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Random (but Awesome!) Advice for New Parents
Author: Heather Slee
When I was pregnant, I was excited to be a parent. But mostly I was terrified. I asked everyone I came in contact with for advice. What if the baby won’t sleep? How will I know if something’s wrong? What if I can’t do anything right? Luckily for me, experienced parents are full of advice and usually they’re not shy about handing it out. In this article, I will share the top three pieces of advice I received that turned out to be the best advice for me.
Sleep when the baby sleeps. You probably hear this all the time. Yeah, yeah, sleep when the baby sleeps. But when you actually bring the baby home, you might ignore this advice. During the first couple weeks at home with my daughter, my husband and I were up practically 24/7. When the baby was sleeping, we wanted to talk to each other, clean, stare at her, jump up and run to her whenever she even sighed in her sleep, eat, and try to relax. But eventually, we became sleep-walkers. Everything became cloudy. Thoughts were mush in our brains. Everything became so… difficult. It really got to be too much. Finally we took the advice we had heard so many times to heart, and life became enjoyable once again.
When you get to the point when the baby is sleeping in longer stretches, you won’t need to lie down every time the baby lies down. When this happens, go about your business while the baby naps. Keep the noise level in your house to normal. Don’t go tiptoeing around keeping everything silent. If your baby is used to sleeping during regular noise, they’ll be able to sleep anytime, anywhere! This is a gift! You won’t have to worry about company coming over. You can take the napping baby to the grocery store and they’ll snooze right on through. It’s great!
And finally, this last piece of advice is from my mom. Don’t wish the time away. One afternoon, when I was in the first two weeks of sleep-deprived agony, I said, “I just wish she was six months old already. She’s so fragile. I’m so scared. I just wish this first part was over.” My mom was holding my little girl against her chest while she slept and she turned to me and told me never to wish the time away. That’s all she said. And I have to tell you, she was right. Every time I catch myself wishing my daughter could walk or pee in the potty or tell me what she needs, I stop myself and remember to live in the now; to appreciate and cherish every moment I have with her. Before you know it, they’ll be all grown up. Then you’ll be wishing for time to reverse.
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