Try to cut their nails when they are asleep. And be very careful its like babies are really small or something. You need to cut their nails or they will cut themselves. It isnt really a good idea to let sharp baby nails flail about on easily cut baby skin.

As for the baby burrito, it might be too tight in the wrong places and that could be a problem. Truth be told, she may simply not like it.

It sounds too late, but moms natural milk is good for baby, good for mom to work off some calories she is stressing about and helps the poop consistency. If you dove into proccessed foods, the poop only gets worse.

If you can, wrap baby up, put her in the stroller and walk around the block (assuming the tempature is not too hot or cold). Tell mom to take a nap when you do that. It will be good for both of you.

Get the diaper genie to minimize smelly stuff.

If you got with a baby wipe heater (not needed) be aware it sweats and can leak.

Assume everything will be barfed on. It will.

Assume if baby can get anything in her mouth and chew on it, she will. There is no such thing as a baby-safe house. yea I know we survived, but we ideally will do a better job than our parents stopping fingers from going into electrical outlets.

Dont leave a glass of anything near baby. She will knock it over and it will stain something. That and if its glass, bad combination comes to mind.

There will be "the one thing" that makes baby go to sleep. Learn it, Love It, Embrace it and do it. Might be movies, might be walks, might be music. Use this to your advantage. Sleep is one of the few weaknesses babys have. They are powerful and shrewd in their ways.

One of my daughters would sleep on walks in the stroller. The other would only sleep on walks if she was held (think running back, one handed hold for the visual).

Try to get baby to sleep in her bed and in her room at some point. Some moms get so used to sleeping with baby next to them they forget about dads. And after eight weeks or so, dad aint feeling the lovin. After a year, dad might start getting resentful.

Communicate about who is doing what for the baby. Dont assume mom knows what to do. If it is your first child, seriously, call your mom or her mom and plead for mercy and ask what to do.

If you start going to dinner with baby, assume you have 30 minutes from walking in the door until you have to leave. Order quickly, because if baby gets too fussy and your food is 15 minutes out, you wont be eating at that restaurant.

This may sound stupid, but wash your hands, and when people want to hold the baby, have them wash their hands. Keep bad old people germs away from baby. having a sick baby is a nightmare you will not soon forget.

If I think of more, ill add some later.

dthind, awesome post dude, thanks. Any thougts on clippers vs. nail file? I think clippers are the way to go, but I'm kinda sorta afraid of accidentally cutting too close.

Also, thanks for the tip on wipey heater. We don't actually have one. I was considering getting one for two reasons, the first being that it's a way to translate my love of useless gadgets into my love of baby, and secondly I thought it might help with the previously discussed peeing problems. Sounds like it might not be worth it after all. It'd probably just eat more batteries anywhere. I swear to God the battery people and the baby people are in cahoots.

I'm more excited about her first voluntary smile, but you've given me something else to look forward to. Thanks.

My only advice...go get about a dozen cloth diapers and use them as burp cloths, "blankies" and so forth. Leave them all around the house. Not only are they absorbent enough to protect your clothes from baby-puke, but it's likely your young'un will get used to having one around. Have 12 identical security blankets is a huge help when it's wash time.

My wife's grandma actually turned us on to that priceless bit of advice, but thanks. It has turned out to be one of the few genuinely useful tips we've received.

A few more comments from my perspective, as we're currently a few months ahead of your our fourth time around (although the comments above are great).

1. Don't worry, you will get faster. Oh yes, you will learn to be faster. One funny story from our first son, who wound up in the hospital the first week (don't ask, panicky young pediatrician). For quite a bit, he was naked in the warmer so they could use a bili light on him. I was sitting in a chair next to him working on puzzles. Yes, he managed to pee up the 8-10 inches needed to get over the warmer's walls and right onto my puzzle book.
2. Ditto the swaddling comments. Some babies like it, some don't. In general, if you're comfortable, she will be, although they do tend to like to be a little warmer.
4. Definitely take the time to clip the nails. It's nerve wracking at first, and you might nick her a few times, but she'll be okay. If you don't, she'll scrape herself silly. After a bath can also be a good time, as for some babies it soothes them, and it also makes the nails softer and easier to cut. At times though, I've just had to pin the fingers down and cut them. We tried the file thing this time around, but I gave up on it pretty quick.
5. Don't underestimate the importance of doing exactly what you said. New moms often just need that time away from the baby, and it can sometimes be more important than anything else you do. If you only have the time to take the baby on a walk and your wife can call a friend or spend time posting on a forum (if she's into that sort of thing, mine is), the adult connection can mean a ton for her.

