Raising an infant...

[Golden_Rhino]

From what I understand it's not as hard as you think, assuming you're not an idiot. Congratulations on the baby.

[MrMon]

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After about 6 months it gets a lot easier for a couple of reasons. First off, they start to sleep through the whole night. Second, they start being able to creep and crawl, so they can get around a bit by themselves, and they aren't so frustrated about being useless human beings.

The first 6 months can be relatively to extremely difficult (depending on the colic level of the child). It's because they are useless and depend on you for everything and crying is their only way to communicate. Try and get the child on a regular schedule for eating/sleeping and sh*ting and you will be fine.

Also for the first couple of months, make sure you wrap the baby in a swaddle nice and tight.....reminds them of the old days.

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Depending on the kid, this contains some horrible advice. Babies are easiest when they can't move anywhere. You can leave the room and know they will be in the same place when you get back. Once they can move, you have to rebuild your house, as anything at their level becomes a potential death trap. You can never trust a crawler or a toddler and they can move fast. And never think they won't be able to figure something out, they are smarter than you think.

Getting a child on a regualr schedule is easier said than done. We had to feed our son on demand. Forget that schedule stuff, if he was hungry, THAT was dinner time, forget what the clock said. Sleeping does need to be on a schedule, though, even if the baby doesn't follow it. Ours woke up at the slightest hint of light in the morning, so be sure and use blackout curtains if necessary to avoid this. Diapers are definitely on demand and you change at first sign of a problem.

Some babies like swadling and some don't. Ours hated it from day one and we never tried it after we got home. Don't force them into something just because someone tells you. The same with sleeping position. Our son could only sleep on his stomach, so we recreated the carpeted floor in his bed, with a sheet on top. He could turn his head with no problem, but check with your doctor to make sure this is okay.

The hardest thing about babies and kids under two is they can't tell you what they want. But, if you listen very carefully to even a baby that can just cry, you'll learn the different cries. As they start babbling, just try to pick up hints of what they want, then remember that for next time.

Your baby is unique, so do what works for your baby, regardless of what some baby Nazi tells you. They'll be wrong next week, as the next trendy thing comes along. Just take it one problem at a time, and use your common sense. Even a crisis like a ruptured hernia wasn't that bad in retrospect, we were told it was a possibility and once we heard him yelp like we had never heard before (or since), we knew what we had to do and did it.

It gets easier at about 3 years, but it's never easy. Just about the time it does get easier, you'll start all over again with the next one. And yes, your sex life is going to go to hell. It just is. Deal with it. You'll be too tired to care.

[BK1248]

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After about 6 months it gets a lot easier for a couple of reasons. First off, they start to sleep through the whole night. Second, they start being able to creep and crawl, so they can get around a bit by themselves, and they aren't so frustrated about being useless human beings.

The first 6 months can be relatively to extremely difficult (depending on the colic level of the child). It's because they are useless and depend on you for everything and crying is their only way to communicate. Try and get the child on a regular schedule for eating/sleeping and sh*ting and you will be fine.

Also for the first couple of months, make sure you wrap the baby in a swaddle nice and tight.....reminds them of the old days.

[/ QUOTE ]

Depending on the kid, this contains some horrible advice. Babies are easiest when they can't move anywhere. You can leave the room and know they will be in the same place when you get back. Once they can move, you have to rebuild your house, as anything at their level becomes a potential death trap. You can never trust a crawler or a toddler and they can move fast. And never think they won't be able to figure something out, they are smarter than you think.

Getting a child on a regualr schedule is easier said than done. We had to feed our son on demand. Forget that schedule stuff, if he was hungry, THAT was dinner time, forget what the clock said. Sleeping does need to be on a schedule, though, even if the baby doesn't follow it. Ours woke up at the slightest hint of light in the morning, so be sure and use blackout curtains if necessary to avoid this. Diapers are definitely on demand and you change at first sign of a problem.

