The Official Daddies Club

[andoireabu]

Congrats BB, it's tough but brilliant at the same time.

Forgot about this thread when our two were born. Pandemic babies so there wasn't much social interaction with other new mammies for the Mrs. after they were born which I think was very tough on her, even to just get outside the house for a while. Just turned 3 and there is serious craic in them now their personalities are coming through. And to watch their development is unreal.

The library classes(Belfast) they had were a godsend for the wife. She has met and made a couple of good friends out of it and now the kids would be good friends. (Well there's 3 and now it turns out 2 of the 3 are good friends and the other one doesn't like them lol). Does the mother good to have a kind of wee support network of ones in a similar boat at that time when on maternity.

It's incredible the difference it made for my wife.  She found a group on instagram for twin mums who all had covid babies so they were all going through the same stuff.  They have turned it into a Whatsapp group now and they get away for a night a couple of times a year.  Great resource for help and advice and a realistic look at what is happening day to day rather than seeing the picture perfect stuff on social media.

[Milltown Row2]

Has anyone used Doulas for their child birth?

This a job now, where some buck eejit sits with the woman during child birth and provides emotional support!

The worlds gone crazy

[tbrick18]

Congrats BB, it's tough but brilliant at the same time.

Forgot about this thread when our two were born. Pandemic babies so there wasn't much social interaction with other new mammies for the Mrs. after they were born which I think was very tough on her, even to just get outside the house for a while. Just turned 3 and there is serious craic in them now their personalities are coming through. And to watch their development is unreal.

Twins?
My sister was in the same boat. Was tough for her to be fair.
But they're flying now.

Twins aye, our first two so we didn't know any different but a lot of our friends who have one have said they don't know how we did it.  It's the same as everyone in the newborn boat, you just do it and manage as best you can.  I was working at home the first 8 months after they were born which was a godsend.  Only in the next room if the sh1t hit the fan.  Used to be some operation doing the bottles every day when they got to 4 or 5oz ones.  16 bottles with 5 scoops of aptimil each.  Some bottles got more than others!

Twins are tough. We have twins as well (11yrs now), but were premature and we'd plenty of hospital time. Not sure how we'd have coped if it had been during the pandemic.
As you say though, you just put the head down and get on with it.

[imtommygunn]

People say to you I dunno how you cope with so little sleep but tbh you have no choice so you just plough on. Like anyone says it'll pass.

Yeah we just, just, had our wee boy pre pandemic and it would have been very tough if it was during pandemic espciallly as the wife had it very tough with the birth as tbh it was ropy and she could do nothing for a good while after it.

[Square Ball]

Has anyone used Doulas for their child birth?

This a job now, where some buck eejit sits with the woman during child birth and provides emotional support!

The worlds gone crazy

Though this was just an American thing, but googled it.

https://www.doulasni.co.uk/#:~:text=We%20have%2025%20years%20of,book%20your%20complimentary%20introductory%20session.
A doula does not have medical training and is not qualified to give any medical care during pregnancy, birth or postnatally, but most doulas have been through training programmes and may be registered with organisations such as Doula UK.

Surely that's the other half's job, friend or what ever.

[gallsman]

We know two Americans in Barcelona who used one for both their kids but that was more because they're dopes who can't speak the language and are yet to figure out the system despite living here for 7 years. They went private and had an English speaking doctor too.

[Decod89]

Three ourselves. 5, 3 and 2. The younger two both pandemic babies and there certainly was a difference. They found it a bit harder to adjust to visitors coming to the house etc because of the lack of contact for so long.

Think we will stop at 3. The last one especially was very rough emotionally and physically on the wife.

The night feed stages feel like they go on forever, but it will amaze you how quickly it passes. Best of luck to all on here currently going through it.

[johnnycool]

Congrats BB, it's tough but brilliant at the same time.

Forgot about this thread when our two were born. Pandemic babies so there wasn't much social interaction with other new mammies for the Mrs. after they were born which I think was very tough on her, even to just get outside the house for a while. Just turned 3 and there is serious craic in them now their personalities are coming through. And to watch their development is unreal.

Twins?
My sister was in the same boat. Was tough for her to be fair.
But they're flying now.

Twins aye, our first two so we didn't know any different but a lot of our friends who have one have said they don't know how we did it.  It's the same as everyone in the newborn boat, you just do it and manage as best you can.  I was working at home the first 8 months after they were born which was a godsend.  Only in the next room if the sh1t hit the fan.  Used to be some operation doing the bottles every day when they got to 4 or 5oz ones.  16 bottles with 5 scoops of aptimil each.  Some bottles got more than others!

Twins are tough. We have twins as well (11yrs now), but were premature and we'd plenty of hospital time. Not sure how we'd have coped if it had been during the pandemic.
As you say though, you just put the head down and get on with it.

Our last two are a set of twins, now 7 and routine was key with them, if one woke to get fed, the other got fed at the same time and tried to get that set in stone, one was a grubber and the other wasn't and wanted less but more often and even the simple things like getting them on solids, then able to feed themselves are all major wins along the way, you got back to actually eating a warm dinner yourself.

Don't start me on toilet training, boys are the worst, they could piss themselves and it wouldn't bother them, well mine were like that, whereas the two girls took to the potty and toilet relatively quickly thank god.

[clonian]

The unopened Tommy Tippee machine is lying up in the attic winking at us in an inviting way

No no no. That means you get dragged into the equation for night feeds!

