Thread: The Baby Thread
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Old 08-13-2022, 11:39 AM   #3
malcolmk14
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Congratulations! Our daughter is 16 months old and she is the best thing ever!

The 4 and 5 year olds will probably want to "help" a lot! Include them as much as possible in caring for the baby, and try to be careful what kinds of phrases you use when you're busy with the baby and they are wanting attention. Try not to say things like "the baby needs this right now" but rather "I need your help for a few minutes doing this, then I'll be able to play with you". It'll make them not resent or be jealous of the baby for taking attention away from them. Luckily, they have each other to keep occupied.

Make some frozen meals - lasagna, casseroles, stuff like that, and toss them in the freezer now. You won't want to think about cooking when the baby arrives.

One thing that helped quite a bit is my wife pumped breastmilk and we kept a bottle in the fridge, that way I could do one or two feeds a day and she could get out of the house for a few hours without feeling trapped. Sounds like your partner has done this a couple times before so she'll probably have some good strategies already.

Babies sleep a lot - pay close attention to wake windows and try your best to stick to a consistent nap schedule. Before I had kids I kind of scoffed at it but... I get it now. Haha.

Honestly there are hundreds of things I could tell you that I learned over the last year. If you have any specific questions or want to PM me, feel free!

We delivered at Rockyview and the staff in Antepartum and L&D were exceptional. Post-partum felt a little like they were understaffed, honestly, and we couldn't wait to get out of there and get home. Hopefully should be fairly straightforward since this is your partner's third child.
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