Going to be a dad :)

pudzey101

Hi all 1st time poster here
So got the news today confirming im going to be a father for the first time
Really dont know what to say im so excited/nervous at the same time
Thing is im doing a childcare course just to check/see is there anything im not sure on, and being only 21 im worried others in the course/community will look down on me being so young.

Is it me or is this perfectly natural?

pudzey :cool:

spurious

I wish all new dads to be were like you.
You will be great.
Congratulations.

kelle

Congratulations pudzey, I hope all goes well. You will be an ACE dad!

LadyMayBelle

To be fair Pudzey, you are 21 , not exactly that young!! There are people coming out of school ages 17 and 18 starting childcare courses,, so you are grand! Plus it's great that you are doing this for yourself and baby, educating yourself on all the little and big issues bout child rearig is fantastic.
Congrats!

pudzey101

Thanks everyone !
Great feeling now after reading your posts
everything was planned and worked out before we came to a decision on starting a family
Seems so weird though il only be in my 20's wen he/she is starting school its all so new to me:)
Best feeling in the world !

ash23

I was 20 when I had my daughter. I'm now 29 and she's nearly 9. It's grand and there are advantages to being a younger parent. The sleepless nights, the toddler tantrums.....I was physically better able to deal with that than I would be now I think. On the other hand, I've more patience now than when I was younger.
Your whole life will change and sometimes a bit of resentment is normal but the positives outweigh the negatives by a mile.

I also didn't find much negativity in terms of my age. In the labour ward there was a bit of a "silly little girl" attitude, and I know my parents were worried about how I'd handle it. But I more than proved myself as a mother and now nobody bats an eyelid really.
If there is a reaction when I say I have an almost 9 year old it's of surprise, not negative.

Best of luck!

Ayla

Ash23 beat me to it...

I was going to say that my husband was 21 when our first child was born (I was 26) and there are advantages (and disadvantages) of starting your family at an earlier age.

On of the big advantages that we like to think about is that our kids will be out of the house and we'll still be in our 40s

cynder

my husband and i had our first i was 19 and he was 19 only a few dads later he turned 20,

congrats.

at 25 we bought our first house and had another baby at 26 we had another baby and at 28 we got married.... our first born is now 12 and we have been together 14 years. you will have bad days and good days, but its worth it.....

enjoy...

RIRI

Magic!!

Am so pleased for you & your missus. Fair play to you for doing a childcare course too - I very much doubt anyone will pass remark, given that you're so excited & obviously very committed if they do they're gooses.

Best of luck with the pregnancy to you both

RIRI

Orion

Congrats. Don't worry about your age. People will more likely look up to you for making sure you know how to care for your child than look down on you because of you age.

nesf

Congrats. Don't worry about it, we were all noobs at this when we started out and making loads of (non-serious) mistakes is very much the norm for new parents.

Minxie123

Ah best of luck to you both. Delighted for you. I'm 35 & have an 11 month old. Really wish I had of done it sooner. Am already worrying about not seeing as much of her life as I'd like and really knowing grandchildren etc. Good luck with the course, hopefully you'll learn lots. There's no doubt about it, being a parent is tough no matter how old you are. Only advice I would give is that when baby comes along be extra kind to eachother. It's hard when you're both sleep deprived to not fall out over crappy things but try & have patience with eachother

killwill

Pudz, I recognise you from the Motors and Football Forums.
Congratulations.
You sound like a young lad with your head screwed on and your worries are very natural.
I worried non stop when my missus was pregnant with my daughter, 4 and a half now.
Some of my best memories are when we were expecting our daughter, first kicks, ice cream and Grey's Anatomy on a Tuesday night, etc!!!!
Enjoy every bit of it man, you are gonna be on one crazy roller coaster.

The Princess Bride

Congrats and best wishes!!!!
I think you're fantastic to consider doing a childcare course,I'd imagine there are few people-men and women alike-out there,regardless of age,who've actually done one with parenting in mind.

Enjoy fatherhood ,as a former colleague of mine used to say,no one should have to have a first child,it's a learning experience,so enjoy!

KKkitty

First of all congrats and good luck for the future. There's been way younger than you having their 1st child. You'll be an excellent dad. Parenting is all trial and error but even if your child is having a bad day that one smile or laugh from them is enough to make up for it. You, your gf and both sets of grandparents will be young enough to enjoy the beautiful baby that's on it's way too.

Soccer Mom

pudzey101 wrote: »

Hi all 1st time poster here
So got the news today confirming im going to be a father for the first time
Really dont know what to say im so excited/nervous at the same time
Thing is im doing a childcare course just to check/see is there anything im not sure on, and being only 21 im worried others in the course/community will look down on me being so young.

Is it me or is this perfectly natural?

pudzey :cool:

Congrats Pudzey, you're going to make a fantastic Dad. If only they were all as enthusiastic as you!

Best wishes to you and your partner

Payton

Congrats, love every minute of it. From the hospital visits to the little lady (partner) having a bad day. One thing I never done when I became a father at 22 (our kids are 22 and 17) was to do a diary of everything, dates, hospital visits, yours and her emotions and scans just as a keep sake.
Love the sleepless nights, dirty nappies, the sick, the pink or blue clothes, the walking with the buggy, the tantrums, the whole experience. I can honestly say its the best feeling in the world, it will be the making of you.
There are no books, blogs, on advice....it will all come naturally. Love the experience.

nesf

on the verge wrote: »

There are no books, blogs, on advice....it will all come naturally.

I disagree on this, your natural instincts have no reason to be correct or right. Some people think absolutely absurd things naturally remember and most people are pretty wrong most of the time when it comes to parenting (i.e. they think what they do really moulds and shapes the child when in reality the evidence is quite the opposite).

Read, be sceptical of what you read and try things out. Especially discipline/reward techniques, each child is different, what works for your first child might not work for your second etc.