Look at Prince Harry’s special Invictus Games windbreaker! “Daddy” OMG. Not “papa” or “dad” or “father.” DADDY. Very cute. I wonder if Baby Archie will grow up calling Meghan “mummy” or “mom.” Well, Archie will probably have a British accent, so mummy it is. During Harry’s trip to The Hague to promote Invictus, he chatted with some old friends and of course the conversation was all about Archie Harrison. Archie slept for 24 hours!
Prince Harry is getting a major lesson in parenthood when it comes to the art of sleeping! The new dad, who welcomed his son Archie with wife Meghan Markle on Monday, traveled to the Netherlands on Friday to kick off the official countdown to the Invictus Games, and he opened up about his son’s first few days at home.
“He said it’s amazing but it’s hard work. He said that [Archie] slept for the first 24 hours like all babies do . . . and then he woke up,” Harry’s friend JJ Chalmers tells PEOPLE.
“I said to him that when my daughter came home from hospital, three years ago, she slept all the way home and for 10 minutes in the house and she then opened her eyes and never went back to sleep!”
The former Royal Marine met with Harry at the launch of the Invictus Games in The Hague. They have become friends since the first Games in 2014.
“I see the guy with a buzzing smile on his face still. Like any father, he lights up even more when he speaks about his son and how proud he is of his wife and what she’s doing right now in his absence,” Chalmers adds.
Harry will also be going home with a few gifts for Archie: a new soft rattle toy, some newborn socks with “I love Daddy” written on them and a special Invictus Games onesie for Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
The royals do get to keep the gifts they receive from people and governments and organizations. Archie will be wearing his little Invictus onesie and he’ll definitely wear his “I Love Daddy” socks. Honestly, I didn’t know babies slept for 24 hours? I’ve never had a baby, so I don’t know these things. I thought all kinds of different things can happen – like a newborn will sleep for an hour, cry for an hour, and on and on. Archie sounds like a good baby! I wouldn’t mind having a baby that slept 24 hours a day. Oh, wait, I do. My cat sleeps like that.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Michael K is going to cream his pants over that windbreaker
My mom told me I slept for the first 24 hours when I came home. She was so worried that she called the hospital and talked to the nurse about it. The nurse told her to just feel lucky. Apparently I slept through the night for the first few days or a week. My older brother never gave my parents any rest so they thought all babies were like that and there must be something wrong with me. I was considerate, even as a newborn 😉
Lmaaaoooo I had the exact same thoughts about Michael K!!!!
Yeah I doubt they mean the baby literally slept for 24 hours. It would have woken up for food and to be changed but probably just went back to sleep. They feed every couple of hours in the early days.
That’s what I meant, just a simple eat and sleep with little to no crying
My second literally slept 20 hours. Of course he then went to the NICU for presumed sepsis (our first had been a NICU baby right out so what did we know about fresh newborns? Nothing!)
haha I still call him Prince Hot Ginge
That windbreaker is too much!
A brand new newborn baby just eats and sleeps. There is a wonderful theory (from Happiest Baby on the Block) that the first three months of life are just a fourth “trimester”, and humans are born “too early” because our brains have developed so large that we wouldn’t fit out the birth canal. So the first three months a baby just wants to be swaddled up tight, fed on demand, rocked and shhushhed (to mimic the sounds and feeling of being in the womb). They only fuss if these conditions aren’t met.
Of course, every baby is different, but this theory worked for us, and most babies I’ve ever known.
LOL, you are so super lucky. I’ve known many babies for whom the waddling, feeling, rocking and shushing just doesn’t work. My second was like that, but oh man my first was tough. and he was still relatively easy as newborns go. But I remember walking around the house, rocking him and shushing him, and just crying because HE would not stop crying.
rough days man.
