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Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

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Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#41

I have a 5 1/2 month old boy named Ryland and he is just now finally sleeping all night long(9pm to 7:30am) The first 2-3 months were zombie time. I couldn't get any work done because of the sleep dep. My one biggest piece of advice. SLEEP WHEN THE BABY SLEEPS. or you will get NO sleep ever. It will be the roughest thing you have ever gone through but one smile from your childs face up at yours makes it all better an…

Congratulations, daddy :)

You seem to have things worked out pretty good, and I so agree with you about the smiles.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#42
post #10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why kids first, spouses second?

I'm not doubting that it should be that way, I was more curious as to the reasoning. Downvoters are quick on the trigger, aren't they...

Because they are dependents, and your spouse can supposedly fend for herself/himself if the situation is otherwise normal. It also gives your spouse a break, after all somebody will have to take care of the child and if it isn't you then most cases it will be them.

The biggest gift you can give your significant other just after delivery (and in the case of the lady after breastfeeding stops (if you do that)) is a good nights sleep.

> Downvoters are quick on the trigger, aren't they...

Yes, it's annoying.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#43
post #40

I have a 5 1/2 month old boy named Ryland and he is just now finally sleeping all night long(9pm to 7:30am) The first 2-3 months were zombie time. I couldn't get any work done because of the sleep dep. My one biggest piece of advice. SLEEP WHEN THE BABY SLEEPS. or you will get NO sleep ever. It will be the roughest thing you have ever gone through but one smile from your childs face up at yours makes it all better an…

All true. If you cant reduce drastically your sleep time.

Strangely, this was the thing that changed most dramatically for me work-wise in the months after my daughter was born (in March). The first few weeks are insane sleep-wise and I was a zombie. After that, I have found I don't need to go back to my old sleep levels.

My routine now (works for me, running a business in two timezones - GMT & PST) is:

London office: 9/9.30 --> 5/5.30

Home for bathtime (the baby's!)

Baby into bed ~7.30pm

No work or computer until after 10pm - when I now find I can do a good chunk of productive work (I never used to be able to do this and get up the next morning consistently).

Essentially, having a daughter did what all those years of trying to hack my sleep patterns couldn't do. I don't know if it was being thrown in at the deep end or a change of motivation, but either way...

The late shift also helps because our Seattle-based crew are online then.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#44
post #29

My daughter is 4.5 months old now... I don't sleep much.

The hard part is getting her to sleep at night. That implies tough stuff, like not letting her fall asleep to eat some more at night, and letting her cry in her crib, in her room, later. Life is hard :)

It shouldn't be hard for babies, I think. Is she a nuisance to you, ie merely something that stands in the way of you doing the things you want to do?

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#45
If you're the type that needs your sleep, YMMV, but I am now the father of four and still a co-founder, so here goes ...

NOTE: This is scattershot advice mixed with personal reflection. Salt liberally, expect typos.

I started working on Stormpulse in 2004 as a hobby project a few months after we had our first child. She slept horribly for the first two years of her life--very difficult to get to sleep and woke up a lot. The 'cry it out' method DID NOT WORK for us (some people insist that it works for all, but it doesn't. If it doesn't for you, know you're not alone). Get this DVD and watch it: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&#3... (It could easily be titled "Hacks for getting a newborn to calm down and go to sleep." Worth every penny/second you'll spend and really easy stuff. Seriously, this is very important: watch this DVD--I just got out of bed to include this link because I would feel bad if you didn't know these amazingly powerful tricks that could spare your sanity many times over.)

I worked a full-time job and kept hacking on SP on nights/weekends through 2006. 2006 went full-time on the startup and it was fantastic because I got to spend a lot more time with our first than ever before. Times at the park on Tuesday mornings when everyone else is in their cube are really wonderful bonding times. You can give your wife a break by taking the kid on an errand. Love is a trip to the grocery store with the baby to give your wife a 30-minute break.

Our second was born in early 2008. I was back at a cube-job (though a great one) so I saw him less in the first year of his life than I might have liked, but by 2009 I was full-time on Stormpulse again (and have stayed that way). I won't lie, it's incredibly difficult. The hardest part is REALLY BEING THERE for your family even when your brain is screaming for you to work on the startup. Don't panic. Be there. Make lots of eye contact and actively listen. Your baby will quickly become a toddler that knows the difference between a mindless/reflexive "uh-huh" and real participation. It's better to stop for 30 seconds, get down and give them a hug than to spend 10 minutes saying 'one second, hold on' as they tug at your leg. Often they just need that 30 second re-connect.

Despite what I've just said about spending day-time hours with the family: work away from home if you can. The separation can be a very necessary thing. I was able to do this in an office very close to home until 2010. This year we had twins. They're 7 weeks old now. I am working at home and for the first time ever, it's working. Quitting HackerNews and Twitter can be life-saving steps. No time for that stuff (I've been up since 3:30am and am talking with my co-founder on AIM--I'm about to go back to sleep until 7:30am or so, I hope).

