[Closed] Dad 101

enjoy the quiet sleepy moments and remember them when the going gets tough or she does a stinky nappy! She'll be going out on the town all dressed up with her friends in no time!

Congratulations on the new addition 🙂

Enjoy it while they're relatively simple to deal with 😉

Make sure you have a good pacing route with no squeaky floorboards - you're going to be doing a lot of walking up and down with the thing.

Enjoy it.

Newborns are easy. It's when they become mobile you have to worry.

Get them used to noise asap, our lot will sleep through a nuclear war.

Take loads of pics as they will be questioning everything you say/ask before you know it.

Get one of those big inflatable gym ball things, sitting on one of them and bouncing makes a good alternative to pacing about and it means you can sit and work your way through stacks of terrible films to keep you going through the small hours. That and a netflix subscription got me through the first month or so!

Newborns are easy

Gulp.

I suppose it has been relatively easy so far. It's working out what she's trying to say that's the hard bit. I suppose it's technically only one of 3 things.

Dungarees,
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Ours wouldn't sleep anywhere but on us for the first 6 weeks, it was tough! I've never experienced sleep deprivation like it.
Still, it goes all too quickly and you'll soon have a fight just to get some cuddles!

Congrats bud. Grab sleep where you can 🙂

Thanks all. 😀

Those dungarees look useful!

Take some stupid composed photos in the next five or so days. You can do what you like and they'll sleep through:
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Nice one hot_fiat, that's awesome!

That's tomorrow's activity sorted.

Fanatastic. All too suddenly they will only be talking to you via Facetime and to busy playing Xbox to what to interact with you. Enjoy the purity of these early moments.

Never fall asleep yourself if they're kipping on your chest and you're on the couch, say - easily done if it's 4am and you're red-eyed with sleep deprivation.

Newborns are easy. It's when they become mobile you have to worry.

I'd second that. Newborns are in the main very easy. No need to re-arrange furniture or anything like that. You can even get away with going to a restaurant and other things. Not at two though!

Only piece of advice is - enjoy

Babies can cry for 26 minutes for no reason. If you have checked each end, temp and the other suspects, there is nothing wrong.

I'm 7 months in....

Whatever it is...not sleeping, too much pooping, not enough pooping, too much crying, not eating etc etc......it very probably just a phase.

Oh, and always remember that they're ****ing awesome!!!!!

You will be tired... you won't care
You won't have any time... you won't care
You won't have any money... you won't care.

As for people who say 'oh wait til they start moving' well for me that was the best bit because that's when the personality started coming out and he's just got funnier and funnier ever since.

He's getting a baby sister any day now, can't wait.

Enjoy it when it's good, be there for each other when it's shit and sleep any opportunity you can.

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Clearing Baby's Nose - whoops 😳

Ten Minute Rule. Babies cry as per TiRed above. Put them down. Walk away. Shut the door. Have a cup of tea and time for yourself. If they're still crying 10 minutes later, check and repeat. That 10 minutes can be a lifesaver when you're totally knackered. I understand why babies get shaken/battered. It's not necessarily lack of love, it's lack of being able to cope and time for yourself can give that breathing space.

Use real nappies - dead easy.

Don't pick your nose after you've changed a nappy.

Babies are much more resilient than we give them credit for.

Don't listen to any advice. You'll get constantly changing opinions and you won't know your a*se from your elbow. Do your own thing and you won't go wrong.

Time flies. Enjoy it. There's always another day for painting the skirting boards.

Get plenty of cute/embarrassing photos to use as a bit of an "incentive" regarding getting then to coming round to your way of thinking when they get to 15.

1st child was brilliant,
2 weeks bed and breakfast in Dorset.
5weeks short holiday in Brugge.
He fitted in with us and we can take him anywhere.
2nd child complete nightmare, happy with nothing.
Loudest scream in the world, but falls asleep in moving car, many midnight drives.
But I wouldn't change anything.
Can't wait to get home and see them.

Meant to say congratulations!
Being a Dad is the coolest thing I have ever done!

If you are constantly wondering if you are doing it correctly, you probably are.
If you think you're the perfect parent you are probably not.

Enjoy every second it goes soooo fast, our eldest was born a couple of years ago, he's now 17! 😯

EDIT: if you are fed up with them not sleeping wait until they hit their teens you'll be fed up that the don't wake up.

Congratulations OP.

My one tip for now is - enjoy the moment. Time goes so fast.
A tip for all your parenthood is - take lots of video clips
Another one is - give them the same opportunities regardless of gender. So many people still offer different opportunities to their sons and daughters...

eBay, whilst it's still small. You'll get more for it

Ignore all advise unless it works for you and your partner. Give each other plenty of room to parent differently . At the newborn stage be particularly tolerant and supportive of each other you are likely to both be tired and often anxious .

Learn the phrase it's just a phase.

Enjoy every day becomes the best day ever.

Oh and congratulations.

My tip...

Baby grows have a wide neck. This facilitates removal from the top down, over the shoulders. Very useful when you don't want to undo the poppers and remove over the head.

Not going into more details why, but one day you will find it useful!

Congrats, enjoy!

I found the newborn stage really difficult. He's awesome fun now, 2 this month.

Congrats sir!!!

Just go with the flow, you'll learn the hard way which is the best way.

Take good care of your Mrs.

DO take lots of silly photos per hot fiat, genius!!

The first six weeks or so are tough - you give, give, give and all you get in return is vomit, screaming, poo and wee.
But then, at some point soon your smile at them - and they smile back. At that point your heart melts and you forgive everything (until they next pee in your eye (if you have a boy, with girls it just goes everywhere)).

Took me back 12 and 18 years...

