Leo was born at 5am on the 20th May, at home (this was an accident but the experience has made me extremely homebirth-pilled). Before that, I was on the minimally-neurotic side when it came to expecting mothers: we purchased a bare minimum of baby stuff (diapers, baby wipes, a changing mat, hybrid car seat/stroller, baby bath, a few clothes), I didn’t do any parenting classes, I hadn’t even held a baby before. I’m pretty sure the youngest child I have had a prolonged interaction with besides Leo was two. I did read a couple books about babies so I wasn’t going in totally clueless (Cribsheet by Emily Oster, and The Science of Mom by Alice Callahan).

I have never been that interested in other people's babies or young children but I correctly predicted that I’d be enchanted by my own baby (though naturally I can’t wait for him to [...]

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Outline:

(02:05) Stuff I ended up buying and liking

(04:13) Stuff I ended up buying and not liking

(05:08) Babies are super time-consuming

(06:22) Baby-wearing is almost magical

(08:02) Breastfeeding is nontrivial

(09:09) Your baby may refuse the bottle

(09:37) Bathing a newborn was easier than expected

(09:53) Babies love faces!

(10:22) Leo isn't upset by loud noise

(10:41) Probably X is normal

“Surprises and learnings from almost two months of Leo Panickssery” by Nina Panickssery

LessWrong (30+ Karma)