re: Baby due next summer. Any tips or knowledge that can be passed on?

When they drop the pacifier, just wipe it on your shirt.
That’s what you’ll be doing by child two or three anyways.

Get a snoo

Buy this book and read it The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-be
It's the best one I've found. There's a real lack of decent gathering books and this author has been around for a bit. He remains a-political and doesn't coach on parenting styles.

Study Taking Cara Babies

Optional: but worked for us Le Pause Book basically boils down that sometimes you need to let the baby cry for just a little bit before running to the rescue.

And

Get a Hatch sound machine (or any you prefer), and your preferred swaddle/pacifier.

Bring them to the hospital with you and use them from day 1.

Start employing the taking Cara babies techniques ASAP. It's broken down by week and then month.

The first two month is mostly survival. But after that it gets better. But seriously, taking Cara babies was a life saver. We got our kid sleeping from 7:30-6:30 everyday by 12 weeks.

Good luck sir, your life is changed forever.

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In you breast feed, once the kid goes from the tap to the bottle, you do the last feeding before bed and the first in the morning and let your wife go to bed early and sleep in. Then your wife wakes up and do the middle of the night feeding (since she has to wake up and pump anyway). You get some solid sleep at night, and your wife has minimal interruption.

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Figuring out sleep schedules was critical for us.

At the beginning, I would get up in the middle of the night "to help". It just led to us being gassed all the time.

We finally settled on wife on night duty (say midnight to 6), and I SLEPT in another part of the house. She would usually nap when the baby napped during the day. And we would would eat dinner around 5-6 and I had the baby from 6 until baby was done with her last feeding, and my wife SLEPT from 5 to midnight.

The change in quality of life when we could both get a solid 6 hours of sleep was a life changer.

I still helped get everything set up that my wife needed - but if baby cries during "my" sleep time, you handle it (and vice versa).

Assuming this is a legitimate request and not just the opportunity to see how stupid idiots in here are.

You’ll find your wife will be VERY appreciative when you help out without being asked repeatedly to do it.

When you’re burping them they’re going to spit up on you, plan ahead.

When it comes to planning ahead, that means pretty much everything. You can still go play golf, work out, etc. just have to be less flexible about it.

One thing to be flexible about….naps. 15 minutes if you get the chance helps.

If it’s a boy, be REAL careful changing diapers, he’ll get you at least once so don’t say you weren’t warned.

Realize this is a commitment for life, and the best thing you’ll ever do if you’re smart enough to realize it.

Once they start sleeping most of the night or hours at a time it’s great.

Gets real fun when they can start communicating.

After that is goes so fast. Enjoy the ride.

Our experience with summer babies starting school:

Our first is a girl born in mid August. Our second is a boy born on June 1st. We held our first back when she was supposed to start kindergarten. So she will now turn 18 at the beginning of her senior yr. We do not regret the decision. She has excelled academically and athletically.

We did not hold our son back. He will turn 18 shortly after he graduates. He is immature and struggled early with school but has really turned the corner in 5th and 6th grade. We both regret not holding him back. I was the more adamant one to hold him back but lost the fight. I regret it to this day.

Mylacon(gas drops),two different brands of bottles and diapers(until y’all figure out which works best), baby shower ask for gift cards(or else you’ll get a ton of useless crap), a good rocker glider that’s big and comfortable because sleeping in it is highly likely.

I have 5 ranging from 22 to 2. Lots of snot, shite, piss, vomit, late night er visits, sleepless nights, many nights in my recliner, tons of worry and stress. I’ve been pissed on during diaper changes, had baby shite burst out the diaper onto my arm, had a sick baby vomit IN my mouth, and hot spit up flow down my back.

And if I were younger I’d go for number 6.

My kids are 7, 5, and 2. Just think about this before you have more: the wife and I have been changing diapers every single day for the last 7.5 years.