Advice for First Time Parents

Advice for New Parents

Plenty of folks offer new parents baby tips. I have written some myself and trust me—you will need them! But here is something different…tips to help you thrive, grow and truly enjoy your journey as a new-parent-to-be.

Trust yourself.

Some first-time parents get emotional whiplash flipping between feeling like you have got the job nailed…and like an inept first year. But, you know what? You are the newest, shiniest link in an unbroken chain of successful parents that stretches back to the beginning of time! Believe me, things get much stickier later on (fears, unfair friends, teenage traumas, etc.). But for now, you will be a success if you just keep to the basics: love, touch, singing, milk and patience.

Be kind…to yourself.

If you are like many first-time parents, you have barely ever touched a newborn—before you had your own—yet you think you should automatically be a baby care expert. Be as supportive to yourself as you would be to your best mate. That is a sure path to greater satisfaction and happiness, and some of the best advice for new parents.

Get as much sleep as possible (maybe my best advice for new parents).

If parenting is a big balloon of joy, exhaustion is the pin that pops it! Your sleep success can make or break your mood. After 30 years in paediatric practice, I have seen over and over again how sleep deprivation can reduce a mum or dad to tears. It makes you feel alone, incompetent, edgy and causes serious accidents and sickness. The 5 S’s are a simple tool to help with baby sleep…and so is SNOO, the baby cot that aids in baby sleep.

Accept all the help you can get as a new parent.