Jinger & Jeremy’s Baby Felicity Is Causing Sleep Deprivation On 'Counting On' & Parents Can Relate — EXCLUSIVE


No matter how many babies you have been around, nothing quite prepares you for parenthood. Even if you have 18 siblings, like Jinger Duggar, some of whom may have been babies when you were growing up. She recently became a parent with her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, and despite having been around infants her whole life, they are seeing how different taking care of your own little one actually is. In this exclusive clip, Jinger and Jeremy’s baby on Counting On is giving them serious sleep deprivation and any parent can totally relate to that struggle.

In the video, Jeremy and Jinger take turns comforting and tending to their daughter, Felicity, and just because they are reality TV stars, it doesn't mean the experience is any easier for them. They seem like any other new parents, giving each other a shoulder to lean on and open arms to pass off the baby when it gets to be a bit much. Jinger explains that while they have a solid bedtime routine down for their newborn, they have to start it two or three hours ahead of their own bedtimes to make things easier on themselves. But as any parent will tell you, there is very little rhyme or reason to a baby waking in the middle of the night.

In the Counting On clip, Jinger wonders out loud if Felicity is fussy because of something she, Jinger, ate before breastfeeding her. Jeremy replies that Felicity just seems fussy, which is a fair point. But when I had my son, I was always on the hunt to figure out exactly why he was acting a certain way. Jinger says in the clip that "it’s always a guessing game" with newborns and that couldn’t be more accurate.

"I never really know if she’s hungry, tired, or if it’s something I ate," Jinger says in the clip. As much as parents will claim there are certain cries designated for a soiled diaper or to tell you your baby is hungry, I could also never tell the difference between my son’s cries. It was more like trial and error.

Because of their new life as the parents of a newborn, Jinger and Jeremy are shown yawning and looking visibly tired in the clip. Jeremy says that over the years, he has enjoyed getting a full night’s sleep and that being the parent to a newborn has severely changed that. He does say that "Felicity is worth it" when it comes to being deprived of steady sleep, and as a parent, I totally agree.

That doesn't mean I didn’t long for those multiple infant naps per day when I could also get in some much needed sleep. To Jinger and Jeremy’s credit, though, they seem to be doing it as a team rather than one of them passing off the baby duties on the other. In the clip, Jinger and Jeremy are both shown in Felicity’s nursery at different points, trying to get their swaddled newborn to sleep.

Babies are nothing new on Counting On. If one Duggar sibling isn’t announcing a courtship or engagement, another is teasing that they may or may not be pregnant. But as Felicity is Jinger and Jeremy’s first and (so far) only child, this is a big change in their life together. One of the biggest changes that come when you’re a new parent is getting used to a sporadic sleep schedule. And, in some cases, a lack of sleep for several hours at a time. As much babysitting as you might have done over the years or how many diapers you’ve changed for your niece or nephew, nothing quite prepares you for doing it all on your own as a parent.