Any advice and/or stories from early parenthood anyone wants to share would be appreciated!

Edit: just wanted to say I’m reading all the comments and appreciate everyone. The newborn is keeping me busy!

  • Ni
    1•2 years ago

    Congrats!

    Best advice is to lean on your support system as much as you can (I know not everyone has one) and in the newborn stage taking shifts between both parents if you have a non-sleeper. So one person takes first part of the night and the other takes the last part etc.

    I also really regret not writing down firsts and filling out a baby book at the time but it was chaos and not a lot of sleep. So if you can find the time, write the important stuff down and take lots of photos (and a lot of photos of baby and mum as there are often less of them together).

    • Rainer
      1•2 years ago

      My wife and I have been using a “pocket nanny” for shifts. It’s basically just multiple timers to keep track of when the baby last ate or had a diaper change. It’s nice when I get up early to get a quick idea of how long I have to get a bottle together. We also used it as an alarm to make sure he was eating often enough at the start.

      With the shifts it really helps to try and optimize your own sleep too. My wife and I both sleep in eye masks now, which helps not wake your partner up if you need light in the bedroom. We’ve also found it makes taking a nap when the opportunity presents itself a little easier.