What I wish I'd known as a new mum

What do new mums wish someone had told them before? What helps and what hinders as you actively embrace motherhood? What if we could go back in time and share our new-found wisdom with our pregnant selves? Here is what Ready Steady Mums ambassador Holly Henderson thinks:

Holly: I am a first time mum to Georgie who is just over 8 months old. I have really found that being a mum is definitely something you learn on the job. Saying that, books and people are great for guidance, references and reassurance. I thought I would share a few things that I have learnt since having a baby that would have been useful to have known prior to Georgie's arrival!! Maybe I'll help a few other mums avoid the surprises.

Tummy pains? I remember breastfeeding in the early days and getting horrible tummy pains. At first I thought it was the way Georgie was pressing against my tummy but it happened even when she wasn't touching my tummy. After a few days of worrying that breastfeeding was just going to be uncomfortable a midwife told me that it is very normal to experience such discomfort as your tummy contracts back to its normal size.

Boob or bottle - will she be fussy? Last summer when Georgie was only a few weeks old we decided to give her bottles of expressed milk every now and then so that my husband could do a feed. Georgie took the bottle without any problem and switched between breast and bottle without any fussing at all. Satisfied she took the bottle we didn't use it for a few months until we had to (I was having my hair done!). My poor husband had to deal with a hungry screaming banshee who refused the bottle. Georgie had hit the 6 month mark and had decided she preferred the boob and would not settle for anything else. We fought it and did some intense bottle training and sure enough after a couple of weeks she took it again no problem. Now we do it regularly enough that she is kept used to it but it would have been helpful to know that they can change their minds and even if they take a bottle in the early days it is still important to keep it up if you want that as an option.

The trials and tribulations of the dummy! We found the dummy could be a wonderful soother but when we used it if Georgie woke up in the night it ended up creating more problems than it solved. We thought it was great that we could use it for her to go back to sleep as it had such an immediate effect. However, for us it really did turn out to be a quick fix as she then started waking up for the dummy. We therefore decided to go cold turkey. After a couple of tricky days it was the best thing we could have done. I am not saying that I wouldn't have used it had I known the issues it can cause, just that I would certainly have used it with more caution!

Anyone else get stuck on these things? And what wisdom would you share with your pregnant self?