5 Challenges Involved in Bringing Up a New Baby and How to Overcome Them

Nothing beats the excitiment of finally receiving a new bundle of joy. Holding the cute little angel in your arms for the first time can overwhelm you with happiness hormones and tears of joy, perhaps in the same measure.

But a newborn's arrival also means taking up a journey, often without a guranteed smooth sail ahead. For insance, rifts could arise between your better half and yourself. A once-agreeable marriage turning into an argumentative relationship after welcoming a newborn baby is no new occurrence.

Image: Pixabay

Understandably, newborns come with a prerequisite of instructions and requirements. Your partner could have various child-rearing techniques while you could have inborn expectations on how you need your child to be brought up. These could be conflicts or disagreements that could over time become stressors for new parents.

Summary:

• Challenges involved in bringing up a newborn kid include adapting to the new challenge, more work, loss of intimacy, reduced social life, and conflicting issues with in-laws.

• To adapt to new challenges as parents it is important for both spouses to accept the responsibilities and be armed with parenting skills and patience.

• With differing child-rearing techniques between partners, there can be conflicts or disagreements that cause stress.

• After welcoming a newborn into the family, lifestyle changes must occur such that both parents carry an equal share of responsibility - e.g.: changing diapers etc.

• Lack of time together may lead to a lack of intimacy between couples; they should carve out moments for themselves when possible.

• Socializing must take a backseat while raising a baby but communication among friends should remain active if possible; goodbye to the single ready to mingle kind of lifestyle!

• Conflicts among in-laws over matters such as naming rights need communication between partners so decisions can be made in agreement accordingly.
  

Below are the challenges involved in bringing up a newborn baby and how to overcome them.

1. Adapting to the New Challenge

To a new pap or mom bringing up a newborn into the world, it can often seem like an overwhelming challenge. While the excitement of parenthood will be in the air, there are lifestyle changes that if not accommodated could mean coping up with unfathomable responsibilities.

To both parents, it takes accepting the challenges and owning them. Gaining an early understanding of your responsibilities earlier on could help bring things into perspective. Coming up from a youthful stage and into a parenthood stage requires that you not only be armed with the skills but with some patience.

2. Caring For a New Baby Often Means More Work

Who does more work around the house after the arrival of the newborn shouldn’t really be a bone of contention. Who changed more diapers, who took care of the dishes, who did the laundry, or who took care of the trash shouldn’t matter as long as there’s that little one smiling and doodling.

3. Loss of Intimacy

It’s not only your job on the line or your freedom that should play out after a newborn baby has arrived. Your sex life will also be affected as both your energy levels will be redirected to this new smiling or crying face. There won’t be much left to discuss after the day.

You’ll be so much drained and if there’s a partner who’ll be so much as interested in cuddling or kissing, then these could be preservations to be shelved for later. No hard feelings though, it just happens that sex life after the birth of a newborn baby will be affected.

4. A Reduced Social Life

It's no longer the life you expected after you have a newborn baby in your house. Hey, you are no longer the single and mingling type of guy or lady after there’s a newborn in your home. The other guys will shun your company after you’ve been avoiding them for days, weeks, or months.

As a responsible father or mother, your due diligence will be to be responsible for that youngling. If you had an active social life, then it's time that you said goodbye to it all. It’s not such a frustrating journey but one that will be filled with joy and laughter if you only give it the chance.

5. Conflicting Issues with the In-Laws

If you and your better half haven’t agreed on how to handle the in-laws, then you might be in for it! As a couple having consummated your relationship and brought up a newborn baby into the world, you might have in-laws who by their default settings will want to know how you intend to take care of that young one.

Additionally, there could be naming rights in the family that you need to be aware of. If this is the case, then talk it out with your partner and get things sorted out.

As a new parent, always remember to be supportive as the other partner will be depending on it. What’s more, becoming a parent is not an easy thing. Consider developing a productive routine that will help accommodate any unnecessary changes.