New dad Nick Jonas: ‘Everyone I know is a newborn care specialist’

Nick Jonas was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote both his new job as judge on Shakira’s Dancing with Myself and his residency in Las Vegas. That’s a lot of work for a new dad. But it’s stationary work, so he’s being smart about it. Each will keep him in one place for long stretches at a time with a fairly set schedule and touring certainly doesn’t. Plus, Nick sounds like he’s excited about both projects, you can’t ask for more than that. However, his biggest priority right now is his baby girl, Malti. He and wife Priyanka Chopra announced Malti’s arrival in January. Jimmy congratulated Nick on becoming a dad and asked him if he was getting advice from people. Nick said yes and ‘revealed’ that he was shocked to learn that everyone he knew had an advance degree in child-rearing all along.

Nick Jonas is getting candid about fatherhood.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday (May 17), the 29-year-old performer opened up about life after the birth of his four-month-old daughter, Malti, whom he shares with wife Priyanka Chopra.

He called his daughter a “gift” and acknowledged that there was another unexpected side to becoming a dad.

“It turns out everybody I know is a newborn care specialist,” Nick joked. “All these PhDs I didn’t know they had.”

[From Just Jared]

People with pets also felt Nick’s comments, I’m sure. I once had someone at a park tell me it looked like my dog was running after a ball ‘aggressively.’ There was no other dog around. As soon as you welcome any new member to your family, everyone’s an expert. And they have no problem telling you exactly how unqualified they find you to be. We see this every time some poor celeb posts on social media and everybody and their cousin jumps in to critique what they’ve deemed irresponsible in the photo. And with babies it’s so hard to sort through the generational advice. Because one generation insists you’re doing it wrong based on the way they did it while the next one will tell you how their way is better than how they were raised. And new parents are the worst because they’ve been newly indoctrinated. It’s too much. And to Nick’s comment, the all speak with the assurance of someone thinks theirs is the final word on the subject. Meanwhile their little brat is smashing Mumsy’s blender against the pantry door while Dr. IKnowBetter calls it free-expression. Honestly, I don’t know how any of us got out alive.

Fortunately, Nick and his brothers have kids close in age and they can lean on each other to sort through the advice detritus. Given how much these guys like to rib each other, whatever oneis dishing out, the others are dishing it right back. Hopefully they are taking Mr. & Mrs. Jonas’ advice with a healthy dose of salt, though. Those Jonas babies don’t need purity rings, after all.

Photo credit: InStar Images and Instagram

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

14 Responses to “New dad Nick Jonas: ‘Everyone I know is a newborn care specialist’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Becks1 says:

    I remember reading an interview with celine dion ages ago, when she was starting her Vegas residency, and she said how it was so perfect because she put her kids to bed every night and then went and performed and while she slept later than them, she was still able to be around them for most of the day – as opposed to touring, where the kids don’t always go, etc.

    So this article made me think of that, I feel like for performers and new parents like Nick Jonas, having a residency in Vegas is probably one of the most stable and predictable jobs out there. you know where you’ll be every night, you know what time, how long the show is exactly, etc.

    As for the advice – LOL he’s right. We’re all experts! the funny thing though is that we’re all only experts for our own children, but that doesn’t stop us from giving advice. Now that mine are older (10 and 7) I have learned to just smile and offer to hold a crying baby if someone needs help. I mean if someone asks for advice I’ll try to remember what worked for us, but I don’t volunteer it anymore. It’s just annoying after a certain point LOL.

    • FHMom says:

      Even childless people are experts because they once read an article in a magazine. I remember my then childless sister telling me I should just let my baby cry it out. Lol

      • AMA1977 says:

        I went to a work function with my husband the other night; his associate and his wife have a two month old (mine are old and stinky, 9 and 14, lol) and she was asking me about some baby-related stuff. I made sure to tell her that all of my information is probably outdated, but then she told me that a family member said that she was “spoiling” her two month-old by picking her up when she cried! I told that that’s ridiculous and that crying is how they communicate, so you are giving them reassurance and strengthening your bond when you respond right away. I also told her (as I tell all new moms, because everyone thinks they’re doing it wrong IME) that she knows her baby best and should do what feels right to her and what her doctor recommends. Who tells a new mom to let their tiny infant cry???

