Cobra has a pep talk for first time parents to push through the long nights and blurry days, burping, bathing, and all things new born baby.
Life-changing, exhilarating, and possibly the most exhausting thing you will ever need to do for someone else, Cobra has a pep talk for first time parents to push through the long nights and blurry days, burping, bathing, and all things new born baby.
Becoming a parent may feel like the maiden voyage of the Starship Enterprise, "exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and boldly going where (it may often feel) no one has gone before...
While becoming a first-time parent can take you and your partner on a journey to places you may never have previously imagined, for many, becoming a parent brings with it some of life’s most significant growth, self-sacrifice and profound love for someone other than yourself, even on the days you want to return it to sender.
Dodge Unsolicited Parenting Advice
Just when you thought pre-parenting advice had reached an all-time high during pregnancy’s 3rd and final trimester, almost as soon as your baby is kangarooed to your chest, the unsolicited parenting advice will begin. From feeding schedules and sleep training to spoiling your new born baby by holding it too much (true story), don’t let 3rd party advice leave you feeling overwhelmed or doubt your ability to be the best parent to your baby that you can be. Regardless of advice you choose to accept or decline, know that you are perfectly equipped to parent your child and while every day may not always be perfect, ask for help when you need it and on the days that you don’t, thank the person for their advice and turn your attention back to how cute your little bundle is.
Trifecta Factor
While it may not always be as simple as this, common reasons for a crying baby can be put down to the following trifecta factors namely; hungry, uncomfortable (wet, wind, hot or cold) or over-under stimulated. Your new born baby only knows to act on their basic primal needs (food, sleep, and comfort) and while first time parents may not know this yet, you will soon learn to read your baby’s crying cue’s discerning between a hangry or a tired cry to “I need a cuddle” or “I’ve had enough of this". Listen carefully and pay close attention, keeping in mind, that while you are new to “parenting”, your baby is new to “babying”, and you are both learning about each other as you go.
No one is keeping score
There will be days and many of them when you “do not pass go and do not collect R200”. Days when breakfast gets served at lunch, pyjamas pass as acceptable active gear and the baby’s milk may or may not have been used in the coffee. Mistakes will be made, tough lessons learned, and your breaking point will be broken more than half a dozen times before you realise that all of the above is absolute, 100%, totally OK. No one is keeping score and if you find that someone is, show them the door. There is no fool proof manual or method that guarantees new born baby parenting success and your very own parents can attest to that. You and your baby, your parenting style and methodology are totally unique to you and that’s what makes the whole experience so unforgettable (which in part is why others are so desperate to offer their 2 cents worth because they know how tough it can get ).
So grab the best parts of your life experiences, combined with only the baby book literature that resonates with what you would like to implement, and if you’re really in a pickle, quietly consider some of that unsolicited advice when all else fails. You will soon learn that regardless of what worked for some but not others when becoming a first time parent, you are granted instant access to a kind of cool-kids-club, where the look on your face, the spit up on your tee-shirt, and the crusted cereal in your hair is met with a knock at the door by someone who won't ask any questions but an offer to watch the baby while you go take a much-deserved shower.