Week-by-week library · about 6 weeks old
Week 6: your checklist
Quick answer
What should I actually do at about 6 weeks old?
The six-week postpartum visit is one of the most important appointments on this whole list. 7 concrete tasks below, grouped by what they're for.
What's going on this week
Many providers schedule the standard postpartum checkup around this window (ACOG notes some practices now also do an earlier 3-week check, so confirm your partner's specific schedule with her provider). This visit covers physical healing, mental health screening, and birth-control planning if wanted. Your job is to make sure it actually happens, not to sit it out because it is "her" appointment.
Your checklist
Night-shift logistics
- Handle childcare or bring the baby along so the postpartum appointment is not one more thing she has to arrange herself.
Feeding support
- No change to feeding logistics required this week beyond staying consistent; consistency is the actual win at six weeks.
Appointments & paperwork
- Get the six-week postpartum visit on the calendar if it is not already, and go with her if you can.
- Ask directly, in the appointment or after, whether the provider flagged anything on the mental-health screening; do not assume you would have been told.
Visitor management
- No specific action this week; keep the standing rule (text first) running.
Partner care
- Ask how the six-week visit went, specifically, not just "how was the doctor."
- Review the postpartum warning signs guide once more together; six weeks is a real inflection point in that window, not just week one.
Sourced to
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
Last reviewed by the First Dad Guide editorial team.