Related Posts
Bowl Leader
Pro
Pro
Rising Star
More Posts
Any Deloitte people trade on robin hood?
Chief
Cisco is looking for top notch Network Engineers who have an Active TS/SCI with Full Scope Poly clearance. Locations are Annapolis Junction, MD; Herndon, VA; McLean, VA.
Qualified and interested? Feel free in reaching out to me directly to learn more! laczecho@cisco.com
#cisco #network #engineers #clearancejob #topsecretjob
😂😂 me working from home today
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Congrats! Don’t be too hard on yourselves. For mom, breast feeding can be challenging, and it’s totally OK if it doesn’t go as planned. Be ready with formula and bottles if needed. For sleep, it’s going to be a rough couple months, no way around it, but once you’re out of it, you’ll barely remember the struggle. Agree to roles and responsibilities now (and reevaluate and revisit weekly) so you’re not scrambling when everyone’s exhausted and on edge. Y’all got this :)
First two weeks, we did everything together. Then wife pumped so I could bottle feed many of the feeds during the day. Also used formula since breast milk supply took time. She could rest and recover while I fed, burped, diaper, and played with baby. I did many the household chores while baby was napping (food, dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc.) and she did the overnight feeds. Tough thing about breastfeeding is she’ll be constantly nursing or pumping, so she won’t be able to get a full night’s sleep for months. If one of us felt overwhelmed, we’d discuss and swap. Definitely take care of your wife (she is recovering both physically and emotionally) and accept that there’s no “efficient” way of doing things the first two months.
So exciting!
1. Baby can come at anytime. This week. Next week. Start being prepared, like have your hospital bags packed in the car. We ended up going straight to the hospital at our last doctor visit, so be prepared!
2. More than likely your wife’s supply won’t be in yet if it’s your first kid. Don’t get frustrated. Be prepared to use formula until it does come in. Look up how to properly bottle feed if you plan on breastfeeding (paced feeding, wide-neck bottles, etc) to minimize bottle confusion. Learn the different techniques for burping babies. Also have different bottle brands at home ahead of time to try – every baby reacts to bottles differently. What worked for our first kid didn’t work for our second kid.
3. Get referrals for lactation consultants ahead of time. If breastfeeding is challenging, don’t wait too long to get help. Even one session works miracles to help with getting your wife used to all the feeding motions and techniques. If your hospital has LCs available during your stay, try to see different ones as everyone has different advice and some may not be that good.
4. Sleep. Good luck! Yes, you do have to wake up every few hours. That’s your new life for a while. It’ll get better. Read blogs (or pay for the courses) from Taking Cara Babies. Download the Huckleberry App for sleep schedules. Consider a Snoo – worth the money and you can always sell it to get 1/2 your money back (or rent one). It works.
Congrats though - fatherhood is amazing and life changing and well worth everything.
Taking cara babies is the best investment we made. Do yourself a favor and buy it. Start it a couple weeks in to get acclimated but don’t expect it to work all of a sudden. You’ll build the routines and it’ll click. We didn’t do Snoo and it worked fine. Also second the Huckleberry app. That plus the TCB course will help a lot with the routines. You’ll feel like you’re in a loop for a little. As for sleep, it’s survival mode the first 6 months. Literally sleep every chance you can but make sure you’re wife sleeps more. She needs it a lot more for mental and physical recovery. I underestimated the mental part a lot. Postpartum depression is very real and common. Let her know you’re in it together
Congratulations, and welcome to the club. It’s the best part of life. I have three little ones and it’s the best.
Can’t help much on the breast feeding front, but sleep-wise, honestly you can hang. It’s no worse than consulting, only in this case you only have 1 very important client, who either needs to be changed, fed, or held.
Biggest advice I give - is do a sleep schedule as soon as possible. First couple of weeks fine, baby cries, give the little tyke a bottle, but after that point, should be every 3 hours at the same times until their stomachs get big enough to eat every 4 hours, and so on.
Happy to give more context as to what worked for us.
Yeah it’s tough but the checklist is tried and true: baby cries; is it time to feed? If no, change diaper, rock for a few minutes with a pacifier, put back in crib. Rest and repeat.
Be there for your wife. Recovery can take time.
It will be right with no sleep but you’ll step up.
And most of all: the love you will feel for that baby is beyond anything you can imagine. Changes your life instantly.
One thing that worked really well for both of my kids was to pump the breast milk and bottle feed them to it. It helped with tracking exactly how much they drank and also allowed my wife and I to take turns with feeding. About two weeks in both my daughters were on a 3 hour feeding schedule . We fed them at midnight, then my wife took the 3:00am and I took the 6:00am - that way I got 6 hours of sleep in one swing. EY paid for a hospital grade breast pump so that was nice
I’m our case she was breastfeeding and then pumping after for the first several months. Babies (especially early) are not always the strongest at nursing and she would still have milk. It also helped boost her supply overall. But if she hadn’t been breast feeding, then yes- she would need to pump every 3 hours or so.
The easier you take it on yourself the easier it will be. Easy going parents raise easy going babies. Don’t have the science to prove it but I see it anecdotally all the time. Not going to be easy but you making the experience harder than it is by stressing out about the little things like growth charts and milestones will hurt you and ultimately the baby.
THIS 100% , I’m trying to be more easy going, my parents were not easy going in some ways and I have inherited/learned it from them all the years I was around them
Breast feeding is extremely tough with a million other challenges and we did the smart thing by not worrying about it when it was becoming challenging and just bottle fed our baby
My kid is almost 2 now and I’m typing this now with extremely poor nights sleep, I think you accept the fact that your sleep won’t be perfect until they are 4 or 5, I have heard sleep regression etc. around 2 or 3 and all other issues
Key is be easy going, practice being calm
Consider a night nurse if you can afford one. One of my Asian friends mentioned it was common in their culture to do it for the first couple of months. I wish she would had told me before my kid came so we could have planned better. Worth every penny for sanity and sleep
Make sure your kid is fed. Exercise and stretch consistently. Trust mother's instructs. Help each other get free time
Congrats OP, we had our first baby a week ago so I can definitely relate. Make sure to take as much parental leave as possible so you can dedicate 100% to your kid and your wife (she will need your help and support, be there for her).
Things don't necessarily go according to plan, don't feel bad if you need to give your baby formula if your wife's milk production starts late or is not enough.
Also Lactation Consultants help. Find referrals for a good one in your area that does house visits. They can help with latching, tips for milk production, etc.