It’s always an interesting time during the first 4 weeks of a babies life. I mean, apart from the effects that mom and (hopefully) dad have to deal with. In fact let’s look at some of them:

1. The routine change. You know, dad goes to work, mom stays at home at does nothing. Ha, right. Maybe 30 years ago, but nowadays a dual income home is a necessity and not a luxury. This means that dad needs to help out with the new person in his life. Mom will probably have to get back to work quickly then, so whilst she is at home, mom has to look after the newborn, get the food ready for the family, stress about no sleep for her, for her husband, for her kids (if they have more) and then there’s her own stress too! Hectic.
2. Dealing with crying in the house as a norm. It sometimes takes quite awhile to get used to the noise of a crying baby again. It’s not that it’s bad or anything, it’s just different from what you’re used to.
3. Having to split yourself and your time into multiples, depending on how many other kids you have. This can be the most different thing to learn how to do. How do you split your time, your affection and your love to more than just one? This one you’ll have to figure out for yourself.
4. Feeding. Now this really can be a tricky one. Breast is best, or is it bottle? It’s certainly no lie that if a mom can breast feed for a bit it is great to get the initial colostrum inside the baby, get the immune system stronger with mom’s antibodies and all that good stuff, but there are a lot of woman that simply can’t breast feed. This can be due to health, breast jobs done or even stress. I know as a dad I actually enjoy having a bottle in one hand and a baby in the other. It’s a time of bonding, of reflection.
5. The dreaded reflux. Apparently lots of babies suffer with acid reflux, and this causes the littlies to cry a lot and spit up milk all the time. I know I suffer with it very badly and am on chronic medicine for it, so I can only imagine how horrible it is for a little person.

But hold on a second, I’ve forgotten the best part. Wind.

Yup, I reckon the worst thing is wind. So many babies suffer from taking in wind whilst feeding and this seems to cause the most troubles for the little guys. It can also be a horrible time for the parents. I can remember with our first child the 10 weeks of bad colic that we all endured. It was horrible, truly one of the worst experiences I can remember.

There were a few things that helped.
1. Correct feeding positions together with lots of burping.
2. We visited the chiro and actually found some issues. I highly recommend this for Caesar babies. They get pulled so much during the procedure, it’s no wonder their little bodies need re-aligning.
3. We even bought a flipping expensive rocking device, that didn’t really work. But our daughter enjoyed it when she got to be 2.
4. Drugs. We finally resorted to a 26 year old concoction of paed meds that worked like a charm. But this isn’t for everyone.

The most important thing that we found was to really try and enjoy as much if it as possible. It lasts for such a short period of time and you really do miss those happy times. So, forget about your sleep loss, your tired screaming brain and stop stressing. Enjoy your newborn as often as possible. It’ll be worth it, just wait and see.