Baby on the way... tips for a first time parent?

[SteveToms]

Run.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by fotze

Oh ya, at the beginning the goodness of the baby is based solely on how big they are compared to the percentiles. The funny thing is I have never met anyone whose baby is in the below 50 percentile. So when your wife comes home from baby group you will need to know how awesome so and so's baby is because it is in the 98th percentile of baby weight. Its like a contest, who can fatten up their baby the most.

This becomes less awesom when the little girl turns 13 and she learns how to tickle her throat.

My one year old is 90th for height and almost zeroth for weight. So there you go

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Good point on the Costco diapers. Someone gave us a box for newborns and we hated them for some reason. I think we were already used to Pampers by that point. Anyway I must have 40 or 50 of them if anybody wants them.

Costco diapers are Huggies, so if you hate them, you'll hate Huggies.

Oh, and BUY BRITAX!! Their seats are soooooo much easier to install and adjust than everybody else's.

[Barnes]

My wife is due on the 16th (First Canada game ugh).

We are all set, I think.

I just put together one of these on saturday.



On saturday night, my wife was laying on the couch I was in the chair that my dog usually sleeps in and my dog was frantically looking for a place to lie down. I heard a loud noise and turned around to see her in the bassinet side of the play yard.

This is my dog...



Funniest thing I've seen my dog do in awhile but we are working on leaving the babies stuff alone.

[Prototype]

Barnes, the way you worded that suggested your pregnant wife went crazy and cuddled up in the bassinet.

Our first bassinet got 'recalled' after my son slept and grew out of it. We got it as a gift, and I can't recall the specifics, but it just was easier to take it to the dump, and buy a new one, which we bought close to the same thing as Barnes had posted. This way once it's done being a bassinet, it's a travel bed.

If our next child is anything like our first... it'll sleep darn near anywhere...

[black rubber disc bunny]

One bit of advice I can add that I haven't seen mentioned is to buy clothes in the 'off-season'. I can't say that I do it myself (I leave that to my wife) but it just takes a little wrapping your head around buying winter clothes in the summer but taking into consideration how old your baby will be at that time (not at the time of buying).

There will always be good/cheap deals at Gap, Old Navy and Superstore (Joe).

A lot of really good advice has already been mentioned. I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of sleep but I would recommend like others have mentioned to not let your baby sleep in your room for too long and even consider the sleep training idea. We definitely learned from our first what to do/not to do with our second but they are all individuals so you'll have to figure it out as you go.

Don't forget to enjoy it.

[Jayems]

My wife and I are expecting our first in early July. I've been visiting this site daily.

It's a forum, so take what people say with a grain of salt, but has great info for basically every scenario. Separated into different trimesters and searchable. I use it more to figure out when I'll be able to feel a kick, what sort of symptoms were normal in the first trimester for the wife... that kind of stuff. There's lots of personal reviews on baby things, like cribs, dopplers, etc. Although the site is worldwide, most seem to be from the UK.

What I like to do is google image every week what pregnancy week we're coming up to. So, for example, this Friday is week 19, so I'll google image: Week 19 Pregnancy. I like to see what state of development the kid is at, look at other people's ultrasounds, that sort of thing. However, it's sick because these anti-abortion sites always post aborted fetuses images, and it's disturbing.

Other than that, I that's all I know.

[Shazam]

Don't forget Once Upon a Child for used stuff.

[supadaveo]

One good trick my wife and I learned while we ewre trying to get baby to sleep through the night......If the baby wakes up hungry at any time during the night, get up and feed it (of course!) but DONT turn on any lights or anything else. You dont want the baby to get the idea its time to be awake. Dont talk to it, or interact with it at all, just get up, feed, then lay it back down. Sounds cruel and somewhat daunting, but it will be well worth it when your baby sleeps for 9 hrs at 3 months.

GL!

[Gozer]

[V]

Ever wonder how someone came up with the expression "Sleep like a baby"? Yeah, me too.

Fortunately, my wife breastfeeds, and stays home during the day, so none of the kids are my concern from midnight to 7:00 am.

Don't buy so much new crap. Most of the big ticket items can be bought used, and you can save a fortune.

[Kybosh]

Cesar Milan - "Don't negotiate, dominate".

[Fozzie_DeBear]

If you are going to get a baby monitor get one that plays lullabyes remotely...we got a Phillips one (off ebay..the SCD 589) and being able to turn on a lullaby without leaving bed was awesome...it was like the snooze button on our alarm clock

Our kid is 2 now and she still will get knocked out if we turn on the lullaby.

Its like buying sleep and worth every cent.

[KTown]

Seeing the birth of your child will be the greatest experience of your life, it is just wild how a baby is grown over 9 months internally from one little egg.

Consider your week-end life over though, I rarely get a chance to go out now. I don't mind because I would rather spend the week-end with my son.

Also enjoy the first 8 months because once they start moving sitting will not be an option as your kid will always be into stuff.

[ResAlien]

Didn't see it yet, but the FIRST thing you need to buy is a Diaper Genie. This is an absolute necessity, go. Buy one right now. Greatest invention in the history of ever.

[Merlot]

I agree with the Costco diapers - they are terrible but the Kirkland wipes are a must!

[drewboy12]

get out of the country...

[8sPOT]

Just enjoy it!! Everyone will be telling you what you should be doing and this and that (especially your parents and the inlaws).

Your not supposed to be 100% prepared, and thats how it will be for you going forward.

A lot of people have said to get used baby stuff and I could not agree more. I'd say 80% of our stuff is from Kijiji. Our little guy is 6 months and has hundreds of dollars worth of clothes he will never wear again.

Best of luck to ya!

[GGG]

Go to as many flames games as you can before your baby is 1. They are easy to take the first year and they get used to noise and learn to sleep through anything. Buy the time their 1 they want to walk/crawl around and it is much more work to take them to a game. We started taking our daughter at about 6 weeks.

Formula kicks ass, it digests slower so the baby sleeps longer and your wife gets more sleep because you can get up to feed the baby. And a better slept wife is a happier wife.

Car-seats.org is an excellant web-site for car seats. Buy an infant bucket seat that snaps in and our of your car and snaps into a stroller. Very convenient. To the above recomending Britax they are about twice the cost of other comparable seats. In my opinion what you want in a car seat is something that installs easily in your vehicle (Try installing before you buy). And has a high rear-facing weight. Extended rear facing beyond the 1 year 22lb law is safer

Don't cheap out on a stroller

Its also a lot easier then everyone says. The lack of sleep isn't too bad, changing diapers isn't too bad, and the first weeks they just eat and sleep. Whatever you do don't become one of those schedule people who have to get home by 7 or 8 just to put their baby to bed. Mold the baby around your schedule and it is very easy to maintain a life. Go to restraunts, Go out on weekends. The biggest difference I have seen between people who think it is a lot of work are the ones who become shut ins and try to be perfect. Your baby will adapt to you so if you always make sure it is always quiet and dark when they sleep then they will only sleep when it is quiet and dark. If you teach them to sleep on blanket on the floor with lots of noise around they will learn.

Also by a Sophie the giraffe, for kids TV shows I recomend Yo Gabba Gabba, they have celebrity guest stars like Andy Samberg, although Broby is kind of whiny.

have fun

[killer_carlson]

epidural is the way to go.

only advice i have

oh, one other one, look for a guard for your stove. it looks like a bug deflector for the hood of your car, but attaches to your stove. Our kids are tall and like reaching up and grabbing things. This was an important one for us.