Some babies like swadling and some don't. Ours hated it from day one and we never tried it after we got home. Don't force them into something just because someone tells you. The same with sleeping position. Our son could only sleep on his stomach, so we recreated the carpeted floor in his bed, with a sheet on top. He could turn his head with no problem, but check with your doctor to make sure this is okay.

The hardest thing about babies and kids under two is they can't tell you what they want. But, if you listen very carefully to even a baby that can just cry, you'll learn the different cries. As they start babbling, just try to pick up hints of what they want, then remember that for next time.

Your baby is unique, so do what works for your baby, regardless of what some baby Nazi tells you. They'll be wrong next week, as the next trendy thing comes along. Just take it one problem at a time, and use your common sense. Even a crisis like a ruptured hernia wasn't that bad in retrospect, we were told it was a possibility and once we heard him yelp like we had never heard before (or since), we knew what we had to do and did it.

It gets easier at about 3 years, but it's never easy. Just about the time it does get easier, you'll start all over again with the next one. And yes, your sex life is going to go to hell. It just is. Deal with it. You'll be too tired to care.

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good post thx

[BK1248]

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From what I understand it's not as hard as you think, assuming you're not an idiot. Congratulations on the baby.

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id figured it was easy also, but when u can hear him screaming from the third floor to the front porch, the baby start to wears on u.

[olliejen]

lots of good advice here.

i think in many senses it gets harder(following them around, getting them to eat, etc) but it also becomes a LOT more rewarding. i wouldn't describe myself as a "kid"-guy and if you're like me, a few months down the road you'll be really surprised at the indescribable joy you feel when your baby 1st smiles at you, laughs, just falls over asleep on you, calls for you, starts trying to imitate things you do, etc

You get the idea... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[BK1248]

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lots of good advice here.

i think in many senses it gets harder(following them around, getting them to eat, etc) but it also becomes a LOT more rewarding. i wouldn't describe myself as a "kid"-guy and if you're like me, a few months down the road you'll be really surprised at the indescribable joy you feel when your baby 1st smiles at you, laughs, just falls over asleep on you, calls for you, starts trying to imitate things you do, etc

You get the idea... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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those sound like nice times, i have always been excited, i wanted a boy so bad, but am realizing how difficult it is, just hoping it all goes well and thx for the replies.

[Arbitrage]

[Knight Vision]

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useless human beings

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they are useless

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Certainly you mean helpless.

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Ya, helpless sounds better I guess. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

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[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] See? Doesn't that make caring for a baby a ton easier now?

OP - I think you'll do well, because you want to do well. That's all the baby needs.

[microbet]

I have two kids, 4 and 6.

The first kid cried more as an infant, so it was harder on top of the first just being a lot harder than the second. It is difficult to let go of your expectations of being able to do what you want. Best advice I could give you is to try to accept that you can't and just try to enjoy what you are doing anyway and to go to bed early. My first kid didn't sleep a lot and it didn't help that I stayed up until midnight most nights. The sharing responsibility with the wife stuff is very tough. You will probably both look on it as work to be divided for a while.

The first kid definitely seemed easier as she got older. Partly that was because she was and partly because I was more and more used to it. They generally require less and less attention as they get older, but in some ways it is more frustrating when they are older and you start to have expectations for how they should behave. When a 6 month old spills something, it is your fault for leaving it where it can be spilled, so you just clean it up. When a 3 year old does it you have to pull out your belt....no, kidding, but it is more frustrating.

Second kid made some things easier and some more difficult. You don't have to worry about that yet.

[microbet]

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I don't have any kids, but having babysitted the kids of family, I'd have to say that it probably gets harder for the first few years. At least in infancy, they're confined to their cribs, but once they start running, and especially when they're at that height where their head is at the level of table corners and what not, it gets pretty intense. Once you get past that point though, it starts getting better.

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Childproofing; not just deadly stuff, but everything that causes trouble. A two year old can be a nightmare in one room and a piece of cake in another.