Bringing Home A New Baby Is 900% Easier The Second Time Around
Bringing home a new baby is easily one of the most insane and difficult transitions you can make in your household. As prepared as you might think you are, those first few week are a huge adjustment for everyone and are often rife with emotions, exhaustion, arguments, and chaos. When I brought my daughter home in 2011 I had no idea what was in store for my husband and me. The exhaustion was crippling, it felt like I would never have free time again, and I’d never before realized how disrespectful and draining my extended family could be. Once I got through all of that, though, I felt like a certified expert.
Bringing my second child home was infinitely easier than bringing home our first. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, of course — adding another person to your family is a huge transition that I’m sure even the Duggars have trouble figuring it out — but the way I handled the hard parts was completely different with my second baby. I knew to expect the unexpected and I was light-years more confident in my parenting skills. Once you’ve gone on that crazy ride once, it’s so much simpler to prepare yourself the second time around. Here are seven ways bringing home baby number two is way easier:
1. You are so much more relaxed.
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No, it doesn’t mean you’re unconcerned. It just means every cry doesn’t send you flailing about and consulting The Google in a fit of new parenthood panic. As someone who called the pediatrician four separate times because my first newborn’s umbilical cord “looked weird,” I can tell you: this is a good thing.
2. You aren’t drowning in baby gear.
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The first time around you thought it was vitally important that a cold wipe never came in contact with your baby’s precious and royal bottom. Now you know how useless most of those baby gadgets really are and you’ve stuck to the essentials.
3. You’re already used to being sleep-deprived.
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Sure, you might have trouble seeing straight and couldn’t spell your own name if asked, but you’re used to living that way. You’ve already got a sleep-hating child at home who barges in your room at dawn demanding cartoons. What’s one more, really?
4. You have no qualms about setting boundaries.
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It used to be sort of awkward telling your mom you didn’t need her bad advice or asking Aunt Mildred to leave once her visit crossed the 4-hour mark, but now? Nope. Get out.
5. You and your partner function like a well-oiled machine.
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A lot of your petty arguments about parenting styles and how to do things properly were hashed out the first time around, so now it’s smooth sailing. You might even get both kids asleep in time to have sex! Ha. Just kidding.
6. You feel way less guilt.
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Remember that time the baby blew a diaper and you didn’t notice right away and thought surely your neglect would scar him or her for life and mean they were destined to grow up to be a psychopath? Yeah, turns out you were the psychopath. You know that now.
7. You don’t care about The Mommy Wars. At all.
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Bottle or breast? Stroller or wrap? You’ve consulted your crystal ball and found out it pretty much does not matter. What works is what’s best and judgment is for suckers. You’ve got diapers to change.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
