Preparing for a baby

Good advice! In my experience the getting sick part starts a little later, because the first 6 months the baby is more or less immune. For me getting sick was closely related to my son being exposed to other kids…the start of daycare / kindergarden kicked off some rather challenging weeks :wink:

Yes. First year of my daughter in preschool my house should have just been quarentined.

Our first baby is due in late January! I’m excited to be meet the little one and be a father.

I’ve been exercise for past 18yrs, weights initially and now cycling - i can’t really imagine being without it. But speaking with new fathers, i can’t imagine how tired i am going be, or how much empathy i have for my tired wife.

I’m a little lucky, i can train at lunch time. At keep mentally fit - a few weight sessions. But i guess i’ll have to call off the whole 3x per week 1hr morning sessions…

Congratulations on the forthcoming arrival!

I am in the thick of it at present, with seven and a half week old baby at home. So far, we’ve been pretty lucky with sleep (in that we are getting some) but to be honest as other people have said you just have to roll with the punches. My boss gave me a good bit of advice - one bad night is manageable, but you have to remember the cumulative effect that it has. Around week six I had a major drop in energy after not having slept more than about four hours continuously since the birth. But that has come back around a little after I backed off to let my body recover a bit.

In terms of how my training has changed… I did Celtman in mid June, having averaged about 10 hours training a week for six months previously including a full TR base, build and speciality plan (mid-volume full distance triathlon). I can safely say that won’t be happening again anytime soon :slight_smile:

There are training modalities out there that will help, with TR being one of them. I am working my way through a FIRST Academy run programme for a 10k in early November, it’s based on three runs a week with a lot of intensity. I am trying to commute three days a week, cycling eighteen miles in and ten miles out with TR outdoor workout intervals on the way in if it’s safe. I am trying to swim twice a week and do a thirty minute kettlebell workout three times a week at home so I can do nappy changes in the morning if necessary rather than disappearing to the gym. It sounds like a lot, but very few of these sessions take longer than an hour and the commute is already a ‘sunk cost’ in terms of the time, so how I get there is my choice. I agreed with my wife I wouldn’t do anything after work to maximise time with family, but she is sleeping with the baby until I leave work and I can run at lunchtimes.

This will go without saying but it’s a real game-changer. The period around the birth is really intense, but once our son was here and everything was fine with him and his mum I felt more relaxed and just tried to have fun. You will be covered in lots of body fluids so best do it with a smile on your face!

Finally, it can take a little while to get used to a fully formed baby suddenly being there, whereas your partner has had time to develop a relationship with them already. Don’t worry if you feel overwhelmed. When they start smiling and noticing you it’s a really special thing.

thanks very much for this advice!

I’m taking this all onboard!

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Congratulations! Dad to a 10 month old. For me, the biggest barrier to training isn’t a lack of time, but my guilt over leaving my wife alone with the baby. By now we’ve settled into a bit of a routine, where we put the baby to sleep around 8pm then I’ll hop on the trainer for an hour. There’s no way I could wake up early to train, but I’m not a morning person.

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I agree it’s just don’t really want to be away. Olive is 8 months now and goes down at 7 so I can doing a bit of exercise then. Been found alot of running as it’s so time effective.

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First off, congrats!! We have a 4-month old little lady and I love every minute of it. My wife and I both work out, so its a give and take- and sacrifice.

A piece of advice I got before E was born was to split your schedule at night. I can tell you, I had friends that were ‘mad’ at me because my wife and I were both getting 5-6hrs of consistent sleep. Heres how it goes… Bedtime is 8pm. Period. Start the routine and go from there. Your little one will be up every couple hours. We moved the pack and play into the guest room and slept in the spare bed when it was “our shift”. We did 8pm-1am and 1am-7am. Regardless, youre getting undisturbed sleep where you can let yourself go and conch out. And yes. We really did have friends “mad” at us because we weren’t both completely exhausted (misery loves company).

Now that shes 4-months, she goes to daycare from 8-Noon every day. Im a fireman, so I can catch a nap coming off shift, or I can have a little freedom in the morning to do chores. Then she’s mine from 12-on everyday (except shift days). That gives her a routine, and us some freedom. I generally don’t ride on the weekends anymore. Those are for “us” and my wifes workouts. I get up at 4am everyday, on the trainer by 5, off at 6. My wife works out 6-7 and were good. We still split the night. I take the 1st feeding, she’s takes the 2nd.

