Write letters to your child weekly or monthly. I started when my children were in the womb. Place them in a safe place and give them to your child when they have their own children, get married, or at whatever significant milestone you prefer. My 23-year-old daughter is expecting and I passed them on (after reading and crying for hours). She says it is the most beautiful gift she has ever received.

You will get lots of advice from everyone on how to raise your child. Everyone will share their opinion with you, family, friends, and mostly people you don't even know at the grocery store, park or restaurant. The best advice is to ignore most of these people and follow your own instincts! You are your child's mother and you know what's best for him or her, so don't get overwhelmed with the contradictory advice. I also found that the book What to Expect the First Year is wonderful. It can answer any question you might have! I lived by that book throughout my son's first year. Good luck!

As a mother of two, one of the things I learned is to rest when the baby rests. The night time feedings can put a drain on a new mother, so I would always sleep or at least lay down when the baby slept. When you need to go somewhere with a baby plan out your day before leaving the house. It helps with feedings and naps. Advice is nice from people who are trying to help but take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes a well-meaning person may hurt your feelings.

When my son started on cereal, he ended up getting constipation because of the iron. The doctor recommended feeding him prunes along with the cereal to help him. The prunes didn't do much for him. Then I was told to try eating dried apricots (but not too many at one time) since I was breastfeeding. I tried this. I ate four to five dried apricots and that worked like magic on his constipation! I even told the doctor about it and he got so excited he said he was going to advise other breastfeeding mothers to try the same thing.

Everyone tells new moms, "Make sure you get enough rest!" I know what my schedule is, and I usually end up playing a little catch up whenever I can, on the weekends for example. Sleep in while your husband or a relative watches the baby. If you're breastfeeding, have a bottle on hand so you can sleep in. On those days when you can't get eight hours of sleep, take a multivitamin and run up and down the steps for about five minutes. It's a quick workout and you'll have a little more energy. Don't worry about the lack of sleep. You'll learn to function, squeeze in meals and 'mommy' snacks, and quick showers. Make sure you have another first-time 'mommy buddy' to encourage you. And with time, you will get used to motherhood and enjoy it.

You and your husband need to make decisions based on what is best for your baby. Don't let other people make you feel bad because you decide to raise your child your way. If you have a happy baby, you must be doing fine. Enjoy every moment. Time flies.

The greatest thing I have ever done was to let my baby sleep. I'm telling you, once the doctor says that they no longer need the night feedings, then don't get up to them in the night. My husband hated hearing him cry, but now he's thanking me that we did. See, I always listened and waited for 15 minutes before I would go into the room and get him up....unless he was screaming or the cry got more desperate-sounding. By doing this they learn to go back to sleep on their own. At first it is hard to hear the little baby cry, but once you do this a few times then he/she will drift right back to sleep. I did this and my son has been sleeping 12 hours a night since he was two months old, except when he started teething. Even then he was able to settle himself back down. I am now a fully-rested mother and my friends say I look great... It's a good beauty tip too!

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