Bit dusty in here isn't it?

Enjoy, relax and sleep when you can, take turns with Mrs pt0608

Is anyone else going down JoeG's list and ticking things off?

Enjoy but don't be smug about the good stuff, don't stress the bad stuff too much. Everything is a phase and will change.

Lock her in a tower now, so she'll never know anything else, don't let her grow her hair.
Saves so much trouble later on.

My No1 tip would be to not get too precious about light and noise when she's asleep. If she gets used to dark and silent conditions to get to sleep, you're ****ed! Can't take her anywhere that's not 'perfect'. If she can learn to sleep if it's a bit lighter/darker than normal, or if there's a bit of noise going on, life will be much, much easier for you...

Thanks all. Reassuring to know my feeling of "what the hell do I do" is totally normal.

Didn't get to sleep till 6 last night. For some reason she hates her basket at night. Now? Sleeping peacefully in her basket.

I enjoyed those dos and donts!

I'm on number 3, he's 5 months old. My only tip would be "don't have any more"! 😉

1 child you're a parent, more than 1 you're a referee 🙂

Reassuring to know my feeling of "what the hell do I do" is totally normal.

I still remember leaving the hospital and thinking "wait, they're actually letting us walk out of the building with a baby?"

The feeling of not knowing what the hell you're doing never entirely goes away 😉

Don't be a dick to your wife......EVER!!!

Driving round at 4am to get the baby to go to sleep works wonders (as does a loud CD)

Download a white noise app, works a charm and ours sleeps 12 hours a night

Sleepless nights are temporary and she'll surprise you with how well she can sleep

Sleep when she does

Screw the cleaning, it's not important

Don't listen to other peoples "sage advice" if you don't like the sound of it. Nobody, regardless what they think, is an expert

Steer clear of Mumsnet

Congratulations, it's great isn't it?

We have our first due in February, so taking notes 😯

+1 on staying away from mumsnet but mrs Pridds found babycentre interesting and got good support from it. The thing that kept her sane through 6 months of very difficult breast feeding was an iPad. She got it after 2 months and was so much happier.

+1 for the iPad. It's kept me company for the sleepless nights so far.

Also, better advice on here than Mumsnet or Baby centre!

Echo the "this is the easy bit" comments....

Sorry! 🙂

Enjoy it all though, even though lots of it isn't particularly enjoyable. It just gets better and better.

Oh and I wouldn't worry if you don't feel some "amazing bond" you read about - it takes time.....

Again, enjoy!

My top tip is never be afraid to ask for help or advice. Also be prepared to ignore some of it.

Oh and cherish every moment because they get bigger bloody quick. I barely feel like I have blinked since my first was born and on Thursday he started his second year at school.

You're lucky as loom bands will hopefully no longer be in fashion when yours gets to the age they can use them.

my youngest is 17. i hate her today. i want to strangle her and bury her in the garden.

you will also get these feelings in the future..... 😀

enjoy it for now.

I still remember leaving the hospital and thinking "wait, they're actually letting us walk out of the building with a baby?"

I had exactly the same thought!

Child number two was less of a shock, number three slotted in like he was always here.

The only advice I can give is try and relax and enjoy it. I'm convinced it rubs off. I am dad to possibly the happiest 8 month old ever, that's not a boast; he doesn't stop smiling/laughing.
it's ace, I wish I'd done it years ago.

Congratulations, it is very ace isn't it!?

The advice to take videos is spot on. Photos are great but moving pictures do so much more. We don't have many from when Kip Jr was very young but those we have are very precious.

All things pass, the good and the not so good, try not to worry too much (in the style of of Baz Luhrman...If you mange this tell me how).

A good friend of mine recommends a Kindle if your missus likes reading. So much easier to read one handed when small child falls asleep on you.

Check out slings, your local area may even have a sling library, these are brilliant and I wish we'd used a better one earlier on.

Enjoy it, it gets better and different all the time.

On my chest is my new baby daughter

Is nobody going to tell him he needs to go and wake his wife up if baby wants a feed??

Congratulations, things will never be the same again (in a good way!)

Enjoy it, babies are the most amazing thing ever. Being a dad is so, so good.

never forget you are the luckiest man alive

(as are all new dads, but that makes you no less special)

As has been said - when something you're not sure about happens, relax - it will probably be ok and has happened to millions of people before you (again, that makes you no less special).

It's about the only that you can do which has been done billions of times before but still be different/special

It's brilliant - take videos when you can, as we were watching a clip of our 8 year old having his baby chub rasperry'd to within an inch of his life to fits of giggles as he was calling his little brother fat. We had not rewatched since number two came along 5 years ago and it had me proper boo'ing thinking about the early days with number one son

It took about 18 months before I stopped regarding our firstborn as a crying machine that prevented me from riding my bike. Then she started developing a personality and I looked forward to letting her stay up late whilst her mum was out, because we'd have such a good laugh together.

Bairn Two was born three months ago, so I've another crying machine to deal with, and the arrival of Bairn Two has turned firstborn into a little ballbag, due to her not being the centre of attention any more.

Having spent the entire day with them, I think I'm safe in saying that there hasn't been a moment where at least one of them hasn't been making noise; one because she's a baby, and the other because she's desperate for attention. It's driven me close to the edge.

Anyway, if you want my one top tip to survive fatherhood, here it is: Don't expose them to any Disney-related singalongs. Everything else, the shit, the piss, the spew, the lack of sleep is tolerable; 'Let It Go' sung at you thirty times* per day will ruin you.

* - I am not exaggerating.

EDIT - I should point out that I love my children immensely and would readily die in order to protect their well-being.

EDIT EDIT - As long as the eldest stops singing Frozen songs.