Baby-Nups: Parents Lay Out Duties To Manage Little One's Big Responsibilities

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - For anyone who has a new baby or is planning for one, there's some hard work ahead.

To tackle the new chores during this overwhelming time, some couples are resorting to "baby nups," or contracts to divide up the labor, reports CBS2's Chris Wragge.

Just ask Rachel Bowie and Matt Dorville, parents of little Finn.

"Finn is almost a year, he is a very happy, giggly, great little baby," said mom Rachel. "It's been a major life change though."

"Organization is a must," said Matt. "We were never as organized as we are now."

New mom and PureWow lifestyle writer Rachel decided the logical way for she and husband Matt to tackle their expanded responsibilities was with a chore chart.

"The idea is to have some kind of order so on the weekend if you have 10 minutes you can be like, 'I'm going to make the bed,'" said Rachel.

"I think it was more of an extension on organization honestly," said Matt. "But I was little bit 'Oh my God...'"

A list of assigned chores might sound a bit over the top, but these two make it clear it's not an iron clad contract, and it helps keep things in order.

"We'll see maybe we'll need to get a wipe off board," said Rachel.

"It's just kind of going, you know what, we're going to try this, we're going to try something different, try something new just to make it a little better," said Matt. "You have to adapt."

Marriage and family therapist Dr. Jane Greer agrees a formal assigning of chores, even in chart form, can be a solid approach

"Who's going to be doing what, and how things are actually going to shape up, is very often unknown," she said. "Having a conversation, having some clarity about it can only be enlightening and helpful."

Brianne Manz has three kids and writes a mom blog called Stroller In The City. She says she runs a tight ship - husband Jason travels extensively for work, and when he gets home, there's a distinct transfer of power.

"I'm very by the book, I'm very regimented with my schedule," said Manz. When Jason gets home, "It's like, 'You're getting up to get someone to the bus at 7 o'clock in the morning, when I can snooze for another 15 minutes. And you're making the breakfast and the lunches."

She says after a few days things even out to a better division of labor.

"I know it's not written or even spoken about with Jason and I, it actually just works," she said. "If parents just talk about it, it would work even better."