It's like I don't know what a baby is...
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- blaw0
The entire system of parenting is extremely well paced. First, it's feed/change/bath and the rest of the time is spent holding a baby. Okay, got it that down? Let's add a bit of volume to the cry, bathing switches from sponge to tub and you factor in some simple choking hazards. So far so good? Excellent. Let's work our way up to basic mobility.
Learn to do things with one hand and it's a piece of cake.
- nicole_marie0
i don't have a kid so obviously i can't tell you how it is, but i can tell you what my parents told and have shown me. yes it was hard as hell when i was a baby but a great new experience that you will never experience again because it will be your first. so enjoy it.
and once those years are over you will want to go do things how them things, yes it will require more planning, but my parents took me so many places small trips, big trips, and they experienced so much more because they wanted me to have a fulfilling life. so really you can look at the upcoming years in many ways.
i would personally enjoy the shit out of when they are a baby and a young kid because when they are a teenager is when its going to suck balls.
- gramme0
The sleep issue is funny to me. So many people have asked us since day one if our son sleeps through the night. Most of these questions come from the older grandparent types who gave birth < 50 years ago under heavy anesthesia via Twilight Sleep, and have in general forgotten what's involved in having a baby around.
Some babies sleep through the night early on; some don't until they're three. Who gives a shit. Neither extreme scenario is a sign of intelligence, health, or lack thereof. Some babies are high-need. Some are not. I think it's a lot more enjoyable to just roll with the punches, rather than forcing kids to adhere to societal norms before they can even form sentences.
This is all that matters:
One day old:
One year old:
- jamble0
Ours is 7.5 months now and sleeps through from 6.30pm to 5am but with the occasional wailing which wakes us up even though he's doing it in his sleep (imagine Homer Simpson style "cobras" night terrors type wailing).
I wish we could get him to wake up an hour later because 5am is rubbish.
Still, wouldn't trade it for the world, when he's awake he's a real bundle of energy and gives us a great laugh!
- identity0
I dont have children yet - but I'm imagining it to be an extremely rewarding thing - and yes - anything rewarding is ONLY rewarding because of a little pain in the ass...
- scarabin0
screw ALL of that shit
- gramme0
Our boy goes to bed around 9, which is kinda late for a baby, but he usually doesn't wake up for the day until apx. 8 am. Granted, he wakes up to get his grub on a couple times in the night. I've got friends whose babies wake up @ 5 am regardless of what time they go to bed, so I guess we're lucky.
- zenmasterfoo0
I think people who have relatively low levels of social activity anyway and those who are jealous of others always say this crap. I'm 8 weeks into this new baby thing and the only thing I've given up is the large amounts of video gaming I did. No big loss there. Kona is right, reduced sleep doesn't completely halt your life. We're getting into 5-6 hour stretches of sleep and it's awesome. Nights out with friends, going out to eat, movies and all that shit are still on the table.
- gramme0
For us, it really helps having both sets of grandparents in town. Actually, we'd be screwed without them b/c my wife works part time a couple days a week, and can't take the baby. They're perfectly happy to take him off our hands on those days. Same deal tomorrow night, going out to dinner with the wife for our 3rd anniversary. We're going to the restaurant I took her to on the night I proposed. Haven't been there since, really looking forward to it.
Date nights like this are mandatory for sanity.
- crayz0
It'll be awesome. and i love you use of the word swede.
- zarkonite0
Don't listen to these people... think about your life with a baby and how much you'll enjoy having that in your life and it's all gonna fall into place.
- zarkonite0
no sex? I think having babies is the reason blowjobs were invented.
- zaq0
It will be less sleep, especially the first half a year, but at the same you'll be able to accomplish more.
- JerseyRaindog0
At the risk of sounding like one of the moaners, I know I did a lot of the negative stuff mentioned in this thread. Our boy didn't sleep through until he was 3 and a half. And it is really tough. And we didn't do lots of things we used to do. Now he's nearly six (and he's still and early riser) but it's so much fun now. And the thing is I can't remember the bad stuff at all now. It's like you black it out. But the idea of doing some of stuff I used to do now fills me with dread (like someone said earlier). I try and get home on time now so I can spend early evenings playing - ticks me off when I have to work late or go out and socialise.
- Yeah screw hanging out with grownups. Playing with your kids is where it's at. :)gramme
- harlequino0
Random advice: Try and schedule bathtime after a significant poo. Unless you like 'Caddyshack' swimming pool scene reenactments.
- JerseyRaindog0
Mine just woke up now complaining (in a very sleepy, drowsy, way) that he was too hot and, most hilariously, that his pants were up his bum. You couldn't write this stuff if you tried.