Bring more clothes

The first tip in being being a good father is to make sure that you bring enough clothes to the hospital. James was born via a c-section and we originally had planned to stay in the hospital for 5 days. Since we weren’t planning to leave the hospital during the stay, we figured that having 1 pair of clothes per day for James would be enough. Having 5 pairs of clothes (singlets and onesies) should be more than enough.

While that might be ok if we were experienced parents, we should have brought more considering we were new parents. There’s a huge difference between changing diapers for a teddy bear, during practice, and changing diapers for a newborn baby. Not only do babies move, but they can also pee and poo while your’e trying to change their diapers.

We ended up using 2 pairs of singlets and onesies in the first day alone. Luckily for us, our parents were able to buy and bring us more clothes for James on the third day.

We didn’t have to bring any swaddles since the hospital was able to provide blankets for us to use.

Don’t underestimate how many clothes can be ruined while changing diapers in the first few attempts.