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Sharing Baby with Family and Friends
A new baby at home is a wonderful time for you as a mom or dad.  You’re enjoying that precious time with your little one as the experience the world for the first time, wide-eyed for the most part. The days after coming home from the hospital are usually filled with family and friends who want to share in the joy of your infant. Here are some tips to making the most of each moment without creating stress for your family and your baby.

Keep a schedule. Without a doubt the best thing for your child is to be on a regular schedule of eating, sleeping and playing.  Make sure your immediate and extended family knows the schedule and can make visits or phone calls at appropriate times. Often parents will feel guilty about not picking up the phone at certain times, or asking a relative or close friend not to visit until the baby is awake. However, you must put the interest of the baby ahead of family curiosity at this time in order to establish a good pattern for their day.

Create a flow of information. A simple means to share your child with family and friends is to send out birth announcements, establish a blog and a free online photo account, and even send out pictures with thank-yous and other correspondence. There are many great ways to use stationery and the internet to give your friends and family access to information about your baby regularly. These are great ways that they can share in your life and see your child grow and mature along the way.

Document. You’ll be surprised from week to week—even from day to day—how much you can forget about your child. The little things they do, the looks they make, the characteristics of their little personalities that you notice for the first time. Get a good camera and video camera. Take pictures regularly. Grab the video camera and tape play-time every week or two. Don’t be the parents that look back after six months with little evidence of their lives together with the baby. You’ll not be able to go back and do this later—so plan for it now.

Make a big deal of family times. Christmas holidays, summer vacations, family get-togethers—whatever the occasion, make it a big deal when you get together with relatives and friends. Make sure your baby has plenty of rest leading up to the event, and show them by your interaction with others how important family and friends are to you. By example you’ll be teaching your child how crucial close family relationships are, even as you give your relatives the opportunity to interact with your baby.