the dresser, that way I knew where they were and I didn't have to worry with heating up a cold bottle. :)

Bajj---I can beat you at the lazy game---H took them cold, straight out of the fridge!! :)

I was wondering if you gave them cold since you had a little fridge!My ds wouldn't take them cold, but room temp was fine so that's what I did.It's nice to know some babies will take them cold. I may have to try that next time! :D

My daughter would take them any temperature as long as they were liquid (i.e. not frozen). I found that even though they were expensive, the premade, sealed 4oz bottles were amazing for the car as logn as it was warm enough for them not to freeze. Simply screw on the (disposable) nipple and feed. Great for in the grocery store. My car trunk was also stocked with: full change of clothes for me including shoes (don't ask), extra carseat cover (can be ordered from manufacturer), 2 changes of clothes for baby, and a full diaper bag that never entered the house (where it would have been forgotten) (for the record, diapers melt in car trunks when the weather is over 90 degrees).

ROFL!!! Yes, I've had those shoe incidents, too. :)I never did have melting diapers, and it does get over 100 here several days in a row (in normal summers, not this summer). Wow, how horrible to need a diaper and it be melted!

Must have been the brand of diapers I was using. Which brand holds up to the heat?

I can tell you that Pampers Swaddlers don't burn in a regular burn barrel. (We live in the country and burn most of our regular garbabe ourselves) We found this out when a small pile of them that were only a little melty on the edges appeared outside our door one morning courtesy of our dog. :arrow: As for what we've done to make life easier: Supplies including formula, diapers, clothes, wipes, bottles, etc. are at each set of grandparent's house. We also do room temp bottles. We have a travel bag full of items for the car and we each have an extra shirt in both of our cars thanks to our experience with an acid reflux baby.We have a two story house so she has a changing table/station in her room upstairs and one downstairs. Pack and Plays are your friends, as are Boppies. My Mom even went out and bought both to keep at her house. I know there's a ton more that we've learned and done.

Ember, I used Luvs.

I buy the Wal-Mart White Cloud brand and don't have a problem with them melting. :D I did use Huggies with the one son who had really, really bad diaper rashes. I used them at night, and cheapies (well, cheap-er) during the day. I buy the cheapest diaper ointment and have several tubes and slather those on the ones who have issues. (It was my two drug addicted babies who had THE worst diaper rash issues, relating to the reflux/stomach acid problems.)I don't have the kids' clothes in their rooms; too far, rarely in there, they trash their dresses if they can. So all clothes are centrally located and in one room, with the changing table.I do one (double capacity washer) load of clothes per day because this is what I can handle. If we need more than that, the kids have too many clothes and I go through and weed out again.We have carseats enough for all the cars, so we don't have to switch. For years we had at least two, but sometimes four, in car seats. Switching is just NOT an option!Formula powder can go bad. (Ask me how I know this.) If you need to keep extras in your second diaper bag, get the little prefilled individual packets. Expensive, but very travel-ready, and they are sealed so they don't go bad.Clorox or Lysol wipes; you can clean the toilet, counter, sink and even the tub very quickly right after/before your shower every day. Takes 30 extra seconds to do the toilet. (Again, ask me how I know.) A neat trick for in-between real cleanings is that if you get your hand wet under running water and then flick your fingers at the mirror you can wipe it down with a dry wash cloth and viola! clean mirror. No more tooth paste spatters or little finger prints. Those scented disposable bags for used diapers are great to have in the car...barfy clothes can stink up the car tuit de suite, so I make sure to have extra zip-loc style bags or the little scented bags tucked away somewhere. (We have one who gets car sick. Lovely.)In the winter I keep a container with hats, mittens, and coats in the car in case anyone forgets theirs or we run off the road. I also have a place to throw their snowboots (box) if they are wearing their sneakers, since sometimes we only plan to be inside, but you never know what snow and ice will do to one's plans.... We have one drawer in the kitchen for all the bottles/sippy cups and their paraphernalia as well as the little plastic bowls and plates and snack containers; one section in the silverware divider for all the little spoons and forks. I have one shelf dedicated to baby food, baby snacks, baby formula, and baby cereal. Makes it easy to get their stuff ready at meal times, or ready for outings.I keep the sheets and blankets in the rooms where they will be used. This is what is in the dresser drawers or those pull-out containers that store under cribs/beds. For some reason the kids don't get into these, but they do get into their clothes. Go figure. Invest in those eternal night lights. I broke a toe on a dumb-bell that was left sticking just a little too far out from under the bed while getting up in the middle of the night with a sick foster baby. TUMMY TIME. Little ones can learn to entertain themselves for short stints, and this is good for them. Have a few toys that rotates through so that they have familiar and new ones, and get some old ones back to play with every few days, too. Slowly increase the time as they get older and you will have trained them to 1) learn how to entertain themselves happily, 2) given yourself some built in time to run to the potty or make one business phone call, 3) get some muscle tone in those little arms, legs, abdomen and back. Tummy time in a play pen, or on a quilt in an area that is visible to you at all times works wonders, even during the toddler and preschool years. If they are used to having X number of minutes to themselves every morning and afternoon YOU aren't the only entertainment they rely on forevermore. And of course this does not take the place of all the personal interaction you can squeeze in during the day.

Barksum: I'm in awe. You should give classes.

Oh, yeah! I'll have them in my home so that everyone can see that having a plan is great, having a place for everything is super helpful, but actually PUTTING things away all the time, and actually getting all those 30 second chores done EVERY day...well, that's another story! ROFL