Three weeks ago yesterday my beautiful daughter was born on earth to us as parents. We are so blessed. In the OR (operating room) I remember thinking to myself, "There are enough blogs for moms! Its time for a dad blog." That's when I decided to start my own blog giving advice on how to be a good dad, husband and lover to your wife.
Let's talk babies for a second. Many people don't realize that babies are not really hard to take care of. When they cry they need 1 of 3 things. To be fed, they need a change, or they need to be swaddled. Peace of cake. Let's go into some details here:
1. To feed or not to feed? That is the question...
We all get hungry. That's a fact of life. It's not any different for babies. They get hungry to, but the only thing is that they can't speak words to tell us. So how do they do it? They cry! You can choose to feed them when they cry. I prefer breastfeeding and I won't have it any other way (I will go into breasfeeding in a future blogs). Let's just say for now that you need to breastfeed straight from the nipple without using a guard or ESPECIALLY pumps. As a dad it's important to feed the baby EVERYDAY and make sure that you take your shirt off and maintain skin to skin contact.
2. How would you like to have poop or pee in your pants?
Sometimes baby poop. The poop isn't always what it seems. I was startled to find a black tar poop the first time I changed Cora's (my babies name) diaper. It took several wipes. Don't worry, after a little bit of time the poops change color. It's important to change a diaper everyday to help your wife.
3. Swaddles
A swaddle makes a baby feel comfortable like he's back in the womb. Be sure to only use organic cotton swaddles that are good for the environment and the baby's skin. Some swaddles are made from harmful animals from nature and these should be avoided at all cost and may result in your baby having bad dreams and waking up through the night. Making a swaddle too tight can make the baby hurt, but making it too loose can be bad too. You need to make it right in the middle.
Obviously, shaking your baby can be detrimental. However, when you bring a life into this world, things are bound to get a little shaken up. But don't worry, it gets easier dads.
Dear Charles,
ReplyDeleteYou're blog is so interesting and informational! Steven (my husband's name/soon-to-be new dad) is really going to benefit from this blog! He had no idea why babies cried before this. You're so wise. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with all new dads! A true public service. Thanks Chuck Linton!
Your new dedicated reader,
Tiffany R.
I really appreciated you noting that swaddling blankets made from animal skins are detrimental to your baby. However you forgot to note that the baby may also start to morph into the type of animal that the swaddling skin came from. For instance, if you wrap Cora in a fox swaddler she will start to transform into a little vixen and as a father you DO NOT want that to happen.
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