Best tips for New Dads | Expert guide for a first time Dad

The path of the parent is embellished with moments of magic, from your baby’s first words (heck even gurgles!) their first steps and the first time they hug you back to mention a few, but at times it can be hard, right? Here are a couple of things I found you learn pretty quickly when you first ‘saddle up’ and set out on this glorious journey:

You never really knew the meaning of tired before you had kids

I used to think I did, snoozing my morning alarm two or three times daily, rolling out of bed and embarking on the commute, hitting the gym after work – my life felt pretty hectic. I thought I was pushing it a lot harder then most. I knew nothing! Kids are crazy, our son is ON from the minute he wakes until his head hits the pillow, day in, day out. He can operate like this on as little as 3 hours sleep without it ever catching up with him, but don’t lose heart, you’ll be pleased to know…

You can smash it on little to no sleep too!

As crazy as it sounds, you get used to sleep deprivation pretty quickly. You seem to build up this fortuitous tolerance allowing you to go about your usual day to day, as well as all your new daddy day tasks. Even though sometimes you may feel half dead, amazingly people don’t always notice.

You don’t learn anything by doing
everything right

Mistakes are good for you, embrace them and learn from them. No one is perfect and there is no real parenting playbook, the best way to learn is out in the field. This goes for your kids too, as hard as it may be, a mistake now and then will play a key part in their development.

It’s ok to make it up as you go along

From the off very little goes to plan once you involve a baby, anyone who’s been through/witnessed labour will surely agree! Bearing this in mind, it’s ok to take things as they come and think on your feet. As long as you have a rough idea of what’s supposed to happen at each stage of parenthood, improvisation is your new best friend!