// My Nightstand Essentials: Nights with a Newborn

Having a new baby means getting up at all hours of the night... and sometimes it means staying up. Luckily for us Linden is normally really good at night. While he won't sleep 7 or 8 hours like some babies his age, normally he wakes up long enough to eat and then it's right back to dreamland. Sometimes he'll simply dreamfeed and not even open his eyes at all. But since he suffers from a pretty gnarly case of reflux, we have to hold him upright for at least a half hour after he's done eating. This kid can put away a solid 3 ounces in just 10 minutes, but that half hour still lingers for me and Mike to stay awake. Normally Mike and I alternate feeds. We'll take turns which is really really nice. But nursing school is tough and demanding and sometimes I know he has a really big test the next day so I'll be sneaky and do all three night feeds myself. Those are the nights I stock up my little shelf to the side of my bed and I catch up on a few of my favorite blogs while Linden rests on my chest. I thought I'd share my little "go to" items for when I know it's going to be a long night.

MY NIGHTSTAND ESSENTIALS
for nights with a newborn

+ Ice water + Graze snacks:  Being up for an hour at a time, three times per night can get exhausting. And it makes me thirsty/hungry. Since I can't really go whip myself up a big ol' meal at 2am, I like to have a couple of my Graze snacks set aside with a bottle of water for when I'm feeling a bit munchy. Seriously, these Graze snacks have been a heaven send for the newborn phase. Not just during the night. This kiddo doesn't let me eat very many full meals haha! I find myself snacking on them throughout the day as I bounce around the house with him in his wrap, too.

+ Extra pacifier: I've learned my lesson a few times too many... You can never have too many spare pacifiers. Linden likes to shimmy his tiny little fingers behind the pacifier and sling it into the air when he's ready for you to know he's awake. This means a lot of dusty, dirty pacifiers in the middle of the night. I always have one or two spare ones on my side shelf. If I don't let him get to the crying stage, he's a lot more likely to go right back to sleep. Gotta be prepared!

+ Tablet: Mike has been using our Acer tablet (c/o Intel Tablets) for the past few weeks and he brings it to bed with him each night to study for his Pharmacology class when it's his turn to feed/hold the baby. Since we alternate feeds and he snoozes while I deal with Linden, I often grab it and catch up on some blogs or social media. Toby normally has our iPad in his room since he earns screen time, so I've been getting to know the Android tablet. If Linden is totally passed out, I'll watch a little bit of Netflix to help pass the sit-up time until I can put him down to sleep. My favorite apps to use are pretty standard: Echofon, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Solitaire. (Solitaire gets me through a lot of nights!)

+ iPhone: Ever since Linden was born, I have kept up with every single feed, diaper change, and dose of medicine in my Baby Feed app. This app is amazing! I cannot say enough good things about it. It might seem a bit overkill to keep up with everything to the extent that I do, but it helps me track just how much food Linden is getting, and what might be causing the reactions that he has. Since he has reflux and a milk allergy, it's important for us to know exactly how many poopy diapers he has and when we last gave him his dose of this that or the other. I also use it to track his pediatrician visits and I keep up with his prescriptions, weight gain, and all that important stuff. It's not available via the Google Play store so I always have my iPhone by my side. The best part about the app? You can synchronize multiple devices so if Mike is up in the middle of the night feeding or changing him, he can put in that info and it'll automatically update on my phone, too.

For all of you past and present infant mamas, what are your midnight essentials?

#spon: I'm required to disclose a relationship between our site and Intel. This could include the Intel Corporation providing us w/
content, product, access or other forms of payment. (Acer tablet c/o Intel - no other compensation was provided)