It’s actually an anthropological theory with a lot of evolutionary backing, to be honest. The size of the human head is the biggest obstacle to natural birth. Current human birth is already dangerous – even with modern medical intervention, maternal mortality is still a grim reality. There’s a point in cranial development where the baby would simply have been too large to pass through a birth canal without women evolving significantly wider hips – but the trade off would have been that women would have lost the ability to run. Your hips can only be so wide before you lose the ability to achieve regular gait. Well, in early human existence, that wouldn’t exactly have been practical given that we were relatively weak, clawless and toothless animals hunted down by saber tooth tigers.
So. Evolution compromised. The compromise being smaller, lesser developed infants for “safer” female bodies. Which is in turn – despite what libertarians seem to think – what actually drives the human need to socialize. We form extended social structures to protect and raise vulnerable young. Agriculture is what allowed that to develop into the modern civilization model.
Legit. Thanks for the anthropology lesson. Social sciences FTW!
Wow. I just learned something. Thank you for this response. Very enlightening.
That is really so interesting! I love learning new information like this, so thank you for sharing it!
Thank you, Veronica S. for sharing this with the group! I love Celebitchy for gossip and knowledge imparted by its thoughtful members.
Ya, that reeeeealllly depends on the baby, and for us moms who did all of those things and still dealt with “the witching hours” of crying blocks every night, it’s a little rude/condescending to say a baby only cries if you’re not meeting those needs. Every baby is different, every baby responds to things differently, and some babies cry or refuse to sleep no matter how much cuddling/feeding/changing you do. I tried so hard with my son who had trouble self soothing that my doctor told me “he’s LITERALLY killing you.” It wasn’t a lack of trying to meet his needs that was the issue.
I also don’t believe there are “good” or “bad” babies. They’re just babies, and my son wasn’t bad for struggling the first year of life. It’s a big, overwhelming world to adjust to. He just needed more help than others.
@ Hello: Your comment is so real and on-point! It made me flashback to my daughter as a newborn. When she wasn’t sleeping, she was crying and fussing. She was diagnosed with colic. She was well-fed and well-cared for, but very little soothed her, and we tried **everything**. She’s now a happy, healthy, delightful 5-year-old, but man, that newborn stage was so tough.
This, although it’s not a “little” rude, it’s big rude and hugely smug. I love people who got an easy ride and just think they crushed instead of what it was: luck.
@Hello: Thank you, yes! Both our babies, but especially our first. Not trying to criticize Tris if you’re reading this, Tris. 🙂 Just saying I read Happiest Baby on the Block cover to cover so many times I almost had it memorized. I did all the things. Tried all the ways of swaddling, nursing, rocking, shushing, bouncing. 1st baby only stayed asleep in you held her tightly while sitting on the bed and bouncing up and down like a lunatic all while shushing right in her ear loudly. It was beyond exhausting. By months 4-6 we were utterly demented from lack of sleep. Look: if it works for you I’m happy for you. HBOTB is a great book. But new moms: if it doesn’t work it’s not your fault. 🙂
It does appear that western women are the ones that have problems with ‘crying babies’….babies in developing countries are usually fed on demand and kept close to their mothers all the time e.g carried on their backs, just like some in the animal kingdom.
Mine slept a lot for the first week. And then all hell broke loose. It’s too early to know where Archie will fall on the spectrum of Lovely Baby Who Sleeps Thru the Night at 3 Months to Devil Child with Colic who Doesn’t Sleep Until Month 9.
Mine didn’t sleep for almost 2 years! We tried everything, even shelled out big bucks to hire a posh celebrity sleep trainer. Nothing. He woke every 2 hours every damn night. I was a shell of a human being—worst 2 years of my life! But yes, in theory newborns are so exhausted from birth they sleep a lot the first few days…
Yeah I found it endearing when Meghan and Harry said something like, “he has such a calm demeanor” for a day old baby… Oh you sweet summer children.
Calm mother, calm baby.
That windbreaker is adorable. Love that it says “family.” I wonder if they are sending one home with him for Meghan?
