Recent dads (and moms): any last minute advice?

Soperbrew said:

Fricken excellent thread! This is what the homebrew community is all about. I'm proud to be part of it.

My advice is to not pay too much attention to all the doctors & charts that say your kid should be doing something at such & such time/age. All the kids develop differently on their own schedule. Some walk at 4 months, others at 2 years. etc.

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You're just saying that because your two boys are overall great!

1. Get that lil' bebe in her own bed as soon as you can. They learn to entertain and soothe themselves which is best for everyone involved. Both our kids were in their own beds sleeping thru the night in 3 mo.
2. The teat is free bebe food!
3. Take shifts. Work out a schedule. Wifey had evening, and I had late from 11PM till whenever. Gets everyone in a pattern and is easier to deal with.

Get a Boppy. I held both of our kids in it for hours watching hockey. It great for both parents.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GIOPH4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Awesome, awesome thread. So many things I am adding to my list for when we have kids. A few things had me laughing out loud.

Congratulations.

joeybeer said:

Great advice ! Our second is to be delivered via c-section at 8am on 11-11-11 !! I should probably get the car seat in the car, the good news is my son loves to help (3yo) ! I can't wait to find out the sex, although I've been on team pink since day one, and see the interaction between my son and new baby.. It's about to get a lot more interesting around here, all the grandparents etc are arriving tomorrow afternoon !

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The in-laws are coming today, and my parents will be here tomorrow.

Don't forget to pick up a case of Stone's 11.11.11 brew! http://www.stonebrew.com/epic/

http://blog.stonebrew.com/?p=2805

Great advice so far. I would add that if your baby is crying and you don't know why, it's usually one of 3 things: they're either hungry, tired or need a diaper change.

Also, learn how to do a tight swaddle. Our oldest had to be swaddled tight before she would go to sleep.

FrFtr28 said:

Great advice so far. I would add that if your baby is crying and you don't know why, it's usually one of 3 things: they're either hungry, tired or need a diaper change.

Also, learn how to do a tight swaddle. Our oldest had to be swaddled tight before she would go to sleep.

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Swaddling is clutch! Also: larger babies are going to be able to bust our of their swaddles sooner....if you have this problem look into buying the Halo Swaddlesack or Swaddleme products....they have velcro to hold the swaddle together.

My son hated being swaddled, from the first day in the hospital I would get pissy if swaddled, just goes to show you every baby is unique.

Because we adopted he is a formula-only baby, we finally floundered on a combo he likes and his plumbing is ok with, we use the Dr Brown bottles exclusively, and he has to have a 50/50 blend of Nutramigen and Alimentum. I think this is the most expensive possible combination of formula and bottle (probably why he likes it) Raising a baby is a lot of trial and error, just keep at it!

I found this little bit of information quite helpful in those first panicked weeks.

Why_is_my_baby_crying

Great advice thus far.

Bokonon said:

There is nothing wrong with letting them take the baby to the nursery at night so you guys can rest. They will come wake you for feedings and stuff.

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THIS! It's the LAST TIME you'll get some sleep for a long time. And I mean years.

TyTanium said:

Being a parent is the coolest thing in the whole world. Yes, cooler than homebrewing.

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QFT.

My $0.02 (having a 8yr old and a 6yr old):

1. DON'T be one of these homebrewers that thinks it's cool to use StarSan to clean baby bottles. Your baby doesn't need phosphoric acid. Baby bottles need soap and warm water, that's it. They don't need to be sterile, they need to be clean.

2. Anyone who wants to hold the baby (and everyone will) needs to wash their freakin' hands first. Especially at this time of year. Some will roll their eyes, eff them. Fact is babies get their immunity from mom and that initially drops off after the first few weeks, and then baby starts to acquire it naturally. Babies are like little cancer patients for the first 3 months of their life, are obligate nose breathers and are solely dependent upon you to keep them healthy. My youngest had RSV when he was 2 months old and stayed in the hospital for a week. Was not fun and could've killed him. Don't take this lightly.

3. Enjoy it! You'll have lots of questions, what do I do/what don't I do. It's immersion learning. In a few months you'll be changing a diaper in the dark at 3am, half-awake with one hand.

Congratulations!!

FireBrewer said:

1. DON'T be one of these homebrewers that thinks it's cool to use StarSan to clean baby bottles. Your baby doesn't need phosphoric acid. Baby bottles need soap and warm water, that's it. They don't need to be sterile, they need to be clean.

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Lol. I don't use starsan for bottles or sippy cups, but I have been known to give them a good pbw soak when I'm too lazy to properly clean out the curdled milk.

My firstborn is due in the middle of February so we are currently in a state of moderate panicked preparation. I am definitely bookmarking this to come back to later.