What Should I Be Doing With My Newborn, Seriously

Don't worry. I can see the lack of merit in your posts even without looking at your number of posts.

And the really sad part is that Buck is absolutely right about a wedding ring and a baby.

 

I think you've missed the part where I said six weeks. I'm not talking about much time at all.
The "experts" I mention are pediatricians, nurses, doctors, etc. I personally talked to several of them, not just read books. They all know much more about it than you or I do.
I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying, but you have to be extra protective of the kid for the first six weeks.
Notice there is a liquid hand sanitizer on the wall in a hospital nursery? That's there to protect the baby, who is born with a very weak immune system.

 

Just the fact that you are asking what you should be doing means you're doing a fine job. Just keep on keepin' on, Pete. The payoff is extraordinary.

 

Play "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols." Loud. All day long.

 

pediatricians, unfortunately, often see the worst-case scenario.

why my youngest was 10 days old, she developed a slight fever.
we took her to Sick Kids in Toronto, world renowned for its child-care I acknowledge, but within two hours of being there my newborn had undergone a spinal tap and was hospitalized for 6 days with a tube sticking out her back.

Thing was, the fever never really worsened and my baby was fine. It was acknowledged that the spinal tap was "precautionary"

Don't get me wrong, I wanted the best for my baby, but if the same thing were to happen today, I would say, let's wait a few hours before you perform extremely delicate surgery on my 10-day old daughter

The pediatrician then was about 30 years old. Well, counting today, I have at least three more years of experience in dealing with kids. So I think I have some grasp about what it takes

 

I'm sorry to hear that story, E.E. After the scare, it sounds like everything turned out OK, which is great.
I think we would both agree that you take whatever precautions you believe are necessary for your children. Sometimes people over-react, which is unfortunate, but we as parents should always do what we think is best for our children.
That is the whole point of this thread.
Listen to the advice of those you trust, throw out what you don't, and you're left with what you believe is the right thing to do. That's all you can do.

 

Big thumbs up on the boppy. Get one. You'll be glad you did.

 

Or if you want a different lullabye, there's this one:

all you have to do is sing it as girl instead of boy

 

How about playing lots of Barney CDs now, so that way in a couple of years, when she's in the Barney age bracket she'll be sick of him and you won't have to deal with watching him repeatedly on TV.

 

What's your baby's name?
Chick Magnet.

 

The sad thing is, at some point, Pete will have the entire TV lineup of cartoon shows memorized down to the minute.

 

I'll agree with everyone else on here who's said, Take it easy. Love your baby, make sure she's fed and warm, and you've done your job.

I will say that I think it's good to get a baby in as many sets of hands as possible -- after they're good and solid. We passed around our first kid, Charley, like a basketball -- Lesson One: Do not bounce pass a baby -- and he's come out a really social, confident kid. I don't know if that has anything to do with his early sluthood or perhaps his giant ballsack, but it was nice to avoid that whole social anxiety stage that a lot of toddlers go through.