Advice for adjusting to a newborn

Congratulations on the birth of your baby!

Your life will probably be a sleep-deprived fog for the next couple of months, and then things will get better as the baby starts sleeping for long stretches at night. As I recall, my prayer life for those first couple of months was chiefly "Please, God, let the baby fall asleep!"

God sees it all, and loves you. Be gentle with yourselves. You may be able to do some Bible reading at 4am while you're feeding the baby. But if you can't, because you haven't slept in a week, then okay. In a few months, when the baby is sleeping more regularly, you'll be able to return to your regular spiritual practices.

I'm not sure what you mean by a rigid schedule. My advice is the opposite, to be as flexible in your schedule as you can. The demands of work schedules are what they are. But for everything else, be prepared to eat meals or take showers or do the laundry at odd hours, because newborns have their own idea of time. Hang on. It'll get easier.

Yes, congrats on your newborn.

We rotated the main responsibility nightly, learned when we were anxious the baby responded accordingly, reluctantly accepted our mothers' help but that the previous level of order and organization wasn't possible, batch cooked meals, & prayed even more.

As PloverWing posted, It will get easier.

Congratulations on the baby! May God bless all of your endeavors!

Congrats on your newborn!

Life with a little one is no joke, and when you're pulled in a million directions, it can feel like there's nothing left in the tank for your spiritual life. One thing that's helped my wife and me in similar seasons is shifting our mindset from "structured devotional time" to "constant connection."


Even if it's just whispering a prayer while feeding the baby, listening to worship music on the way to work, or reading a single verse in the morning — those small moments matter. God meets us in the chaos, not just in the quiet.


Also, don't underestimate the power of including your child in your spiritual life. Praying over them, reading simple Bible stories aloud, or singing hymns as lullabies are all ways to keep God in the center, even when you're exhausted.


And lastly — grace. Tons of it. God's not measuring you by how many minutes you clock in but by your heart's desire to stay near Him. Keep showing up, even imperfectly.


You're not alone in this — you’ve got a whole body of believers walking similar roads. Hang in there.

Tyler52 said:

My wife and I are struggling to maintain any form of relationship with God right now just because of all that we have to do now that we have our child. What can we do to seek God more? It’s especially going to be hard if I get put on 10s at work and am getting up at 3 in the morning. I’m not really sure what to do other than have a rigid schedule, does anyone else have advice?

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The world is hard and life in it is harder. The Lord Jesus knows a thing or two about enduring hard work and pain because of His love for others, and in Him we find our lesson and strength.

When things feel too hard to handle, get lost in God's love for you, for all of us. Love is where God's power is and it conquers all things. (1 Corinthians 13) (1 John 4:8)

Without love nothing is bearable, and with it we can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)

No one truly knows what you are going through or how hard it is besides the Son of God Himself. The more wrapped up in God's love we are the less we are able to feel sorry for ourselves, knowing that it is temporary and God spared us the worst of it and took what we deserved.

What I do personally is remember how much Christ suffered and stay reminded that I am suffering with Him and that He will make every ounce of work and pain worth it in the end. (Mark 16:20)

There isn't anything that is going to "make it easier" in the sense of lifting the heavy weight of love, caring for a child, working long hours to pay bills, or enduring physical or emotional pain throughout life... but we can find solace and peace in knowing that our work is such a high calling and so extremely important that we literally find God's heart and voice inside of us telling us that we can't quit or slow down.

When people fall in love they hardly notice things around them, often able and willing to endure extreme hardships so long as they are "together" and nothing separates them. This, is a key in finding the strength to push forward in every situation in life, in that being in love with God and being overwhelmed by His incredible love proven through His sacrifice for us, how could we not be overpowered with gratitude and a desire to keep going so long as we know He is always with us?

Perspective is everything, and if we set our eyes on the cross and refuse to be distracted by lesser things, then we can be the lamp that is plugged in to the power source that gives love and light to fill our entire house. Without our eyes on Jesus, we are empty cups with no water, and lamps that are not plugged in to the source and we will eventually be drained and the darkness will prevail with our light put out.

Stay locked into God's love, overwhelmed by His extreme kindness to us, amazed by His personal attention to our prayers, and worship Him for everything you know He will do for you because if He died for us then what will He not do? (Romans 8:32) (Acts 16:25 - Acts 16:26) (Hebrews 11:6)

Congratulations on the baby! What a blessing! Praying for your situation, heart, and family and may God's peace flood your life.

The Christian life is supposed tobe defined by a maturity that follows the transition from living for self (the flesh, Galatians 5) to walking by the Spirit (selfless love, 1Cor 13:4-7, 2Cor 5:15). Having children almost forces us to live for others.

We are all born helpless, ignorant, and selfish. The external discipline parents apply to their children should be with the goal of teaching them to have internal discipline. This can help them be rceptive to your instruction.

Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Eph_6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

You will face choices such as setting your children on a "success" strategy of college and worldly entanglement or, growing in faith. Choices such as public education or homeschool will also be made.We chose to live with less financial means so that our children could have a better chance to resist to corruptive influences of the world.

Your schedule choices are the first of many you will be making. As you grow in your reading and understanding of the bible, you may find your prayer life also deepening. You may also wish to take advantage of the offer of God for wisdom.

Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.