When you have your first child, everything is new and a bit scary. You’re unsure of yourself, constantly asking questions and calling your pediatrician. By your second baby, you have a handle on things. Life isn’t so scary, but you still insist everyone wash their hands before touching your baby. The third baby is pretty simple; you have the help of the first two to get things done and you’re basically a pro. By the fourth baby, things are very different…

1. There are a lot less photos

During your first pregnancy, you probably took a photo of your belly every week. You took a photo of your child every day and posted it to Facebook immediately. It’s all so new that you had to document every moment of it. Your next kids, however, didn’t get such a treatment.

2. People celebrate a whole lot less

For your first baby, family you didn’t even know you had suddenly appeared to bestow gifts. Your neighbors from three streets over introduce themselves just to see the baby. Your home is overrun by baby gear and cute outfits. By your fourth kid, people have lost track of your pregnancies and aren’t sure if you have a brood of children or if you’ve started a mobile daycare.

3. You relax your hygiene rules

The first baby got a new outfit every time she drooled. You passed out hand sanitizer to friends who wanted to hold her. Now you’re wiping your last child’s mouth with her sleeve or even your thumb, handing her off to people without a second thought, and you aren’t sure how long she’s been wearing that onesie.

4. Illnesses are a lot more common

When it was just you, your spouse and your first baby, illnesses weren’t that common. There was the usual baby sniffles and occasional ear infection, but nothing serious. With a house full of kids, however, disease seems to materialize from nowhere and everyone gets it. Your last child has had a perpetual runny nose since birth.

5. You don’t worry about milestones

Is he holding his head up enough? Is he rolling over on time? Does he look like he’ll walk soon? There’s a lot of anxiety for new parents who are concerned that their child is developing on schedule. For the later kids, you won’t even stop to consider if things are happening “on time.”

6. You pay a little less attention

I’m not saying you love your newest child any less. Of course not. But you there’s no way you can keep the same level attention to detail as you could for your first. In the beginning, you might have kept a poop diary, scheduled your life around his naps, and carefully selected any TV programs that might be within earshot. On the fourth child, however, you let a lot of that go and cast your worries aside.

Written by Alicia Overby - Founder & President of Baby Elephant Ears

Alicia is wife, mother, and creator of Baby Elephant Ears. Baby Elephant Ears was created out of parental concern, not financial desire. In 2005, when their second child was an infant, he cried all the time and just couldn't seem to get comfortable.

After seeking advice and suggestion from the medical community and alternative medicine, they eventually ended up in the chiropractors office where their baby was successfully treated for asubluxation, discomfort most likely the result of the strain during labor, which was now being exacerbated by the normal lack of infant neck strength. Only proper neck, head, and back alignment would offer him relief. When they couldn't find a product to give their baby the necessary support, Alicia took matters into her own hands and crafted her own infant support pillow. The first Baby Elephant Ears was born!

For more information, visit www.babyelephantears.com.

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