Want to start making homemade baby food for your little one, but not sure where to begin? Check out these helpful tips and tricks from other new moms.

Before you get started, make sure you know the signs baby is ready to start eating solid foods and which ones are safe.

Do you make your own baby food? What tips would you give other moms who are just starting out?

Plus, more from The Bump:

The Best Foods For Baby

Scan This: Genius Baby Food Organizer

Baby Food Making 101 (It’s Easy!)

I’m still pretty new at this whole mom thing, but one thing that I’ve learned so far is that mornings will forever be a bit more chaotic. If I thought that getting to work on time was challenging before our baby was born, then this is a whole new hurdle to jump over. I have a natural obsession to anally organize everything and anything down to the littlest detail, so you can only imagine how I approached our “new” morning routine with baby. Here are some of the new “rules” that our morning routine now includes to help us keep our sanity (which is super important to have, don’t you agree?).

Limit time-consuming tasks.

As crazy as it sounds, I’ve tried to eliminate anything that takes time in the morning. If I’m going to shower, it needs to happen the night before. My outfit and lunch for the next day need to be ready to go before I hit the sheets for some shut-eye. I’ve been trying to proactively think about what can be done the night before and luckily, most things can! I also pack my son’s cloth diapers and his bag to take to the babysitter in the morning.

Use list-making to your advantage.

One of my best friends in the morning — and when I’m packing my son’s diaper bag and my work bag — is a list of what needs to be included. Balancing a 45-hour work week, being a mom to an infant, writing for my blog, and all of the other endeavors that flood my life daily can make remembering everything at 5 a.m. a bit daunting. Write out your list for the things you need every day, stash it in your kitchen or even in the bag itself and the daily packing will become a breeze.

Keep accurate reminders in obvious places.

There are some things that just can’t be done ahead of time. For me, this usually includes packing my pumped milk in the diaper bag, my pump parts that are in the dishwasher, and my lunch in the refrigerator. In order to help myself remember these important items, I stick a note on the bag that the item needs to go in. Then, in the morning, I just have to glance at the note to remember what needs to be added and we’re ready to go! I also have a note stuck to the door so that the last thing I see is a reminder for the most important items: baby’s milk, breast pump, computer, cell phone and diapers.

Plan for a few time-sucking events.

This might sound like a “duh” thing to suggest, but it still amazes me what unpredictable things can happen in the morning.  A few examples from our house might include missing our alarm, an unexpected feeding or pumping session that can’t wait (especially because I feed my baby on demand), or the outfit I laid out having an unseen stain. I have yet to successfully get up early enough to make sure there’s extra time, but I’m still working towards that! Whether you’re a working mom or you stay at home, we can look at our morning routines as a challenge to tackle successfully every day. If you don’t get it right today, then there’s always tomorrow to try again!

How do you get it all done in the morning?

It looks like Luvs supports breastfeeding in public.

The diaper company released a new ad which features a mom breastfeeding her baby at a restaurant. The ad is part of a campaign that humorously pokes fun at new mom mistakes, and shows the lessons they learn from them. In the breastfeeding ad, the mother fumbles through the feeding and keeps her baby under wraps  But by the second child, she is confident in her abilities and has no problem showing it.

Although humorous (and so true), the video has already received comments that it is not “appropriate” and is “offensive.”

What do you think of Luvs’ new campaign? 

Plus more from The Bump:

Celebs and Their Breastfeeding Stories

Breastfeeding Tips for New Moms

Top 10 Breastfeeding Problems Solved

I can’t count how many times I’ve said, “I don’t know” in the last five months. The most were in the first few days my son was born. I said it to the nurse who asked if we wanted the baby to sleep in the nursery or stay in my hospital room. I said it to the doctor who asked how many wet diapers he had in a day. To the lactation consultant who asked how well he was breastfeeding. To the friend who wondered why we didn’t use her name suggestion. To the friend who asked when we’ll start solids and what our vaccination schedule will be. And to the husband who asked how he can best help. I just didn’t know!

Sometimes, it bothered me to say that I didn’t have all the answers. It seemed like some things a mom should just know the answer to. Other times, I thought people were expecting too much of me, wanting me to remember things when I was sleep deprived and crazy busy and to be completely learned in a topic with a ton to learn. And honestly, the only way I would’ve been able to answer some of the questions is if I’d had a crystal ball and could see into the future.

Eventually, I realized that it’s okay for a new mom not to not have all the answers. And how could you? If you think about it, when was the last time you experienced such a huge onslaught of new things all at once? When was the last time you experience such a drastic physical change in your body? When was the last time you had so many emotions over one single event? When was the last time you had such a great responsibility placed upon you so suddenly? It’s like having plastic surgery, graduating from college, getting married (to a virtual stranger) and starting a new job all in the same day!

Eventually you learn. You get a routine down. Your baby’s eating and sleeping become more predictable, making it easier to notice when something is off. And you get to the point where you’re okay saying “I don’t know” and answering the question later, when the right time comes.

Embrace the uncertainty that comes with motherhood. Give yourself a break, do your best, and surround yourself with people who want the best for you and your child. That’s all you need to be great parent — not all the answers.

During baby’s first weeks, which things were a learning process and which things were instinctual for you?

We’re always looking for quick, easy recipes, and if it’s a meal I can get together in 15 minutes, I’m sold (if it’s Mexican, I’m even more sold). So I was super excited when I spotted these Tilapia tacos with tomatillo salsa verde, which you can make in a flash. I’m looking forward to eating these on my back patio this summer!

Get the recipe at The Nest!

Plus, more from The Bump:

7 Quick and Easy Recipes for New Moms

7 Healthy Meal Ideas for Pregnancy

Bumpies’ Favorite Healthy Recipes

Some people say “never wake a sleeping baby,” but some moms actually do this a lot. And that could be a result of postpartum depression. According to a new study from Penn State University published in Child Development, moms with depression symptoms were worried and anxious about their infants’ sleeping habits at night, and were more likely than moms with fewer or no symptoms to wake their babies and disturb them.

Pediatricians urge parents not to wake their baby if he’s sleeping peacefully, isn’t experiencing distress and doesn’t need a feeding. Experts note that parental depression or excessive worry, disrupts both baby and parents’ sleep and also can lead to problems in the parent-child relationship later on. So why are depressed moms more anxious about baby sleeping at night than other moms? Researchers believe that the mothers’ symptoms of depression are directly related to moms’ lack of confidence in parenting and their emotional state.

The findings were part of a larger analysis, Study of Infants’ Emergent Sleep Trajectories (SIESTA). In the larger study, researchers analyzed data from 45 infants (ranging in age from one to 24 months) and their parents over a week. The mothers kept a sleep diary and also completed two surveys, one about depressive symptoms and the other about moms’ worries about their infants waking up at night. Researchers also set up video cameras where baby slept, at the door to baby’s room and two additional cameras where parents would take their babies at night, to see if the moms’ self-reported behaviors matched up to their survey answers.

If you think you might have postpartum depression, it’s important to seek help immediately. Talk to your doctor asap.

What do you think of these findings? Do you wake your baby up at night? Or worry about baby’s sleeping safety at bedtime?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Postpartum Depression

Is it the Baby Blues or Postpartum Depression?

Treatments for Postpartum Depression