All your best parenting advice

From Kate: I'm happy to share that our strong baby boy, Nathan Wells, was born last week and we couldn't be more in love.

• We're settling in at home, surviving this heat wave with the help of portable AC units!
• Our sweet dog Penny is very curious about her little brother, and a just little jealous of all the snuggles he's getting instead of her these days.

You all wrote in with so much good parenting advice that we wanted to share with everyone.

🥰 Lead with love

❤️ Keep the big picture simple: "LOVE. That's it. All day every day. Show them love. Show your partner love. Surround them with love." — Will and Kate

🫶 Hard days won't last forever: "It's important to remember that while you're going through the hardest moments of being new parents, that it will get easier! You got this!!" — Liliana

🌤️ Sometimes the whole message is just this: "It gets better." — Jennifer

😴 Sleep, routines and newborn survival

💤 Protect the sleep schedule: "Keep your baby on a sleep schedule even if it means skipping an event that you didn't really want to go to anyway!" — Cherie

• Claire: 💯

🛏️ It's OK to sleep train: "Sleep training was a lifesaver. Definitely do sleep training :)" — Terrence 

• Claire: 💯💯

📚 Consult the experts: "The only piece of advice I give new parents is this book: 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.' We struggled with a colicky first baby and tried multiple sleep training books before being saved by this one." — Aaron

🧘 Don't panic over every little thing: "Your baby is not made of glass. Babies are in fact tougher than you think. You're going to spend the first few weeks/months convinced that any mistake you make will result in your baby's instant death." — Tom

👀 Technology can help you understand what's going on: "We used the Wonder Weeks app for both our kiddos in their first 12-16 months of development. It's a great way to track their growth leaps and understand what they are going through when they aren't able to communicate in words how they are feeling." — Morgan

🍼 Make life easier on yourself

🤱 Baby carriers are your friend: "As a mom of two toddler boys, my best recommendation is to use a baby carrier/wrap any time you go out (having free arms is a must sometimes, plus babies love being close to mom, plus then people don't try to touch your baby)." — Kailey

🍽️ Give yourself some grace around feeding: "The saying 'fed is best' is true. I was SO stressed out about breastfeeding that it caused me unnecessary anxiety." — Kailey

• Claire: 💯

🧺 When somebody offers to help, give them an actual job: "Having a baby is very emotional and exhausting. Your hormones are all out of whack and you are very tired. You need help doing housework so have someone who 'offers to help' do it." — Donnie

• Claire: I definitely should have done this. I let friends come over and sit in my living room chatting until after 9pm. I should have put them to work!

🦸 Build your bench: "Gather the Aunties and Uncles! Not just from family, but also from among the family you choose, your friends." — Bob

🚿 A break counts, even if you use it to shower or read: "The YMCA has Child Watch, which a lot of moms use just to take a shower or read a book or whatever. If you just need a break, the Y's Child Watch is good for that. :-)" — Shelby

📚 Reading, learning and raising curious kids

📖 Start reading early, really early: "Read and sing every day to your baby and enjoy this bonding time together." — Tom

🔁 Repetition is a feature, not a bug: "Children love the routine and they will memorize many of the phrases and recite and sing along with you." — Tom

📚 Read before you think they can understand: "Read to him from illustrated books well before you think he's ready to understand them. This will make him learn not only vocabulary but also to love books." — Anonymous

🌳 And don't forget the outdoors: "AND time outside (I'm big on fishing!) and in the community, WITH YOU!" — Steve

🧠 Raising an individual, not a type

🌈 Don't get too attached to labels: "Please don't get bogged down in being a 'boy mom.' I raised three boys who are very different people and grew into men I wasn't expecting them to be." — Tom

🧒 Let your kid show you who they are: "Every boy is different, and there's so much cringy advice/content around this issue. Give them the freedom to be who they are, and give yourself the flexibility to be the mom you need to be for them." — Tom

🗳️ Give young kids chances to make choices: "Pick a life value that is important to you (mine was choice-making) and look for every opportunity to give your son a chance to practice that value." — Kathleen

🗣️ Communication skills pay off: "Two transformative bibles of parenting:

• 'How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk': practical, specific, great strategies for communication with kids that will pay dividends for their life (and yours)."
• Anything written or spoken by Alfie Kohn about parenting, particularly 'Unconditional Parenting' and 'Punished by Rewards.'" — Mike

🧭 Ignore some parenting advice

🧂 Take recommendations with a grain of salt: "Be wary of anyone who says you have to do it a certain way. Every kid is different, every parent is different. You'll figure it out." — Terrence

🐶 And from the non-parent contingent: "Obligatory 'not a parent,' but the parents I work with say that raising a puppy is a great almost trial run of raising a kid!" — Austin

• Claire: I did this and 100% agree. Kate did this too, so she should be on easy street. 🙂