Whilst true blue is correct if push does come to shove and the bottle feeds are a thing then the Tommy Tippee yolk is a great job, only takes a minute or so to make a bottle.

When I started on this journey 17 years ago now it didn't exist and the midwife warned against pre made bottles for night feeds so it was jump up, boil the kettle, make the feed with the formula and then run the bloody thing under a cold tap    till it cooled enough for the wee bollox to take.
The first you always follow the rules as best you can then after a few others you realise a lot of if is bollox.
The auld dummy used to have to be sterilised if it touched anything, at the end it got a bit of a lick and back in the grateful gob of the ba..

Enjoy it, the time will fly in.

Our first was pre Tommy tippee machine. But we got wise and got a wee flask and had it up at the bed side. Got real good at it. Used to put boiling water in the flask, let it cool a bit with top off, then top on and bring it up to bedroom with the wee pot of formula. The bloody bedside table looked like we were flat out on coke every night with the amount of formula spilt everywhere.

Ahh good times!

Ours was all before these machines. 1st one is 15 and was on draft so no hassle at nights there but twins were next so the bottles were introduced early on. We had a kettle in the bedroom and everything was a military operation, timings etc. No breaking routine for anything, left family gatherings etc to make sure they were in bed at the right time. One fella would wake up like clockwork on the 4 hour mark, she lift the 2 of them out and change nappies while I got the 2 bottles sorted. Fed, winded and back down.

Mad times and I was working long hours back then too. You wonder how you got through it but you always work it out, never compare yourself to what others are saying they're doing.

You'd never believe the joy of hearing a good burp at 4 in the morning, bliss....

Don't get them winded properly and you'd be cleaning up the boke 10 minutes later

One of the lads was like a windbox toy, sat him up after the bottle and he let the biggest ignorant burp out of him and back to sleep straight after it. His twin brother held onto it and was more unsettled. He would of been crying away in the cot with the other boyo sleeping away beside him and he wouldn't wake at all.

[imtommygunn]

Congrats BB, it's tough but brilliant at the same time.

Forgot about this thread when our two were born. Pandemic babies so there wasn't much social interaction with other new mammies for the Mrs. after they were born which I think was very tough on her, even to just get outside the house for a while. Just turned 3 and there is serious craic in them now their personalities are coming through. And to watch their development is unreal.

Twins?
My sister was in the same boat. Was tough for her to be fair.
But they're flying now.

Twins aye, our first two so we didn't know any different but a lot of our friends who have one have said they don't know how we did it.  It's the same as everyone in the newborn boat, you just do it and manage as best you can.  I was working at home the first 8 months after they were born which was a godsend.  Only in the next room if the sh1t hit the fan.  Used to be some operation doing the bottles every day when they got to 4 or 5oz ones.  16 bottles with 5 scoops of aptimil each.  Some bottles got more than others!

Twins are tough. We have twins as well (11yrs now), but were premature and we'd plenty of hospital time. Not sure how we'd have coped if it had been during the pandemic.
As you say though, you just put the head down and get on with it.

Our last two are a set of twins, now 7 and routine was key with them, if one woke to get fed, the other got fed at the same time and tried to get that set in stone, one was a grubber and the other wasn't and wanted less but more often and even the simple things like getting them on solids, then able to feed themselves are all major wins along the way, you got back to actually eating a warm dinner yourself.

Don't start me on toilet training, boys are the worst, they could piss themselves and it wouldn't bother them, well mine were like that, whereas the two girls took to the potty and toilet relatively quickly thank god.

"Daddy I peed myself but it's really warm so it dried in and I didn't have to get changed daddy" 

[An Watcher]

Think there's a tendency to look at it all through rose tinted glasses.  Yes, some craic but hard work at the same time.  Walking across the landing like a zombie, tip toeing into bed hoping not to make a sound, pretending you don't hear them up so the wife gets up, bottles, nappies.....c4azy times

[brokencrossbar1]

Has anyone used Doulas for their child birth?

This a job now, where some buck eejit sits with the woman during child birth and provides emotional support!

The worlds gone crazy

What about emotional support for the da?!?!  First time round I sought my emotional support half way through the job by heading to Sphinx on Stranmillis for a '1 on Chips'....thats what I call support!!!

Anyway, congrats BB on the cub,  I'd get the Tommee Tippee going asap.  Give the missus a break,  it's hard going but if an auld fart like me could do it at 45-ish then you're well fit for it. Happy mummy is a happy household....trust me on that!

[Rois]

1 week in 

First three months are tough.  Just ride it out. 

And as someone said, tell your partner/OH to try to keep going with the feeding - I switched to bottles during the day at around 4/5 months, and kept feeding myself at night until they dropped those feeds, because I was too pure lazy to go down and make a bottle in the night.  And especially during the winter nights!  My husband obviously agreed with my approach - never once did he have to go and make a bottle during the night (though may have been dispensed for calpol the odd time) 

[johnnycool]

1 week in 

First three months are tough.  Just ride it out. 

And as someone said, tell your partner/OH to try to keep going with the feeding - I switched to bottles during the day at around 4/5 months, and kept feeding myself at night until they dropped those feeds, because I was too pure lazy to go down and make a bottle in the night.  And especially during the winter nights!  My husband obviously agreed with my approach - never once did he have to go and make a bottle during the night (though may have been dispensed for calpol the odd time) 

yes, load up on the Calpol and sudocrem, you'll need it.

[brokencrossbar1]

As for making the bottles at night,  filled them with boiling water going to bed and then just add the formula when you land down. Never did my 4 any harm