The Fathers Thread

nikpmup wrote: »

Pack the baby's first outfit (vest, babygro, nappy, hat, mitts etc) in a ziploc bag and put that in the labour bag so you can find it easily when the time come

+1 to this AND familiarise yourself with how to put on a nappy and what order the clothes go on BEFORE the baby is born. I must have drummed it into my OHs head a thousand times "if anything happens, the nappy and clothes are all in the ziploc bag" but it never occurred to me to explain the process of changing and dressing the baby. So when I ended up getting morphine and was totally incapacitated, there was a big panic with my OH staring at the ziploc bag like a cow looking at the moon, not having a clue what to do with the mysterious contents. I eventually managed to talk him through putting the nappy on and immediately conked out, assuming he would figure out the clothing..... Only to be woken up an hour later by him frantically asking me what a babygro was and a nurse shouting at him that the baby would freeze. He had put the short sleeved vest on, put the scratch mittens on the baby's feet and ignored the babygro because he "couldn't figure out what it was supposed to do and it seemed surplus to requirement" :rolleyes: :pac:

Having babysat a lot, I was very familiar with baby care and foolishly never thought to explain the basics to himself, who had never so much as held a newborn before. He got a crash course that evening though and he's a dab hand at it now

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

LOL Mr Postman not the sharpest tool in the shed is he??:P It is all common sense. Not something you would imagine one would need to be shown:pac:

Maybe you had younger siblings?

It's not all common sense. Maybe you knew straight away what to do, but not all first-time parents do.

Sure I only realised about ten hours after my baby was born that his nappy had never been changed, and it should probably be done. After sitting awake staring at him for ten hours! It just never occurred to me. And then I had to get a midwife to show me how to do it, even though - with five younger siblings - I've changed a million nappies.

Sometimes these things don't just come automatically to people - great that it happened that way for you, though.

They put a nappy on him in the labour suite and swaddled him in a blanket, telling us we could dress him ourselves later. When they moved us up to the post labour ward there wasn't a nurse to be found to help

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

LOL Mr Postman not the sharpest tool in the shed is he??:P It is all common sense. Not something you would imagine one would need to be shown:pac:

I'm afraid it's not common sense to someone who has never so much as held a baby before. Imagine, for instance, a man who has little experience with women or womanly things. And imagine giving him a makeup bag full of cosmetics and asking him to pick out an eyelash curler and bottle of foundation. He wouldn't have a clue what he was looking for, never mind how to use them! The thing is, we spent so much time making sure we knew how to use the carseat, open and fold the buggy, put together the crib etc that we never even thought of the most basic thing of all.

kronsich wrote: »

Ah it isn't that bad. Managed nine hours sleep in the last 24. Three hours three times that is. Doesn't really feel like a nights sleep when it's so broken. Have ordered those two books so will have a look.

Gonna try get her into a routine from tomorrow. Apparently activities and a bath between two cluster feeds from 6 pm should give us six hours of a break.

Will let yaz know anyway but six hours sounds amazing!

Thanks for giving me a laugh What activities do you hope to do with a newborn? As for routin...... I won't burst your bubble. I managed 2 hours sleep a night for the first month. Eventually got 4 when I started sleeping downstairs. My eldest didn't grasp that I was exhausted and would come down, jump on my head and say "Hello daddy" he's 4 in September.