A couple of tips when you take your baby for a drive

I always found it nice to be able to take the family for a drive. Our baby was generally quiet in the car and most times never gave us any problems. I think the the warmth of the car and the gentle rocking motion had a calming effect. I'm sure even as adults, if were not driving and the journey is long, we tend to fall asleep.

However, a couple of points to remember, always make sure that the sun does not shine directly onto your baby's face, so putting a shade over the window closest to her was always a good idea, and over both windows at the back if necessary. In addition, make sure that there are no heavy objects or objects that have a sharp point on the back seat close to her. If you have to break suddenly, you dont want to risk a heavy object rolling onto her. So put anything like that into the Boot.

I wrote a book about my first year as a Dad, its called 'My First Year as a Dad'. Its aimed at providing an insight of what to expect as a new parent, especially a new Dad.

You can find it at : http://www.1stbaby.info

You can download it. Enjoy.

Try this to calm your Baby

I believe that every new parent has those times when it seems that nothing will calm your baby. You've made sure that she has been fed, and there are no nasty pins sticking into her, (if you're using cloth diapers). Also her bed is smooth and warm, so what could it be. Hopefully you've also checked her temperature and found it to be normal.

So then take her for a ride in your car. even if its late at night, the gentle movement of the car will certainly send her to sleep, and should overcome the crying, and the reason for it. I found this helped on a number of occasions. But remember dont turn the radio on or have any windows open, if you can. It may be hot, but try to keep the noise level down to a bare minimum.

I wrote a book about my first year as a new Dad, you can find it at :

Http://www.1stbaby.info

Enjoy

Bath time...one thing to remember

I found that bath time was always a fun time, for me it was a time to have fun, try and get some smiles, do funny things, and generally try and entertain our new baby.

I noticed that that our baby was fond of chewing on the sponge, or at least trying to put it into her mouth, which of course was no good, especially if it had soap thru it. The other problem is that with a sponge that is full of soap, it can make her eyes sting, (if you're using that kind of soap).

So what I did was to use two sponges, one for the normal washing and cleaning, and the other one I would keep close in fresh, clean water, for when she wanted use it close to her face and mouth.

Of course it soon became a little soapy, so it was a good idea to rinse it out and keep it fresh for her. I found this was an excellent way to keep her entertained and she loved the feeling of the sponge against her.

I wrote a book about my first year as a Dad. I wrote it because I couldnt find anything useful that was aimed primarily at new Dads.

My book is called 'My First Year as a Dad' You will find it at :

http://www.1stbaby.info

You can download and enjoy it, I hope it helps you.

Feeding Time

As our baby got a little bigger, she could join us at the table in her high chair. Of course when we were hungry, sometimes she wasnt hungry, so getting her to eat was a major problem. Usually it wasnt a problem, but the way I overcame the problem of getting her eat, was to put exactly on my spoon what was on her spoon, and we would eat it together.

Baby's and little ones spend their early lives as 'monkey see, monkey do'. So I learnt to use both hands to eat, one for me and one for her, raising both hands at the same time, one to my mouth and one to her mouth.

Most of the time it worked, she just followed me and ate what I ate, at the moment I was eating. It made life a little easier, as if she ate especially at just before going to bed, it made her night's sleep better, and that was good for all of us.

I wrote a book about my first year as a new Dad. It's called 'My First Year as a Dad'. You can find it at :

http://www.1stbaby.info

You can download and enjoy the read.

Knowing when to catch up on sleep

Before our baby was born, I read somewhere that parents on average lose about 2 months sleep during the baby's first year. I knew that sleep deprevation was always going to be a challenge. I'm sure that like you, I love it when I've had a good deep, 8 hours worth of sleep. I'm ready for any challenge.

However, when your sleep is constantly broken many time each night over a few days, you soon realise that you're not as easy to deal with and the little things tend to become big issues.

I found the answer to this, was to try and get some sleep at the weekends. I always thought that if i could give my wife a break from the baby, this was a good thing. So on Saturdays, I would tell her to go out and enjoy herself, and I would then have 4-6 hours with our new baby.