Both of my boys slept a lot for the first…week? maybe two weeks? I’ve heard it referred to as the birth coma. And when they woke up, they just ate and then went back to sleep. It was around two weeks or so that they started waking up for longer.
Did anyone find it odd–or is it simply “not done”– that the Kensington Royal Instagram didn’t mention the new arrival or congratulate Meghan and Harry? Because the account was active all day long yesterday with no mention. Still today. Have Kate and William made any kind of statement???
They did post something on the day of the baby’s birth, they re-posted the Sussex post with the “its a boy” with a nice little message from Will and Kate, and then Will and Kate both said some nice things about the baby etc at their regatta thing on Tuesday.
They did – they retweeted the Sussex’s “Its a boy” post and the caption said how the Cambridge’s were excited to see the baby soon.
Oops @Becks1 beat me to it!
Yes, they did.
I’m so over obsessed fans policing Instagram and looking for slights. I no longer follow KP and could care less about what they choose to share on their social media and I’m sure some Cambridge fans could care less what the Sussexes post on their IG. Everyone got what they wanted – separate accounts, so I wish fans would move forward without the drama.
Thank you.
Honestly, the comments on either IG are exhausting. I see more negative comments on twitter from Meghan fans (directed at the cambridges) but IG is all about the Cambridge fans making sure we know that KATE is the queen of mental health. they are all over the Sussex account currently demanding to know why Kate isn’t in the pictures. Because she wasn’t there?
Not everything that each account posts is a slam against the other duke or duchess and I wish fans on both side would stop acting like it is. Like I said, its exhausting.
Will and Kate can post about their regatta launch even though it was a day after Archie was born; Harry can post pictures for Earth Day even though it was a day before Louis’ birthday. People are capable of looking at more than IG account if they so choose. Except apparently not?
In Germany, Camilla and Charles were given a huge teddy bear for Archie. He was photographed buckled into their official car and being rolled into their hotel with the suitcases.
Too cute!
That’s an adorable gift celebrating the arrival of their newest grandchild, baby Archie.
Has anybody ever heard of the Snoo? It’s a crib/bassinet thing invented by Nasa people that listens to the baby and adjusts over time to what he likes, giving him lights, sounds, or even slightly rocking him to get him back to sleep. My godson was born last summer and that kid was sleeping 9+ hours a night without waking up his parents at one week old. And he’s been that way ever since, thanks to that thing! I had him overnight a month or two ago and the Snoo came with him, and even away from mom and dad, he was a dream. Of course some babies are just good sleepers, and I bet he’s one of them. But when they were out of town, without his Snoo, he was a wreck. I really think it’s why his parents are so well-rested for new parents! They bought it on a big sale, because it is expensive. But they could get some money for reselling it. And the end of the day it will have only cost them $200. Highly recommend!
That sounds amazing.
The Snoo is awesome… It’s just really expensive, like you said. Like $1000+ expensive. I think you can rent one now for about $150/month, though. Still. Pricey!
It is expensive. But, the crib might save the sanity of many parents can afford or save up to buy it. Wish I had this with my second one…boy the first year was tough. Whew!
Disclaimer: I am not endorsing the product. Nor am I am suggesting that every family/parent can afford it. It may or may not work for every baby.
Well we got the Sleepyhead, the Snuzpod, the rocker/napper, all sorts of magical cribs and swings doing all sorts of amazing things that will surely get the baby to sleep. But for us the only thing that worked was bedsharing.
My daughter has been strong willed since the womb. She didn’t sleep the first 24 hours after being born. She had an opinion about everything and made it known. She’s a toddler now and nothing has changed. ha!
Same here. My daughter never slept well and she still doesn’t sleep and she’s 21.
None of my three ever slept for the first 24 hours. My oldest never slept, period, until he turned 15. Then, he made up for all the sleep he never slept as a baby and toddler.
A. Lot of parents experience problems because of a lack of extended family to help with child care.
That first 24 hours the baby is so tired from birth. It’s not just tough on mom-it’s tough on baby to!
