New Child

Family Fundamentals – How to Incorporate a New Child Into Your Daily Routine!

A new child is always an exciting and trying time for parents. There is the joy and wonderment of a new baby, but there is also the sleeplessness, and the constant cleaning, and finding ways to include your new child into your daily routine. If you have other children, this can be even more difficult, because suddenly your attention is further divided than it was before and your firstborn might not be too happy about their new sibling yet.

Incorporating your newest child into your day to day life is a much easier process when you have a clearer idea about what to do and how to do it, so we thought we’d put together a list of tips to get you into the swing of things sooner.

Sleep

The trouble with babies is that they have just as many needs as adults, but they can’t communicate them anywhere near as succinctly, so they scream and cry instead. This is a workable communication system during the day, but at night it will consistently disrupt your sleep patterns, leaving you tired and strung-out the next day. A checklist kept by your newborn’s cot on what to check can help you to resolve whatever the issue is during the night, without needless repetitions of the same soothing actions.

Say your baby is crying because it’s hungry, but you in your tired, sleep deprived state forget that you haven’t done a feeding. You might just keep checking their diaper, and bouncing them up and down to try to soothe them. A checklist that you can mark off as you try things will prevent this from happening, and allow you both to get back to sleep sooner.

Parenting

Morning

The morning is a busy time for everyone. Getting ready for work and trying to beat the traffic are the concerns at the forefront of our minds. Making sure that your bundle of joy is ready to go as well can add a level of stress that is entirely unproductive, so organising your morning can really speed things up.

Starting with a normal morning, time how long it takes you to get your child ready, and time how long it takes you to get ready separately. Once you have an overall time sorted out, you can start figuring out what activities can take place simultaneously, such as heating up your oats in the microwave and loading yours and your baby’s things into the car. This minimizes your overall time spent getting ready, shortening your mornings.

Exercise

Finally, starting, re-starting, or maintaining an exercise regime can be very difficult with a new child. Your days of spending an hour every night at the gym are likely over, at least for a few years. That doesn’t mean you should give up on exercise altogether though, and walking while pushing a baby can be very challenging if you know where to walk. 3 wheel prams are great for stability when doing exactly this, and it’s hard to say no to an hour of hard walking whilst multitasking and spending time with your new baby as well. Try going up steep hills or driving to hilly areas if you live in a flatter suburb to get yourself into new environments and to avoid location stagnation.

With these tips, your time can be thoroughly organized and wisely spent with your new child, without letting your schedule get thrown into chaos. There will always be the occasional chaotic day, but your life can remain stable and rewarding even with the addition of a new baby.

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