Having her is awesome. Truly the best thing that’s every happened to us.

I’ll update here as well - daughter #2 born in mid-February. I shifted from MV SSB down to LV Sustained Power Build… short version: I was good for about three weeks, then things started to fall apart in March. I ended up going back and creating a mix of SSB MV1/2 and tackling that for about 8 weeks in April until late May, when I had a surgery and then left home. That reduction in intensity and volume helped re-establish my base, consolidate my gains and ready me to move forward again through another Build. After that, I’ve done General Build MV and the first half of Century MV… below is my TSS graph:

Suffice to say, the lack of sleep in the first couple of months took a toll on my training, as you would expect. It is what it is! I didn’t let it get to me, but did what I could when I could. Then, being away from home now for about three months I’ve been a bit more consistent and made gains surpassing where I was.

That’s the key takeaway here, after two kids… whatever you may lose in doing your daddy/mommy duty, you can gain it back. Enjoy the time with your kids, the bikes, the events, the races, and the workouts will all be there waiting when you’re ready!

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Not sure if it’s been linked to already but more advice here

The real question is: are they Boys or Girls?

From my cycling team (which has 5 dads) the breakdown of girls:boys for our kids is strongly weighted to girls.

9 girls and only 2 boys!

Results from our extensive, reputable and highly controlled experiment are that cyclists have girls.

(Back on topic - plans won’t work inside the first year, just fit it in when you can!)

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1 of each here - a poll of TR users would be interesting :joy: I’m going to guess it’s somewhere near 50/50

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2 girls and 1 boy. So if we add that up, it’s 12 to 4 - there must be something here

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Simply put yes…but, the Baby is in charge not you…and don’t forget the Mum, she comes second. Always ask her if its okay to use any spare time you have. She may also want a “break”. Its important to find a balance.

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This person has a healthy relationship with their SO…

I have a 4 and a 7 year old. I’d recommend listing your priorities (and I mean everything) from most to least important. You can then cross things out accordingly from the bottom up.

Some examples:
Wife, being a good dad, job/career, health, sleep, cycling, social life/friends, alcohol, etc

Also, be prepared to adapt. Kids have a knack if changing just when you think you’ve got a grip on things. All kids are different (obviously). Our first child was a dream. Slept well, low maintainance. Our second was the polar opposite. The last 2 months has been the first time in 4 years that I’ve been able to sleep for more than 5 hours a night.

Good luck :+1::crossed_fingers:

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Three boys here.

I would also say, don’t be afraid to reach out to other Dads for help, as a stay at home Dad, I have had difficult days. Maybe keep this post in mind if you need to vent/talk etc

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That’s a very good idea. The only thing I would add is to clearly communicate your priorities to e. g. your partner and your family. This is to create the expectations and to have someone check the list of priorities that you have set yourself.

That extends to e. g. me telling my wife when I make purchases for my hobby/addiction and discuss when we can/should afford a new bike. That really keeps the little devil on my shoulder in check, because very often I already know when I should not do something. Earlier this year I passed on a really, really good deal for a new bike, my dream bike in fact. But I am a husband, a dad, and I have my priorities straight.

Congratulations! We had our first 2 months ago and oddly it’s improved my training from commutes, random intervals and a long weekend ride to SSB MV II currently.

Evenings are a no go (just not fair and will invariably get derailed) and I have to leave for work by 06:20 so early mornings have become my thing. To that end, we have our little one in a routine of bed by 19:30 so the wife and I get to eat and relax together. Little one is a freak show and sleeps through to 6am ish with a mini feed / grump at 3am occasionally, so we’re getting good sleep.

Before she started sleeping like that I’d do night feeds and changes (we’re bottle and breast) with a 3am cut off so I’d have an uninterrupted hr or so before workout. We figured you don’t need two people to ever do anything, caring for a baby is pretty mechanical and if you’re set up well and organised there’s no point both being up unless baby has gone nuclear.

Having a trainer at home is a god send, couldn’t do this without that. There haven’t been many times, but when wife has come to me I’ve been able to get off mid ride and help, can’t do that on the road.

Lastly, I got into crits in August, wife loves it. Says its nice she can come along (preggo at the time) and it’s shorter than the usual 4hr weekend ride.

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