Internet steps in to help new dad take care of newborn on chaotic sleepless nights

Having a new addition to a family is a blessing for many parents. However, managing the newborn phase is a wild ride for everyone. It is full of sleepless nights and endless baby cries. If you have been through it, you know how it can make you feel. For many, it seems they are stuck in a never-ending maze with no map. Similarly, many parents find themselves drowning in the demands of a tiny human who seems to have an alarm set to go off every few hours. Dealing with a chaotic newborn phase, this dad, u/ckouf96, shared his experience on Reddit and asked for some advice from fellow users. 

The new dad captioned his post, "How in the name of God did y'all get through the newborn phase?" He's speaking for many new parents, struggling with sleepless nights and constant baby care. The dad seems brutally honest about his experience and says, "The newborn phase is misery. The crying. The sleep deprivation. The feeling of never getting anything done. I'm so stressed that I have to go back to work next week and work while running on fumes.." He's not alone, as for many parents, managing a newborn is a real challenge.

While talking about credit where it is due, he makes sure to praise his wife's efforts, "My wife is breastfeeding and she's a friggin rockstar because I'm over here struggling and I don't have half as much of the heavy lifting as she has. I truly could not do what these amazing women can do. We can't even really sleep in shifts because she has to be breastfeeding every 2 hours." The new dad sums up a thought many parents have and adds, "Must be something worthy that comes out of this because right now, I can't comprehend why some people even want more kids after going through this phase."

The dad then asks the readers to share their experiences and tips or what he calls "survival advice or words of encouragement" to help him understand how to navigate this. Parents having similar experiences didn't hold back and shared their witty notes in the comments. "One day at a time, my man, in Quebec, we get 5 weeks of parental leave built-in, so when my oldest was born, we basically locked into her schedule and watched the Tour de France on TV for noise in the inter-nap periods. Our paradigm was mom takes care of baby, dad takes care of mom, and sleep when the baby sleeps. If you're the breadwinner, then there's a different balance to be struck, but it gotta be rooted in communication, respect and understanding," said u/choom88.

"It gets easier. The first week is the hardest. It's only better from here. Soon, the baby will start sleeping more at night as circadian rhythms kick in and they'll start taking more interest in the world," added u/halohunter. "Looking back, it was easy then. Feed, hold, change, hold, put down for sleep. She stayed put back then. Then she started rolling, then crawling, then actively trying to kill herself. Now she's 5 and is her own little person, which comes with a whole new set of crazy. It's the best thing ever. I'm also terrified of what is to come," shared u/formerlyme0341. 

"I have two boys, a 1.5 and a 3.5-year-old. In some ways, it only gets harder but it also gets to be a lot more fun. The hardest part for me about the newborn phase is that you just don't really get anything back from them. Once they start walking and talking and you start to really meet them as people, it becomes so much more rewarding. You almost forget about those early months...almost. Hang in there brother, brighter days and more sleep at night will come eventually," commented u/LasOlas07.