Although the advice that we usually give in other posts are usually useful for both of us, mom and dad, today we wanted to address them especially, and specifically those who have just become parents or will soon be, with these 15 tips for new parents that will help them survive the baby's first month.
1. The one who knows best what you need is your baby
New parents are a magnet for advice. You ask them or not, you receive them, and curiously it seems that everyone knows more about your baby than yourselves, so they will advise you from everywhere, and what is worse, they will give you contradictory advice.
That's why it is best to listen to them and leave them in standby in case at any time you consider it appropriate to carry them out, knowing that the person who knows best what the baby needs, it's the baby: if he cries, the thing goes wrong; If you don't cry, things are going well.
In Babies and more The 13 things I said I wouldn't do as a father, and now look at me2. Enjoy taking it as much as you want
When you announce pregnancy people get excited because you are going to have a precious baby to give a lot of love, and from which to receive a lot of love too.
Everyone is very impatient and excited until the moment he is born. Then the problems begin: it is no longer necessary to give him so much affection, "it is better that you do not take it too much", "it is good that I cry a little", and a lot of similar phrases that do not make any sense.
Take it everything you want, whether you are crying or not, because the children have to love them very, very much, and enjoy with them and them.
3. It is better to visit to be visited
It really depends on the way family members and friends act. If you are one of those couples with a direct environment of "getting into the kitchen" and doing so even when you have not invited them (that of "we passed by house and we have said: we will give them a surprise and we will eat, snack and have dinner "), it may be better to offer you to go see them when you consider the time, than to wait for them to come.
I say it because if you are going to visit, you can leave when you want. But if they come to visit you, it is more complicated to throw people away from home (and if you don't get it, the nights with the baby can be horrible: of continuous cries and waking, as a reflection of their days).
4. Always wash your hands before taking it
Yes, I know you are his father and you are completely healthy. No matter, everyone who is going to catch the baby you have to wash your hands before doing so, especially if it comes from the street. Germs and pathogens travel from side to side.
5. Have everything well prepared before doing anything
This man in the photo is an expert already: on the floor and surrounded by toys. You'll be like this soon, but not yet. In the first month it is worth stopping to do a mental survey of what will be the time, to have everything prepared in advance.
If you have it in a changing table, you do not have to turn your back on it or take a moment to catch something you are missing (and if so, it is better to take the child and look for him with him in his arms); if you are going to bathe it, that you do not realize once it is in the water that you are missing something, or when you take it out, that you have to dress it with some haste so that it does not go cold.
6. Always put him to sleep supine
Or what is the same, face up with head tilted. It is the safest way to sleep (which leads to a lower risk of sudden death).
In Babies and more35 things you were not notified before becoming a father7. Go out for a while every day
Even if you have everything to do. Don't worry, you're not the only ones: we've all been through that and even if it seems like a lie, break with the environment, the environment and the house, help.
Go for a walk, to give you the air, to give the baby air, talk about things other than the baby, or the baby, but talk; relate, look at the people, appreciate the outside, let the sun's rays caress your face ... not even a few minutes.
8. Dry well in skin folds
In the armpits, English and neck especially. Do not miss the sponge out there and dry those areas well, because if they are not wet and they start to make injuries that then it is difficult to heal.
9. Take advantage of the 'cream moment' to massage
It is not that babies need moisturizer (most do not need it), but it is a perfect time to give a small massage: soft, without force, just by slightly moving their limbs and putting the cream on the whole body. Now over here, now I put you aside, now a moment upside down, now on the other side, I massage your head, arms, belly, legs, feet ...
There is nothing like knowing your baby visually, every corner of his body, and also with his hands, to fall in love a little more with him. In addition, it is communication, it is affection, and the baby thanks (usually thanks ... if yours is one of those who do not like massages, try at another time or otherwise).
10. Make it clear when it is day and when it is night
You could say that most babies are born with the dream changed, and it is that they tend to repeat outside the patterns that were still inside: during the day very quiet, with the swing of mom's movements, and at night 'party', taking advantage of the fact that she is still.
Well, to modify this, little by little, it is advised that by day there is enough light and the usual noise, and at sunset go letting the house get dark as the sun goes down, using very dim lights and helping the baby to sleep when you indicate that you are sleepy (The first month is difficult to see this, but when you get older this advice will be good for you not to screw up and then it is much harder to sleep it).
11. The house can wait
If picking up the house, making food, folding clothes, etc., is robbing you of sleeping hours and makes you accumulate even more tired, set it aside a little.
You can ask the family to bring you food, buy it made and even eat with plates and cutlery to use and throw away, if you look very rushed. The first is you and the baby, and rest is important: that it is one thing to sleep little and another to have hallucinations or fall asleep in the WC.
12. What you wear with clothes and one more garment
Be careful when putting on clothes: don't wrap it up too much. It is enough to dress it just as you go and if you just add one more garment, because you walk and take heat, but he does not.
To know how the temperature is, you have to touch his back: the hands will almost always be relatively cold.
In Babies and more The eternal loneliness of the first-time father13. Put yourself in his place
If he cries a lot and asks you for arms and contact very often, be very clear that is not manipulating you in any way. He is simply letting you know that something is wrong and that he needs you to help him because he does not know how to solve it.
Not to despair, if a very demanding baby has touched you, it is worth trying to understand what you are living: you have just arrived in a strange world that you do not know and is trying to adapt. If there are adults who have not yet achieved it, how is a baby so small and totally dependent?
14. Hug her and congratulate her for surviving another day
The same in your case the verb survive It seems exaggerated. But yes, there are couples who, rather than live, survive. So when the night comes and you see that you have achieved it, a hug and a hug can come in handy. "We're doing well, right?".
It can lead to reflect on how you are taking it and where you could improve, and it will unite you as a couple and as parents.
15. Relax and enjoy
Well, it is a way of speaking: there are not many parents who relax when they are parents, because there is hardly any time for it and because everything seems extremely important. But it can be done mentally if you try to turn everything around and if you start to doubt your ability as a parent.
Look at your baby: he is growing, he is learning, he is changing with you; you are adapting each other to the new situation, and you're making it possible for you: dad and mom.
So you will not be doing so badly if what you do, you carry out from the heart, and listening to the baby at all times to know if you are doing well or not.
Enjoy your baby, enjoy your fatherhood, be happy. Being happy, she will be happier, and your baby will also be happier.
