Before I can brainstorm strategies for easing the transition, I need to identify what’s hard about it (recognizing that my perspective is very limited at this point!). Here are some of my ideas:

1. Exhaustion: Yeah, having a little baby is pretty synonymous with sleep deprivation. But what causes the sleep deprivation? I think it’s several different things: not getting full cycles of REM sleep (due to frequent night feedings), trying to keep up with all the normal demands of life (like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning) while trying

However, Julie gave me the idea to move the changing station into the bathroom. Brilliant! I think I will really appreciate having easy access to a water source and storing used cloth diapers in a trashcan under the sink. Fortunately, Matt and I have two sinks in our bathroom, with lots of unused space between them. That area can serve as a diaper changing station, while the baby is really young. Once he’s rolling around and such, I imagine I’ll move to

Here’s what she said:

The first weeks and months and year even, are extremely wonderful but also challenging for so many reasons you have already identified. However, managing the relationship with parents and in-laws can be equally wonderful and fraught (much like-wedding planning). All sorts of assumptions and expectations and stress around the new baby and our own upbringings can really make that transition from son/daughter to parent and from parent to grandparent extremely difficult. For example, our birth centre recommended no visitors for the first 24hrs to let