The Irish Envy Dad Thread

[IRISHbluehen]

Wife and I are welcoming our first in March, having a girl. Excited to be joining the club!

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

man this song messes me up so much.
Even when I was a kid it messed me up.
Then when I was an adult and found out Chapin died at 38 and his son was like 9?
Brutal song for me to process.

Old Man - Neil Young and Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce always hit me in the feels.
They aren’t specifically about fathers and sons. But you can make lots of interpretations…

Lost my dad a few years ago, and I always think about him when those hit.

Great, now I’m all sad.

 

[rikkitikki08]

Wife and I are welcoming our first in March, having a girl. Excited to be joining the club!

Congrats, enjoy the small moments. Coffee is about to become your best friend

 

[Punky]

Good times, you will treasure them. Have 2 girls, four years apart. Both had colic the first few months, spent a lot of nights driving each around for hours in the car, the movement would eventually put them to sleep. Then get them home and try to catch a couple hours of zzzzs before heading to work. Music helped too. Always could relate to this song when I heard it.

 

[SportsingHard]

Good times, you will treasure them. Have 2 girls, four years apart. Both had colic the first few months, spent a lot of nights driving each around for hours in the car, the movement would eventually put them to sleep. Then get them home and try to catch a couple hours of zzzzs before heading to work. Music helped too. Always could relate to this song when I heard it.

I don't want to be rude, but your daughters need better haircuts.

 

[Punky]

But you dig my Bryl Creem look, right? Helps my fingers slide on the strings too!

 

[Katzenboyer]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

 

[GATTACA!]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

It does. It will all be worth it soon and as weird as it sounds you'll mostly forget about the torture you're being put through right now.

Both of mine were terrible sleepers. The first one took 5 months to figure it out the second one wasn't far behind.

Does your kid sleep better on their stomach? That was an issue for both of ours. Not that they slept well that way but they absolutely refused to fall asleep on their back. Ended up just putting them down on their bellies and having a monitor to be able to watch while they slept. I know you're not supposed to but at a certain point you run out of options. The first one would really only sleep on my wife's chest which was also not a great situation.

Just hang in there. Start reading a book while you're rocking for hours. I read the older one the entirety of Fellowship while she was an infant.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

It gets better. You just gotta go through it. I had twins(!), so if you just have one, be thankful.

I don’t remember much about those first 5 months, it’s a blur of sleep deprivation and alcohol (which I paid for with a fatty liver later, so don’t resort to that).. But you get past that, and it’s all downhill sledding. Hang in there.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

Brother, it's brutal, but it does get better. I always tell people that the parents have to work in shifts. If it's your wife's turn to get up, let her. Keep your face glued to the pillow and keep sleeping when you can. Same the other way. Don't ask her to get up with you. Get every minute of sleep you possibly can. One of my daughters, shortly after she had her 3rd in four years, called me and said, "I'm so tired. I just want to run down the driveway taking off all my clothes and flapping my arms and going 'AYE, AYE, AYE!' until they come and take me away." Yep. Hang in there.

 

[Fbolt]

Yep, and when your snoozing-it should always be your wife's turn. She needs to step up!

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Both of my kids slept on me for what felt like months. We struggled with my daughter for a couple years before it clicked. My son is now 7 and he still gets up every single night. We’ve tried everything.

Just gotta embrace the phases. It the moment it feels awful but if you can trick your mind into appreciating the little things, you’ll end up in a better state of mind. Some nights I was able to convince myself that it was something to look forward to. It goes by way too fast in hindsight.

Hang in there. Take breaks. Share the duties. It’ll pass.

 

[Henges24]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

Gets way better bud. First couple weeks can be rough. The first kid is always difficult. Couple years I promise you’ll look back and think “that really wasnt so bad”.
Get some trade off naps in with the SO. It will help your minds rest.

Congrats! It goes fast. My oldest is already 6.

 

[MacIrish75]

Gets way better bud. First couple weeks can be rough. The first kid is always difficult. Couple years I promise you’ll look bad and think “that really wasnt so bad”.
Get some trade off naps in with the SO. It will help your minds rest.

Congrats! It goes fast. My oldest is already 6.

Just wait until they’re 11 and “6-7ing” and “41ing” all over the place. 😬🙃

 

[Ndaccountant]

It will. Routines are everything. They are learning, you are learning. Once you find what works it will be okay. Best of luck.

 

[NDRock]

I’m lucky. I have a German wife who wasn’t afraid to “let zem cry, zay are fine”. They both had strict schedules and quickly found a good sleep cycle.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Thanks all. Appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'll come back and answer some specific questions y'all have posed, but right now my brain is just complete mashed potatoes. I swear last night I got up to change his diaper in the middle of the night and saw the bassinet levitating. I think I'm on something like 3 full hours of sleep in the last 3 days.

It's a kick in the nuts. I love him, but I question whether I won't be in a straitjacket by this time next week.

 

[BeatSC]

Get a rocking chair. It gets better and you can let them know someday how they tortured you. Girls are great. Remember this:
A son’s a son till he gets a wife a daughter’s a daughter all her life. It’s true!
Just dropped a $100k in a wedding and now $300k on a down payment for a house close by since she is also now expecting. She is all about ND and passing that tradition down to her children.
Better to give with warm hands than cold ones!

 

[Irishnuke]

Thanks all. Appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'll come back and answer some specific questions y'all have posed, but right now my brain is just complete mashed potatoes. I swear last night I got up to change his diaper in the middle of the night and saw the bassinet levitating. I think I'm on something like 3 full hours of sleep in the last 3 days.

It's a kick in the nuts. I love him, but I question whether I won't be in a straitjacket by this time next week.