Other notes:
1. Ditto Blackadar's comments on cloth diapers. We can't ever seem to have enough, although our babies often have an issue with spitup.
2. As far as what babies can reach (and this will become much more of an issue in 4-6 months), think about the absolute max distance you can possibly think, then double it. I've been amazed at what our kids have been able to get at even before they walk.
3. While it can be nice to have the baby in your bed, it's even better in my opinion to get them sleeping comfortably in their own bed. On the one hand, they'll probably sleep more soundly without whatever movements or coming and going you may have. Additionally, I personally like to try to keep some areas for us as husband and wife, as it can be easy to forget that relationship with the demands of being mommy and daddy. I'm also in favor of early bedtimes (my kids, even the 9 year old, are heading to bed now before 8pm), if only for the time my wife and I have in the evenings to focus on each other and other things. They do wind up getting up early though. More of a note for down the road, obviously you're somewhat at the mercy of her schedule, although even that can be controlled to some extent if you're willing to put up with some temporary crying as she adjusts.

Overall, while babies are often as fragile as you think, they're also often much more resilient than you'd ever imagine. The most important thing at this point is to simply love and enjoy her. The rest will more than likely take care of itself.

rabbit wrote one of his best articles about new babies. Definitely worth a read.

Give or take where you live, Target is great for mostly-disposable baby clothes and things.

The make special baby nail clippers, use those. Until the "scared to chop off a little finger" thing passes, go with the lowest DPS item in your inventory.

No matter where you go, take and extra-extra set of things to wear for the baby. No matter how much you plan, something gets soiled dirty, or barfed on.

Later when they are older, do what it takes to get the dvd player thing for the back seat. It will increase your life span by five years.

SO much information of child related things. You will never hear the end of the advice and hopefully it will never be dull.
I read and skimmed, thus here is my advice.

1. Best solution I ever heard and it works is.... Open the diaper and then close it right back up, count to 20 and then change her. The air stimulates urinating.

2. Newborns do not have a well regulated temperature system like adults do. If she doesn't like the baby burrito, then don't bother her with it and leave her arms out. To determine if she is cold or hot, feel her chest by over the breastbone, then dress or cover her appropriately. Rocub likes cold weather and this made my life easier.

3. Give her a bottle of water. Sometimes babies get constipated just like adults do and need water. Formula will constipate.

5. As a mom, there are several things I would advise you to do. First, when you get home from work, take your daughter and let mom have a nap, get a shower or run a fast errand. I always had a bottle ready when Robear got home and he'd watch the news and feed Cubby. If family is near and you trust them with your daughter, take mom out for a meal. Longer dates are nice, but start off with a short one. When they are that young, moms get nervous leaving them for long periods of time. Not to mention the whole mom needs to be milked thing Let your wife know she is still the sexpot you married. Help with whatever little things you can around the house. One important thing to do for mom and baby is to give mom a huge glass of something cold ( fruit juice, water, milk) to drink while she is feeding your daughter. Women need to intake a lot of liquid for herself when breastfeeding.

I am sure there is more advice to be dispensed, this is all that is coming to mind atm.

I got the best advice ever on GWJ 8 months ago in this thread.

No kidding. They grow up way too fast. Wish there was a way to slow it all down.

Start seeing your good furniture as the kids' future college furniture. Visitors that have kids won't care one bit that your couch has oatmeal stains.

Tell yourself you'll get real furniture once they are old enough not to spill stuff on it. It'll save you some gray hair.

Also, women dig babies. Guys prefer playing with kids that are old enough to reason with; it gets alot more fun.

If you plan on having more kids, save the clothes. That will save you a few hundred later. Clean them, but them in a box and open it when needed.

Baby grows out of things as they breathe.

They dont need a lot of toys. We had hundreds around the house and the kid would be more interested in an old remote control than all the fisher price "make me a genius" floating toys.

And for the love of gawd, dont save the remnants of the imbilical cord, its just icky. Make sure its clean like the doctor or the nurse told you and when it falls off, throw it away. Funny story, we never found one of my daughters after it fell off.