What surprised me until I learned about it in class was they all warned me about the 2nd night. When baby is less tired, realizing they aren’t in the womb anymore, kind hungry, cold, and not hearing sounds they are used to. 2nd night syndrome is real and is super hard. My kid wanted to nurse every 45 minutes all night long, it was exhausting.
They start cluster feeding around that time to help your milk come in as well. SO brutal. Despite how sleep deprived I was I will never forget what that first week was like!
The first night when he slept so blissfully in the hospital cot next to me I thought, OK this is is going much better than I expected, maybe I got the unicorn baby!
And then came the second night…!!!
Well he is one lucky guy! My kid hardly slept and cried all the time. It’s been awful. She’s 3 now, and on a sort of regular sleep schedule, but we still struggle so hard.
I’ve had life long insomnia. My mom had to hire a baby nurse because I could not sleep until about 3 am.
I have a 7 month old. Last night she was up 5 times. That’s not even abnormal for her. She too slept the first 24 hours with the exception of a few minutes to nurse. In fact she slept a lot the first two weeks. Then it all changed lol.
I’ve found 2 months is when my babies start with their demands.
I’m so happy for them I actually squee’d when I saw their baby had arrived; they feel so sweet as a couple and adorable as new parents. To me, they are the perfect little family and truly represent the face of the modern BRF.
And oh, I *love* sweet baby stories! My son was crying the moment his head came out; I never knew babies could do that, but the rest of my labor (about 5-7 min) was spent crying, laughing and trying to push all at the same time. I also learned, much to my surprise, there are still pauses between contractions all the way through to delivery of the placenta! He was sleeping all through the night by 3 months and never had terrible 2’s at all. I was luckier than I knew, lol.
Has anyone noticed what looks like a bruise under Archie’s eye? Maybe i’m Just seeing things but it almost looks like he has a very slight black eye!
Sometimes slight bruising happens during birth – babe’s head/face have to get past mom’s pubic bone.
Someone mentioned the coloring on another blog, and it could be a slight bruise from birth, or a touch a jaundice.
My kids had slight marks on their faces from birth, they disappeared quickly.
My son was born with a couple of scratches on his forehead. He flipped sunny side up halfway through labor and got stuck. They had to use suction to get him out.
My first slept the first 24 hours (except for feeding and changing, of course). But that 2nd night was the opposite. Non-stop crying with both my husband and me crying along with her. We had no experience and had no clue what to do, so the three of us were just a bundle of tears.
My baby most certainly did not sleep for the first 24 hours LOL! She slept for a nice 5-hour stretch the first evening, but that wasn’t repeated again for some time.
It’s hard to tend to a newborn, especially if trying to breastfeed, but the real challenge comes (IME) at four months, when the initial burst of adrenaline has long worn off and the baby still isn’t f’ing sleeping, or when the precarious sleep schedule has fallen apart because of one “sleep regression” or another.
But nearly all of us survive!
Good luck to the Sussexes. They’re lovely people and such a nice, welcome distraction from all the sh’t in the world.
My baby never slept 24 hours straight, and my cats never have either! lol
Archie sounds like he is a very chill babe.
My son was five weeks early and he slept a lot. Just woke up to eat. He never slept again. LOL
My daughter was full term and she was wide awake.
My older daughter slept probably 20 out of 24 hours the day after she was born….my husband and I were so surprised — like “wow, this is so easy, she’s so QUIET!” Fast forward to a few days later once we were home…our sleepy girl was long gone! Lots of swaddling and rocking to get back to sleep after night feedings. She’s 8 now and barely stops talking (she even talks in her sleep) 😆
Super cute!
And no doubt they will be Daddy and Mummy by their son, because that’s how the Posh Brits do it
I know my position is not popular but l had my babies in bed with my for the first three months and never really had crying baby problems. I am a very light sleeper an l was super sensitive to the little creature lying next to me. Women in developing countries sleep next to their babies.