Speaking of mashed potatoes…their shit gets so much worse. Like their actual shit. My wife, despite being a pediatric nurse, somehow always got me to change the blowouts. I’ve cleaned shit off of everything in the house. She would stay downstairs and listen to me gag through the monitor. She recorded one session and posted it on FB for all of our friends to enjoy. But yeah the crying gets better.

 

[irishff1014]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

It’s just part of it man. Sometimes it takes them a little bit of time to get adjusted. It gets a lot better from here until they are teenagers lol.

Congrats

 

[Ndaccountant]

Speaking of mashed potatoes…their shit gets so much worse. Like their actual shit. My wife, despite being a pediatric nurse, somehow always got me to change the blowouts. I’ve cleaned shit off of everything in the house. She would stay downstairs and listen to me gag through the monitor. She recorded one session and posted it on FB for all of our friends to enjoy. But yeah the crying gets better.

I would have subbed out peanut butter if my wife did that.

 

[FU BK]

It’s just part of it man. Sometimes it takes them a little bit of time to get adjusted. It gets a lot better from here until they are teenagers lol.

Congrats

Thank god I never had a single issue with my son in his teenage years. Daughter just turned 14 last month. Dad is having a really tough time watching his baby girl grow up into a beautiful young woman.

 

[irishff1014]

Thank god I never had a single issue with my son in his teenage years. Daughter just turned 14 last month. Dad is having a really tough time watching his baby girl grow up into a beautiful young woman.

I know the feeling. My daughter is the oldest and turned 15 in September. She is so smart, so nice but a little nieve. This is tough to she her grow up.

My son is 11 and if we had him first I am not sure we would have had another lol. He is a good kid but he is the definition of all boy. And of course he knows everything…

 

[ulukinatme]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

I'd say try some different bedtime rituals to see if anything else works, then if you find a winning one stick with it so it becomes a routine. For my daughter I'd rock her in a rocking chair and play Puff the Magic Dragon (This was something my dad did when we were young). When she was old enough to talk she'd ask me to rock her to sleep and play it. It was something that stuck with her all the way until she started school. It worked pretty damn well to get her to fall to sleep, and it was kind of sad when she finally got too old for it because they never tell you when those things are just going to end...kind of appropriate given the song.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Have a 2.5 week old. Have barely slept. The kid hates to sleep. I'm seeing things and don't know how to get him to stop crying some nights.

Someone please tell me this gets better.

You got this, brother. Find a routine and stick to it the best you can. If I can start with twin boys and somehow manage to safely get them to 9 year olds, you will do fantastic!

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Thanks all. Appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'll come back and answer some specific questions y'all have posed, but right now my brain is just complete mashed potatoes. I swear last night I got up to change his diaper in the middle of the night and saw the bassinet levitating. I think I'm on something like 3 full hours of sleep in the last 3 days.

It's a kick in the nuts. I love him, but I question whether I won't be in a straitjacket by this time next week.

I’m sure you and your wife have spoke about this possibility, but you may have a colic baby.
My daughter who is now a little over (2) was, and boy those first few months were torture.
It damn near broke my wife, and I felt useless because she was breastfeeding and I couldn’t do much to help.

It really didn’t improve sleep wise until my wife changed up her diet, and we supplemented with formula to make sure she was eating enough.

My wife and I just had a baby boy on Nov 3rd
It’s amazing to go through the experience again. My wife is very fortunate to get (4) months off paid from her job, so she handles a lot of the overnight issues.
He has been sleeping a little better these first few weeks, but he is also a way better eater then our daughter was at the beginning, because of her colic issues which we didn’t realize she was right away.

I’m not saying that is what it is, just wanted to share my experience with you.
Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

It’s worth it in the end man.
My two year old daughter that used to just cry in my arms endlessly for hours when she was only months old now falls asleep in my arms in her big girl bed while I read her stories every night.
Good luck buddy!

 

[BeauBenken]

Thanks all. Appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'll come back and answer some specific questions y'all have posed, but right now my brain is just complete mashed potatoes. I swear last night I got up to change his diaper in the middle of the night and saw the bassinet levitating. I think I'm on something like 3 full hours of sleep in the last 3 days.

It's a kick in the nuts. I love him, but I question whether I won't be in a straitjacket by this time next week.

When mom went back to work, my daughter wouldn't take the bottle without a great fight. Bed time routine for me to get her down by myself would take hours. I remember walking about the kitchen to have her look at the twinkle lights and running the kitchen sink. I definitely felt I was losing my mind.

The crazy will make the coming months all that much better. Good luck!

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

As a couple other guys have mentioned, I will double up on a few:

1) Split the shifts with your wife (hopefully she's on maternity leave)
2) Get a rocking chair, and a comfy one
3) Get ear buds and find some podcasts. Helps time go faster.
4) Every child is different but you're just in the first few weeks. The sleep will definitely get better. My daughter was sleeping 8a - 8p at two months old and doctors couldn't believe it. My son wasn't sleeping through the night at 18 months.

Edit: I miss the baby stage. We would put the baby in the stroller and go for walks, go to restaurants, breweries, etc. whenever we wanted. I also miss afternoon naps with the baby on me (on the weekends). Now we have a 3 year old and a 2 year old, and man do things get harder when they're walking and talking. Now I'm afraid to even take those kids to the grocery store lol

 

[rikkitikki08]

You’ll be fine man, the first few months kind of suck and then you start to see the personality come out a little bit and it all makes it worth it.

You’re going to see a whole different side of yourself and your wife, it’s a beautiful thing. My priorities in life totally flipped when my kids were born.

 

[IrishBryan77]

Put in on her belly and you don't have ANY of these issues.

That being said....congrats (I think) 🤣🤣🤣