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Real Parent Stories with Sarah

Meet Sarah, originally from Germany but moved to the US five years ago. Married for five years and first time mom to a beautiful 4 month old baby girl!

What were your first thoughts and feelings after your baby was born?

So much hair! (She was born with 2+ inches of hair, nobody in the hospital could believe it and we ended up getting a special present - a handmade hat -from the hospital staff).

Did you settle quickly into a routine with your baby? If so, do you think it worked well for you?

For me it was hard to develop a routine in the hospital due to the staff checking on us every 60 minutes or so. At home we developed slowly a routine. My husband was at home for 5 weeks, he handled the household, dog and cooked for me, while I focused 100% on the baby.

How soon after your baby was born did you begin to swaddle your baby?

In the hospital they used the standard swaddling method but our daughter didn’t really like it as much. She wanted to have her hands close to her head. A good friend of us recommended to us the Love to Dream swaddle and actually gave us some as a present. We used it starting day 3 (day 1 at home). And we are still using the LOVE TO DREAM™ SWADDLE UP™ today.

How did you come to know about LOVE TO DREAM™?

A friend of us recommended it to us and got some as a baby shower gift. But I have seen them on Amazon and Buy Buy Baby as well. And it was recommended to us when we did our Buy Buy Baby Registry tour.

Do you feel like using the LOVE TO DREAM™ range of products has made a positive impact on you and your baby's sleep?

Yes, definitely. Whenever my daughter has to sleep without, just because the SWADDLE UP™ is in the washing machine or so, she doesn’t have a deep sleep. In the beginning she didn’t know where to put her hands, she just knew that she hated it to have her hands tight to her belly. So the fact that she could have the hands up, next to her head and self-soothe when needed is something my LO really likes. We just removed the side panels as LO started to turn over last weekend and she adjusted quite well.

What is the one thing you wish you'd known before you became a parent?

For me breastfeeding and everything around that topic was very hard. I wished I have had some more information about lip and tongue ties prior to having my LO and also more information on exclusively pumping.

And between us... everybody told me that you won’t sleep a lot, but I didn’t think it would be that bad. If you are pregnant and you read this, please please please sleep as much as you can!

Three words to describe life before parenthood and three to describe life after becoming a parent?

Career focused, travel enthusiast, time with hubby.

Baby first! What is sleep?! Grateful for my husbands support.

What is the one piece of advice you’d offer new parents or parents-to-be?

Make sure you have a good support system. It doesn’t matter how many people you have supporting you, all that matters is that there is at least one person that helps you and the Baby in the first weeks. Sometimes it’s hard to prepare food, shower, do any household etc. If a dad can take some weeks off to support the wife, I would really recommend it.

Also due to my personal experience, inform yourself about all aspects of breastfeeding, including pumping.

What are your top 5 essential items to have ready to go when baby arrives?

  1. Cosleeper bed (I love Babybay cosleeper as it has wheels and you can take the baby with you from room to room
  2. LOVE TO DREAM SWADDLE UP™
  3. Lanolin nipple cream
  4. Diapers and wipes
  5. Clothes for baby