FTM suddenly freaking out about the day to day stuff
I'm 33 weeks and it's suddenly hitting me that baby girl could kinda rock on into our lives any day now (though of course hopefully not) and I'm realising everything I don't know and going into a slight panic.
I'm frustrated because I've read books and been to newborn classes and watched Reels until I'm blue in the face and yet I still don't feel like I understand what to actually DO hour by hour with the baby. I haven't neglected to consider the realities of parenting (I promise!). I've been batch cooking like a mad woman, have supports in place, got all the gizmos and clothes and things that we need... it's the actual day to day of it all that I can't seem to wrap my head around (or why nobody seems to tell you???)
How do I know when to do tummy time? How long for? What are we actually doing about wake windows because people keep telling me they wish they hadn't lived and died by wake windows but I can't see any other way of building routine for her... Are we doing the app tracking or not? Hindsight always seems to have people saying no it made them crazy, but how else am I supposed to remember when she last fed if I don't know my arse from my elbow because I'm so sleep deprived?! What's sleep pressure? What do I do if she's screaming? How much is normal? I saw a video about not being a "container" parent, e.g. not putting your baby in capsule/bouncer/carrier constantly... ok where is she going then? On me? That's fine if that's the case... but how do I know?!?! How do I know what to believe about letting them sleep vs waking them to feed (aside from if she's underweight at birth etc)?
I'm aware I sound off my chops at this point. Maybe i am. ANY ADVICE from first timers on the other side? Genuinely where did you find this info? Is there a book that talks about the day to day of it all? Can anyone share their day to day routine or something?! Not to follow to the letter obviously, but just for some rough idea of what I need to be doing for her besides feeding her!? When does she need toys? Sensory what?! HELP!
Thank you in advance! *I promise my tone is exaggerated for effect and I'm not completely bonkers*
Posted Jun 11, 2026, 2:34 AM UTC