  2. C says:

    I just happened to click on that Instagram pic & saw that their baby spent 100 days in NICU & just came home recently. I don’t keep up with them, so I had no idea. That’s rough, I’ve had several friends that had to go through NICU stays. Glad their baby is finally able to come home!

    • alibeebee says:

      any amount of
      NICU stay is brutal . mine spent 151 days born at 22 weeks. it was a rough and scary 5 + months. i really fee for them. A NICU stay like that can make a relationship stronger or crash ans burn. looks like they’re stronger than ever .

      • OG Bella says:

        I almost gave birth at 22 weeks but I luckily stopped bleeding and had the magnesium drip and a T-pump and was able to make it to 27 weeks on the nose. It was a “fun” few years!

  3. emmi says:

    LOL He’s not wrong. But on the flipside, parents need to realize that you can only talk about your baby nonstop for so long before the person opposite you wants to comment. I’m talking years, not hours. As a childree person, I am of course never qualified or permitted to say anything. Because clearly, even if someone has raised a little devil without manners who spits on their parents, I am still not allowed to say anything. Because how DARE she. Good luck to every parent out there, I’m over here having a glass of wine, saying absolutely nothing.

    • AngelaH says:

      I’m child free as well and can’t have anything helpful to say to any parent because I don’t have kids of my own. I do have a degree in child development and 20+ years experience as a nanny, but none of that matters. Who am I to offer suggestions when it comes to positive reinforcement and redirecting behaviors? I save my knowledge for people that will listen and for people paying me for it.

  4. Southern Fried says:

    He’s so right. I remember those days and it’s still funny. We had a preemie and we’re warned by the nurses before dismissal that we’d be hearing many uneducated comments. For example about the tiny stocking hats, the no baths, just sponge baths, etc. Also comments regarding size, they said just smile through it and realize they don’t know a thing about your baby. Once I realized that the comments were offered up as a way to help us it was easier to smile. Most people just want to help. Their IG pic after baby was just released makes me all kinds of emotional, the relief of being able to take her home finally.

  5. Bobbie says:

    He looks too young to be a father. It’s kind of killed my crush on him. He should be knee-deep in babes. He’s a pop star. 🙂

    • XOXO says:

      He’s 29 years old. Too bad his starting a family killed your crush. LOL. Was it the fantasy of having a chance?

  6. MissMarirose says:

    He’s absolutely right and I hope this means he’s taking the heat for his wife. Post-partum is a difficult time for any mother and it’s usually just made more stressful by having a ton of self-professed “experts” telling you what you should and shouldn’t do with your baby.

  7. Kay says:

    OMG yes. My baby was born in December, and we live in the south. He’d go BANANAS if I put a hat on him, so I didn’t bother…the longest he was ever outside (minus walks where we put a big puffer suit with hood on) was literally the 35 seconds it took to walk from the car to Target. THE NUMBER OF COMMENTS about how he NEEDED a hat almost did me in.

    Now, it’s the formula shortage. If one more boomer, unsolicited, offers me a homemade formula recipe I may launch them into the sun. I didn’t realize everyone over 55 on Facebook was not only an early childhood specialist, but also a child nutritionist!

    • Lady D says:

      I am sorry for the situation you are in, Kay. It must be terrifying to think you might not be able to feed your baby. I wish the Red Cross or Canada could send formula your way, although rumour has it we’re starting to experience the same shortage. The US news yesterday said the feds are moving incredibly slowly on getting the factory sanitized and operating again. What does the CDC need to move in and sterilize the place?