| I have a daughter approaching 18mo, so not that far ahead of you. Some thoughts: * This is both more work and more fun than you can imagine :). * Don't dumb things down too much. I noticed my daughter can often understand more than I "expect" at the time, so I take care not to e.g. simplify how I speak/teach too much (clarity and repetition is important, but they make leaps all the time so don't hold back too much). * Lots of people will offer an opinion, myself included, but find your own way. Do what comes naturally (although I am not what you'd call a natural with babies, once I had one of my own it feels natural after all). * If your partner is doing most of the care while you work (common for the Mums still these days) do not underestimate how hard/tiring it is for her! It is relentless work/focus that is much more tiring than a day in an office (despite also being full of fun!). Get home early to spend time with your baby and help with the evening routine. * You will start to value sleep like never before. ;) The single best thing we've done is split child care responsibilities evenly. After the first year (when my wife was off full time and breast feeding) we moved to 4 days of work each, with our respective weekdays off used to look after our daughter. This has made my bond with her a lot closer, and I have the experience/knowledge to split shared care time better with my wife (often there is one "default" parent who ends up doing too much work). |