| I have a newborn and toddler. For the first, things were chaotic with the learning curve. The most mundane things, like getting the baby in the carseat to run an errand, felt overwhelming. Before the baby, I worked, ate and slept when I felt like it. My parenting style is pretty laid back and stayed that was until my toddler needed more routine. When they were a baby, I followed an attachment style and fed them when they seemed hungry and let them sleep when they wanted to sleep. I've gotten better as a programmer since having a child, but do not have time for personal projects or learning for pleasure. Contact napping and baby wearing can be helpful to keep your baby happy and sleeping well. Skin to skin contact has benefits for months. I do not do well on little sleep. For the first, I avoided cosleeping until around 4 months because I was worried about SIDS. Co-sleeping following the University of Notre Dame's Mother Baby Sleep Lab recommendations helped me stay rested through night feedings and sleep regressions [1]. Probiotics can help mitigate colic, which is associated with sleep problems, which are a risk factor for developmental and behavioral problems later on [2]. b. infantis is missing in the microbiome of 90% of infants [3]. It's needed to digest the oligosaccharides in breast milk. Feeding b, infantis EVC001 to breastfed infants has been shown to reduce markers of chronic intestinal inflammation by 98% during the first two months of life. The microbiomes of babies are colonized with bifidobacteria in the first days and weeks after birth [4]. Evivo is a company that sells this strain. L reuteri has been shown to help with colic [5]. Taking advice from those emphasizing parenting where both parents share equally in all duties led me to feel like I was doing something wrong as the person who did most feeding and night waking. This works better for us. EEG monitoring has shown that women respond differently than men to infants crying. My husband does not wake in response to the baby crying and has trouble staying up when woken. Do what works for your family. There is value in all caregivers being able to soothe and feed a baby. It's important to understand what your partner is doing because you both will probably feel like you're doing 60% of the parenting. Relationships can be challenging with a new baby. John Gottman's Bringing Baby Home was a helpful resource for me. 1. https://cosleeping.nd.edu/ 2. https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887... 3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80583-9 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7352178/ 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183958/ |