If you drive anywhere, get something to cover the windows so the direct sun is not on baby. She wont sleep and it will make her cry to have the sun in her face for too long. Driving and crying babies is the suck.

Someone above said this, but I cant agree enough. Make sure there is Husband and Wife time or the marriage takes a kick to the head and never really recovers. This one is from personal experience.

All I can say is get used to it and that it's quite natural to be worried about all that stuff.

Babies all poop differently. Some do it many times a day and some once a week. Both are within the norms. And then for the same baby it changes based on diet and feeding times. Really you want to make sure the diapers are wet and that the poop isn't too hard or too liquid-ee although with young babies the poop is quite different. You really want the poop to be sorta peanut buttery. For more info just ask your doctor.

Cut your baby's fingernails. Really there's no way around that. Use common sense and there's no need to do it all in one sitting if you can't. If you have her in your arms and she's content and perhaps napping then cut the nails or as many as possible. They make little baby nail clippers.

Diaper changes? Well that's the nature of the beast once again. At that young age I'm not sure there's alot of you can do to minimize the mess. Maybe get some paper sheets like the Doctor's office has? And have lots of wipes handy.

Burrito? If she doesn't like the burrito then don't do it. I never heard of a baby perishing from those sweltering/freezing 72 degree temperatures. Worst case the 72 temp is a tad uncomfortable and she lets you know it.

anyway as you can see most of this, when you think about it, is common sense and there's no special secret to taking care of babies except patience and well common sense. There's no magic pill.

All babies are different too. That really hits home when you have 2 kids and some of your techniques for taking care of the first kid don't work on the second.

Yes, you're old life is definitely in the dustbin of history now. Glad you realized it quickly.

For starters, having some "baby books" on hand can help. My wife loved "What to Expect, The First Year". The trick is to take all of it with a pound of salt. Take what you want/need from the books, and leave the rest. Sometimes at 2AM it's nice to have a book telling you that projectile vomiting is "normal".

To your specific points:

1) LouZiffer wrote:

That sounds almost exactly like my diaper changing routine. Combined with the cloth covered vinyl pads, it's about the best I could find. For a while, just assume that you will need to change barfed on and peed on clothes and waterproof pads. Its just a fact. Babies are disgusting little creatures. Expect the laundry facilities to smoke from overuse. Also, keep one of the waterproof pads in the diaper bag (good for car backseats, dirty changing stations, etc.) along with some cloth diapers.

2) Swaddling varies from child to child. My daughter behaved much like yours, but sometimes loved it. If you can, watch "The Happiest Baby on the Block". I thought it was total crap when I saw it. I was amazed when it worked, well, sometimes.

3) The poo sounds normal. If you're worried, ask your ped. The main thing is urinating (indication of hydration). As long as she is hydrated, everything else should "work itself out".

4) We established a right before bed (sleepy) after bath (softened) routine where I would hold fingers and the Mrs. would cut. As my daughter aged, she would actually request clippings in the same chair at the same time.

My cousin was never comfortable with the clippers. She always bit the nails while the child slept. I thought it was weird, until my pediatrician offered it as an option.

5) For us, the biggest thing was helping with the middle of the night feedings. I would get up first, change diapers, etc. I would then present the clean, ready to eat baby to the Mrs. I thought nothing of it, but my wife told me later that it was wonderful.

The other thing she told me helped was taking calls during the day. When the little one is screaming, you don't always know what's wrong (I'm sure you're familiar with this). The wife would call and tell me what she had tried, and I would offer other options she hadn't thought of.

The two biggest/obvious bits of advice I have for new parents? First, patience. You will get screamed at, barfed on, peed on, etc., but it will tone down before too long. Treat every day as a new adventure, because you have no guarantees that it will be anything like yesterday.

Second, don't blink. Before you know it, she'll be toddling around and calling you daddy. That's when they get really fun.

Seriously. Little babies, you put them somewhere, they stay there. Relish every day that is like this.

I enjoyed reading your post locdog, it really takes me back to those days when you are a new parent and hypersensitive about everything. Is this normal? Is that normal? Whoa, is THAT normal? Fun times. Parenting is very much a "learn as you go" ordeal, and all kids are unique - strategies that work for one baby might make the next baby very angry, you just never know.