Dylan Sprouse Opens Up About Becoming a Dad: 'I Did Not Expect to Like This as Much as I Do'

Dylan Sprouse and his wife, Barbara Palvin, welcomed their first child, a daughter, in September. He's now sharing what the first few weeks of fatherhood have actually been like.

Dylan Sprouse is delighting in fatherhood. The actor welcomed his first child with his wife, Barbara Palvin, and he’s opening up about how much he loves being a dad.

Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse attend the "Karma" screening during the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2026 | Source: Getty Images

Speaking to Brendan Columbus on the podcast, “Wildmen,” Dylan, who’s now the father of a baby girl, admitted, "I did not expect to like this as much as I do.” He gushed about her being “so cute,” guessing he wouldn’t be this way if he had a boy.

The first-time dad also incidentally revealed his newborn’s name, describing his emotions watching her.

“There’s a moment when I look at Sylvie, and I’m like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever,’ ” he said, adding, “She’s looking at me, and her eyes are opening. She’s got a small wake window during the day, and she’s looking at me, and she smiles or something, and it’s the cutest thing.”

But it’s not all roses, according to Sprouse, who also jokingly likens having a newborn to a pet monkey.

“Ninety percent of the time right now, it’s like having a baby pet monkey,” he said. “It is having a pet monkey because she is chirping and making noises and pooping and farting and burping and hiccuping. It’s like having a really poopy little animal.”

Despite this, he said watching her tiny expressions, especially her small smiles during the brief times she’s awake, has been enough to make his "heart jump out of its chest."

“I’m looking at baby Sylvie, and I’m like, ‘That’s the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen in my life,’” he also says.

Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse attend the "Histoires Parallèles (Parallel Tales)" screening during the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2026 | Source: Getty Images

Sprouse revealed he was happy that he had a daughter and not a son. confessing he never wanted a boy. “ I love having a girl," he said, sharing his joy of dressing Sylvie and even buying her a bonnet.

On who Sylvie resembles, he says he and his wife are still debating, though they’ve settled at “a 50/50 split." However, he’s already noticed some of his traits in his daughter, like their matching feet, and a lip mark that his mother also has.

Even Sylvie’s sleeping habits, according to Sprouse, may have been something he passed on to her. He said she would fall asleep while feeding and refuse to wake up anymore. "I think she might be a little lazy like me,” he concluded. “She's a lazy bones.”

Sprouse is aware that he’ll be navigating fatherhood with very little guidance, considering he’s the first in his immediate family, which only includes his father and his twin brother, Cole, to welcome a baby in over three decades.

Dylan Sprouse, Barbara Palvin, Matthew Sprouse and Cole Sprouse attend the Salvatore Ferragamo show on June 11, 2019 in Florence, Italy. | Source: Getty Images

"No one's going to teach me anything,” he said. He recalled his dad coming to the hospital to hold the baby for the first time, and he was worried he would “handle her like a car tool.”

On Monday, September 28, Sprouse and Palvin took to Instagram to share the news of their daughter’s arrival. They posted a photo of the family of three watching a Dodgers game, all three wearing matching Dodgers jerseys with their backs to the camera. We took Labor Day literally this year," she captioned the post, alongside a baby emoji.

The couple married in 2023 after dating since 2018. They announced their pregnancy in May, when Palvin debuted her baby bump at the Cannes Film Festival.