I should have mentioned some stuff specific to babies!
- Work out a night schedule with your SO. Find what works best for you. It's different for everybody and sometimes every baby!
- You probably already knew getting a full night's sleep isn't in the cards for a few months, so figure out some napping strategies. Work them out with your SO.
- Learn how to be a diaper pro! Honestly, it ain't bad until they start eating solid food - and then you have a motivation to start potty training them! :)
- Figure out between you and you're SO who's cleaning up the vomit. My wife gets physically ill at the thought of vomit. Meanwhile I'm the kind of guy who's like huh, so that's what you get when you mix Red Kool aid with pizza!
- Kids rarely make it to the toilet or sink when vomiting
- Kids projectile vomit
- Kids are virtually indestructible, once they're able to hold their heads up.
- Don't buy too many clothes and don't buy too many new clothes. They're just growing out of them anyway - sometimes in days or weeks!
- You might want to start buying formula now so you can have a little bit of a head start (modern issue)
- Don't assume your baby is going to eat the way you think they should. One of my kids refused to breast feed and wanted their bottle ice cold with extra holes poked in the nipple so they could guzzle it down as fast as possible! That's just how they ate! Everyone thought we were terrible parents for not warming up their bottle first.
- Everybody will give you loads of advice. You can ignore a lot of it, especially if they're not parents. Every kid is different. If you decide to have more kids then what "worked" for your first kid may not "work" for the second kid. That's just the way it is.
- You can take my advice with a grain of salt too! Yeah, I've raised three kids - but every kid is unique! I know what worked with my three kids. YMMV.
And - CONGRATULATIONS! Forgot that one too! New dads often get ignored as so much attention is lavished on the new mom and the baby.
- Work out a night schedule with your SO. Find what works best for you. It's different for everybody and sometimes every baby!
- You probably already knew getting a full night's sleep isn't in the cards for a few months, so figure out some napping strategies. Work them out with your SO.
- Learn how to be a diaper pro! Honestly, it ain't bad until they start eating solid food - and then you have a motivation to start potty training them! :)
- Figure out between you and you're SO who's cleaning up the vomit. My wife gets physically ill at the thought of vomit. Meanwhile I'm the kind of guy who's like huh, so that's what you get when you mix Red Kool aid with pizza!
- Kids rarely make it to the toilet or sink when vomiting
- Kids projectile vomit
- Kids are virtually indestructible, once they're able to hold their heads up.
- Don't buy too many clothes and don't buy too many new clothes. They're just growing out of them anyway - sometimes in days or weeks!
- You might want to start buying formula now so you can have a little bit of a head start (modern issue)
- Don't assume your baby is going to eat the way you think they should. One of my kids refused to breast feed and wanted their bottle ice cold with extra holes poked in the nipple so they could guzzle it down as fast as possible! That's just how they ate! Everyone thought we were terrible parents for not warming up their bottle first.
- Everybody will give you loads of advice. You can ignore a lot of it, especially if they're not parents. Every kid is different. If you decide to have more kids then what "worked" for your first kid may not "work" for the second kid. That's just the way it is.
- You can take my advice with a grain of salt too! Yeah, I've raised three kids - but every kid is unique! I know what worked with my three kids. YMMV.
And - CONGRATULATIONS! Forgot that one too! New dads often get ignored as so much attention is lavished on the new mom and the baby.