Wow and parenting

With a little one planned to come in February I was wondering how gaming would fit into this? Do you new parents still get a bit of time to play or are you banished to a life with dirty diapers? Especially during work days? I have never been able to not game before but I think that time might be approaching :stuck_out_tongue:

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I had a baby last November, so I’ve got experience :slight_smile:

You will obviously have less free time, don’t have illusions about that. That said, it really depends on how you manage the time you have. It’s important for both you and your partner to provide each other with some hours of uninterrupted free time every week. You can spend that on WoW, a few mythic+ runs or rated BG. Not sure about high level raiding, but maybe. I do get sometimes a full free night thanks to my sweet wife and mother-in-law, but I usually spend that on meeting friends.

Also, there are times when both my baby and wife sleep, and it’s “my time” to care for the baby when he wakes up. During these times, I obviously won’t run mythic+ because I might have to leave any time, but this is perfect for many of the more casual aspects of the game like leveling alts, farming rep, doing world quests, a random BG here and there, finishing the now low-level Suramar / Argus stories, running old raids to collect transmogs, etc. I was able to do SOME gaming nearly every day, even like this.

The first few weeks will probably be the hardest. After the baby has an actual sleeping schedule, you can plan way better.

Now me and my wife even get to play together in Classic since our baby usually stays asleep between 9 and 12 at night :smiley:

Good luck and congratulations :slight_smile:

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Luckily mythic+ and raiding isn’t for me and I usually spend time questing or clearing old content or other casual stuff. My partner doesn’t really game besides some COD matches at times :smile: I suppose we have to wait and see how often he sleeps to make a scedule (if he is like his dad there will be a lot of sleeping…) I remember when I was babysitting my little cousin I would play with him and read for him until he fell asleep in my arms and then move my laptop closed so I could awkwardly play a bit lol.

Congrats on your little one!

I can’t imagine finding the time to play working til 17, picking him up from daycare, making dinner and then spending time with him until bed.

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As a mother (Lysende’s wife :smiley: ) I can tell you, its gonna be hard, and I mean REALLY hard at first. I remember, I didnt have any time to play for like a month. Later I could play while breastfeeding him. Keybinded everything to my mouse :smiley: Now its a lot easier as my husband said, but be prepared, its gonna be tough at first. But to be fair, I didnt miss gaming during that time, I was happy to be able to sleep when I could :smiley:

Good luck and congratulations!

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Ah so nice you play together! I’m also wondering if you were able to play towards the end of your pregnancy? My belly is getting pretty big already and as I play on a laptop in the sofa I often have to change positions already as it sits in the way a bit :sweat:

I’m a father of 2-year old twins. I certainly have a lot less time to play, raiding for example is completely out of the question. But I can do mythic+ just fine. Curiously, I have more time during work days, because on weekends, we usually go out (we did that before the twins too, mind you, so nothing really changed there).

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Yep, I remember playing on the day my little one decided to finally come out :smiley: My husband had a really comfy chair, it helped a lot! In my experience the sofa is way too soft and not high enough so had to lean toward the laptop to play, it was uncomfortable. So moved to the dinning table with a swivel chair :smiley:

We are currently renovating the house we bought and dont have much room in our appartment so a desk isnt an option for me sadly :frowning: dining table is a good idea though…then I will be close to the fridge,toilet and no leaning forward :rofl:

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It all depends on your baby and how much it sleeps and so on. As they get older they get a more obvious sleeping pattern and it gets easier to know how much time u have for the game. Some babies needs to be close to their parent all the time, if that is the case i recommend trying out a wrap/sling/carrier so the baby can sleep on you and u get your hands free (for gaming or other things in your life, like eating :stuck_out_tongue: ). Good luck with the little one :heart:

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Here’s the facts:

While the kids are small, naturally you funnel all your time to them and play maybe during naps.

When they get a little older, you can game at evenings when they are in bed.

Older yet, you can game a bit more, but don’t undersatimate the time it takes to have kids. And always choose them first.

Then comes the teens. And as the kids interest in you, declines to that you are just someone who makes food and provide clean clothes… you MIGHT think that “omg yes! Now i can game!!”. But trust me, that only lasts till you find out that your kids are gamers just like you… and guess who sits at the computer :stuck_out_tongue:

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I don’t have a baby, but I did raise one with my ex partner. Between work, cooking, cleaning, playing with the baby (when she was a little older), taking care of her when my partner needed a break, and just general exhaustion, I really couldn’t play, and when I could, I just didn’t have the energy.
You’ll probably find you won’t play for the first few months until you get used to serving the new overlord, baby. It took me a couple of years before I started getting back into gaming, but that was just because I had lost motivation to play. Why spend an hour doing online dungeons when I could play with a baby, or let her sleep on my chest.
If you just do casual stuff like questing, I’m sure you’ll be fine though. But as I said, don’t expect to play much for the first few months…
Congratulations btw, and all the best!

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Overlord baby :rofl: :rofl: we dont have a name for him yet…maybe thatll do!

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Haha, it’s a fitting name, trust me. You know when they first smile and the parents think it’s because they made them laugh? No, it’s because it’s at that point they’ve realised they can control you and make you do whatever they want xD

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Just remember RL and family first.

Mine is now 12 and I am only just getting to the point that I feel like I’m getting more time.

It will all depend on your little ones sleep cycle. Basically just get some time in between when you can.

Up to the age of 1 baby’s are pretty boring anyway…
Eat, sleep and poop. You play during the second part of that cycle.

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Youre having a baby and want to plan on playing a computer game after the birth? that’s one lucky baby …

Why sleep when you can play! :smiley: remember Gul’dan’s words: EVERYTHING…

Parenting is incredibly time- and energy-consuming. I know this, I live this. You have to sacrifice a lot, which I gladly do for my cute little one.

That said, we have to keep our sanity, for the sake of ourselves, our spouse and the baby, too. You can do parenting much better if you are not completely drained and stressed. And for this, I think we all need some time to recharge every now and then.

Time is a precious resource that has to be managed smartly. If WoW is the thing that recharges you mentally (like it was for me), it is not a bad thing at all to play.

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Am I not allowed time for myself to relax?

@Krillsey: Tbh I can’t wait til mine is old enough to game :smile: best memories for me were playing baldurs gate and street fighter with my older brother when I was little!

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my second arrived a month ago.:sweat_smile:
you devote yourself to the family machine.
…and WoW fish. alot.

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I play in the evenings when little one has been put to bed.

Can still play when he’s awake, but can’t commit to a dungeon/raid or anything Incase something happens and I need to afk

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