Let your startup fail before you let your family fail. Stormpulse hasn't failed yet, but I've had to 'give up on it' a couple times before I've been able to have a solid enough financial footing to launch into it again. Now we're at a stage where I don't expect to go back to other work and it's the absolute best setup for our whole family (we see how it contributes to Daddy's involvement at home, rather than how it takes away). I was fortunate to at least start while our first was very small, so that my wife went through that early time where all I did was work or moonlighting and the kids know a gentler reality of "Daddy works but he's also around a lot".

One final thought--when things get tough (time pressures, children aren't behaving, whatever), never blame your wife for anything, ever--even when it appears supremely obvious that she's at fault. Instead, take responsibility and figure out what you could have done differently and what you can do differently going forward. That has gotten me a through a lot of difficult times with family + startup. Giving and sacrifice are the new norm, but once you're there you won't have it any other way.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#46
My daughter and first child was born this Monday.

I'm reading all the replies and sucking everything in as my daughter is sleeping on my chest. My life has undoubtedly changed - for the better. There can not be a better startup than your own kids.

My plan now is to take an employment for 4 days/week and work on my own project(s) the 5th. Weekends are strictly family.

Is 8 hrs/week enough to get anything off the ground? We'll see. Would love to hear from anyone else working like that.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#47
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Routine. Routine, routine, routine, routine. This. It took us 8 months to get it sorted but now our little boy just about begs to be put to bed and he sleeps 10 hours a night without a sound.

It's absolute bliss! We are incredibly lucky, since 10 weeks old, baby Cameron has been sleeping a minimum of 8 hours a night. Sometimes it takes 10 weeks, sometimes it takes 8 months, either way, it's worth the effort. Kids thrive on routine.

We kind of took the other route, our daughter slept whenever there was time really. We took her backpacking across Europe for 2 months when she was 8 months old, she just slept whenever she was tired. At home she would go to bed if we were at home, but we didn't hesitate to go out for dinner or to a friends house or whatever and she'd just sleep whereever we ended up. In contrast some of our friends have kids who will only sleep if they're in their usual environment which can make things a bit tricky. We're expecting number 2 in 10 weeks, so hopefully the next one is equally easy going.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#48
Lots of good advice in this thread. My best advice is: when you are "there" with your family, really be there. I have a tendency to focus my attention on things I am working on even when I am not sitting in front of the computer. Often this makes me furrow my brow without realizing it.

Early on, my wife (a pronounced extrovert) wanted adult contact and conversation more than anything. She wasn't all that happy when I was off in the land of ones and zeros when she was talking to me. It was a minor issue before the baby, but it really came into focus when their was a little person vying for our attention all the time. As your child gets older, this advice will apply doubly for the child.

This might sound a little crude, but, here goes: after the first three months, schedule opportunities for intimate time! Your time will be limited, and anything that is not a priority will go by the wayside. You can look up and find that it has been several months since you've been intimate. We didn't have a strict schedule like every Wednesday after she sorted the recycling[1], but we did agree in advance to "take a nap together" later that day or the next day. Spontaneity just didn't really work for us. The trick is keeping the pressure off - if one of you is tired and really just wants to take a nap together, that's got to be OK, otherwise it will drive you apart rather than bring you together.

Good luck. It's an awesome adventure!

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#49
post #3

Kids come first! Spouses second. Computers third. I'm sure you already figured that one out but I still have to remind myself periodically when I'm in to something interesting so I figured it wouldn't hurt to repeat it. Get up an hour or two before your kids do so you can get some work done when you're still fresh (assuming your kids don't get up at 6 am :) ).

Just don't forget to take care of yourself too.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for Hackers having Kids?

#50
Change your sleep schedule now, while you still have things under control. You're really going to need to adjust this, because that little human you're adding to your life is not going to have much control, themselves, over the issue .. for some time.

So, get it under control now. Get to bed early, get out of bed early. Add another 2 hours of time to your 'sleep allocation' if possible.

Get a schedule going. You're going to really need to rely on this when things get crazy. You'll have to reduce your "up all night hacking" time and allocate that to "relaxing with the baby, playing" time .. Babies really need a lot of play time. The more you play, the better things get. Babies get bored, real easy. You don't want a bored baby when you're trying to get some code written.

I've got another one on the way soon, too, along with my 3 year old boy, who has been an amazing bundle of joy, every single day. I can't emphasize enough that you really do get amazing returns on your investment into your kids, and if you start to adjust your hacker life now to become more of a parent, you'll reap the rewards later. You don't have to stop hacking, by the way .. but you do need to make some changes to make sure that both hats (father/hacker) are covered.

Also, don't forget to take time for you and your significant other to just be together. Its really, really important. Date nights are just as special and just as necessary, so please prepare your friends and family to help out with this (babysitting) as soon as possible. It helps a great deal when things get stressed that you and your partner are still greatly in love with each other ..

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