Diary of a New Dad blog #2

SLEEP has never been so appealing – probably because I now no longer decide when I will put my head down, or how long it will last.
That decision has been deferred to our six-week-old baby, whose idea of a lie in appears to be approximately 3.15am.
And once she’s awake, we’re all awake!
One minute she’s a slumbering bundle of sweetness and light, the next a screaming blur of arms and legs.
She can also go from silent to an ear-piercing 130 decibels (the same as a military jet taking off from an aircraft carrier) in 0.2 seconds.
My partner is breast-feeding our little one and has been since the day she was born.
It never ceases to amaze me how a mother can provide everything an infant needs to survive and thrive, naturally.
I’m also in awe of how she does everything so instinctively and, seemingly, effortlessly.
She manoeuvres the baby with sublime dexterity and has a sixth sense when it comes to knowing what each different cry or facial expression means.
I, on the other hand, handle her like a market trader would a sack of spuds and can barely tell the difference between wind and a giggle.
The problem is that most complicated gadgets I have acquired in the past came with some sort of quick-start manual (I never had the patience to read the full instruction book).
But babies, with all their quirks and complications, don’t even have a list of FAQs.
You just have to make it up as you go along.
Luckily for me, my partner is a natural and experienced mother, having gone through this once before.
And she is ably assisted by her first child, (now a teenager) who has picked up the maternal knack of knowing what to do, and when
They work together like a well-oiled machine, changing, winding and entertaining the latest addition to the family.
I have a go but cause panic in the ranks with my ungainly efforts to cradle, caress and carry my daughter.
My attempts at play are often met with furrowed brows too, coming as they do just as the baby has been settled down to sleep.
And frankly, I should know better as sleep is something we are all a little short of at the moment.
Well, all of us apart from the baby that is, thanks in part to south Devon’s brilliant gro company.
When she finally decides to nod back off, we have found their range of baby products a massive help in ensuring she gets a comfortable night (or day’s) sleep.
In particular, the baby sleeping bags (or grobags) are pure genius and we would highly recommend them.
Meanwhile, it’s a measure of just how little slumber I am getting that burying myself back under the covers at 6am knowing I may snatch another 45 minutes’ shut-eye is sheer bliss.
I vaguely remember the days when crawling into bed in the wee small hours signalled a good night out rather than the culmination of a two-hour feeding, gurgling and dummy-spitting marathon.
Oh, how life has changed … and so much for the better.