First Time Dad

[Bricoop]

The time is here and I'm days away from meeting my little girl. So, what tips do you have for a first time Dad?

 

[Josh 8]

Life is gonna change. What you thought was important wont be. Its a great thing!

 

[bajafox]

Had my first on the 4th of January this year, he decided to crash the party 7 weeks early. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd become a first time dad during a pandemic. There aren't a lot of books or youtube videos out there on how to handle it.

All I can say is it's going to be hard the first few months, hardest thing I ever had to do in my life but now my son is crawling and I feel like the first few months, as hard as they were, went by way too fast. Enjoy the baby stage as much as possible, I thought I had enough of it but I was wrong and miss him being a little baby way more than I thought I would a few months ago.

We are 1 and done so I'll never get to experience it again.

Good luck, best thing to ever happen to me.

 

[az_amsoil]

Day one is the hardest and each day after gets a little easier. My kids are now 15 & 12 and everyday can bring a new challenge and a new reward. Just know that you now have the most important thing life can offer. Keep momma happy, give her a break, let her nap and know that everyday is blessing. Congratulations!

 

[az_amsoil]

A more practical post...get one of these: Diaper Genie | Playtex Diaper Genie hopefully the baby shower provided one. It makes a sealed sausage of diapers to keeps the stink and "grossness" down LOL! Also know that as you go up in diaper size the price goes up and the number in the package goes down!!!

 

[smiller]

As a father of 4,have your wife breast feed and keep the basinet close to the bed. You get up to hand over the baby and they will sleeping in 30 minutes

 

[43mod]

You will learn not to give parenting advice soon. W no kids you dont have an efn clue ! 1 get out of that city by the time she is four 2 post pardem (spelling ?) is real, learn about it and watch momma. Hormones can do crazy stuff they cant control. 3 eating dirt is healthy. 4 need at least two more. 5 convince mom to listen before saying no, saying no and then negotiating to a yes is a bad long term deal. 6 best thing your ever going to do , until g kids come along. Congrats sir,will pray for all good things for mom and baby. Russ.

 

[NIKAL]

My best advice. After the first month get your daughter on a schedule. At first it will not be easy, might seem impossible. But stick with it. The sooner everyone is on a schedule the sooner you get sleep, a more normal life and your little girl will be easier to handle & understand.

Once on a schedule and sleeping better. After a few months you will want to move her into her own room. That’s when the schedule is really noticed. She’s sleeping through the night, eating and napping at the same times every day.

BTW moving her into her own room will be harder on you then her. Buy a good baby monitor with screen you can set on your wife’s nightstand. This will make you & your wife feel better when you hear that noise and find out it was just your daughters hand hitting the side of the crib and she’s still fast a sleep.

 

[43mod]

Ps. Noisy house good. Dead silent house is a failure you dont want to be involved with. My kids can sleep through 3ft whoops.

 

[DuaneH]

Every baby is different, and every baby is great...I became a father at 20 and it was amazing! so much so I did it 4 more times. Now I am a grandfather and I get so much enjoyment watching my two oldest kids with their kids! Be involved in everything they do, turn off the TV and spend time with them, let them be kids, support them, you are not their friends yet, you are their dad, once they grow up and formulate their personalities you have the chance to be their friend (its cool if you get through the hard years easily) some do some don't....Most of all enjoy the good and the bad....there are no do overs!

 

[J Prich]

Spend as much time together as you can. As the parent of two college age kids and a 6 year old, I think a lot about how I probably didn't fully appreciate how fast the childhood years were going to go by. Don't take any of the time you have together for granted and in fact, make time even when you think you don't have it because before you know it you're going to wake up and she's going to be a grown woman doing her own thing. Cats in craddle and all that jazz.

 

[Chris]

Oh man...you're in for an adventure!!! It took us a "minute" to find our rhythm when we were new parents. Specific advice is tuff (and would probably end up being wrong anyway). By way of example both my girls are as different as can be. What works for one, is a miserable failure with the other. All I'll say is above all listen to your gut and follow your instincts. Kids are f'n durable.

 

[JDDurfey]

I only have one kid biologically...an 8 year old son, but I have 3 step daughters. I used to listen to women complain about their husbands over the years not doing this or not doing that. So I made it a point to not avoid a couple of activities and my wife still calls me a rockstar for doing it.

First, never shy from changing a diaper, no mater how gross. Suck it up and do it! I hated it, but I changed a ton. In fact my wife did not change a single diaper while in the hospital. I changed so many my dad thought I was crazy, but my wife was happy.

Second, when my son woke during the night I jumped up and changed him and then woke my wife to breast feed him. I would then go back to bed and she would put him back to bed when fed. She still brags on this.

We had a Nap Nanny placed inside his crib and that really helped him sleep well, they are recalled now I guess because some kids died using them, but we didn't have an issue. Of course all kids are different. My son slept great if we swaddled him tight. (might be why we didn't have an issue with the Nap Nanny) Once we figured this out he would sleep through most nights.

I will say once she gets older, consistency is the key. You are your wife need to be on the same page on EVERYTHING! And your daughter needs to know it.

 

[randy68]

"You are your wife need to be on the same page on EVERYTHING! And your daughter needs to know it."

SO very true! My daughter came up and asked me what a blowjob was at 12! (I told her.)
She's 51 now and we can still talk about ANYTHING. Make sure she knows she can talk to
you about anything...My $.02 worth.

 

[bajafox]

Did you say it was a drink? lol

 

[randy68]

Did you say it was a drink? lol

Nope. I Always told her she could ask me about anything without me getting pissed. I also
stressed that she never lie to me, and I wouldn't lie to her. I also never told her what time
to be home, I made her tell me. If (and when) she did lie, it was a months restriction, NO if
and or butts. I put a wind up Big Ben alarm clock in the hall, if it went off before she was
home.......(TRUST me that will come in handy when you can't stay awake to hear her come home!!)
I have a few more things that worked.........

 

[az_amsoil]

By way of example both my girls are as different as can be. What works for one, is a miserable failure with the other.

So true, I have two boys and they are night and day! Oldest is super chill, quiet, methodical, careful and needs little to no guidance. Youngest is a Tasmanian devil on crack!

 

[Bricoop]

What a blast the last 4 weeks has been. Thanks for all the advice, gents!

 

[92OCHO]

Don’t blink..............
20 + years will vaporize

 

[mgobaja]

Take lots of pictures, and PRINT them. Don't be afraid to brag about milestones, and accomplishments. We both read to my daughter every night starting when she was an infant, and she now is a very strong reader at 10 years old. Have tea parties with her, let her play beauty shop with you, but also allow her to help in the garage when she shows any interest.