If I could get her to sleep even for a couple of hours, then I went to sleep too, in order to catch up on the sleep I had missed. I found by doing this, it really helped. Usually it worked. I slept very close to her, so if she woke, it woke me too. But 2 hours more sleep was a great help.

So my advice is always get any additional sleep you can.

I wrote a book about my first year's experiences as a new Dad. It helped me understand what I went thru. It's called 'My First Year as a Dad'

You can find it at : http://www.1stbaby.inf0

You can download it and enjoy.

How to calm her when she's seems angry

The one thing I could never understand and that is one moment our new baby would be all quiet and smiles and giggles, and the next moment something completely out of the blue could turn her mood into anger. It might be if we were out, and she wanted to linger at some place, and we needed to move on. It would cause her some distress. It could even happen at home, when there could be something that could change her mood.

What I found helped was to scold the very thing that has caused her to get angry, so if it was that she knocked into a piece of furniture I would scold the chair or table, and treat it just like a person. If we were out, I would try and look for something that was colorful or moving, for her to look at or to catch her attention.

I found if I was out I my own, in a Mall, I would look for things that would amuse her, so I could use these things if she suddently lost her temper.

I found the more I did these kinds of things, the less of a problem her crying became.

I wrote about my first year in a book, that tells of all the challenges, the funny times and the things I had to learn about.

The book is called : 'My First Year as a Dad' and you can locate it at : http://www.1stbaby.info

You can download it and enjoy. I hope this helps you.

Something small to help amuse her

I was working at the gym, weights and running, you know the usual stuff, and I always wore a headband and wrist bands because I'm a sweater (not the kind you wear either).

I looked at my wrist band and I thought wouldnt it be really good if I could get one that was coloured and tie it to our little girl's wrist, it might just keep her occupied at times, as she moves her hand to see the color move too.

It worked so well, I bought many different colored bands, and put them on her wrist, always making sure that they werent too tight and also that they didnt cause her any discomfort. It was amazing to see the giggles on her face, every time she moved her arm and she could see this flash of color. It work really well.

I wrote about my experiences as a first-time Dad, in a book called 'My First Year as a Dad'. You can find it at http://www.1stbaby.info

Enjoy.

How I calmed my baby

Its always a problem when your baby cries, or wants something they can have, or maybe she's just in a tearful mood. I needed a way to calm her down so she wouldnt disturb others, and I could get her feeling better. Of course, there's not a lot of understanding in a few month old baby, but what I decided to do was to get something I could move so as to distract her.

I bought a fan, one of those you see the Oriental ladies using. It worked a charm. It was really colorful, and I could open it and close it and wave it in front of her, and the mere fact of the colors changing and the fact that it was moving nearly always worked. Of course she wanted the fan, but I felt it was hers to play with, as I had shown it to her. After a few times the fan was much the worse for wear. I bought quite a few fans over the early months.

I wrote down my experiences in a book, called 'My First Year as a Dad' You can find it at http://www.1stbaby.info

Early Morning Time

I always found it troublesome to be waken early by our little one. There was a saying in our house, and that was 'when she is awake, everyone is awake'. There is nothing wrong with getting up early, except when you've had a late night before.

What I did was to find some toys, something that she hadnt seen before and put them into her cot for her to play with, when she woke in the morning. The important thing though was to ONLY place them there after she was asleep, then she saw them for the first time upon waking.

I rotated the toys, so it was always new for her, and it gave us an extra 30mins sleep, especially at weekends.

Being a first time dad was a totally new experience. I learn a lot and thats whay I wrote a book about my first year experiences. Its called 'My First Year as a Dad'

You'll find it at : http://www.1stbaby.info

Make sure that you do this....

If you're like me, then the first few weeks when I came home from work, I couldnt wait to see how our baby had changed and what she was doing and the little things that were progressing...however, I made sure that always did this, and that was to change into casual clothes, which was a tee shirt, and shorts, something easy.

I never went first to out new baby, because I knew that I would want to see her, and hold her and talk to her.

Our baby was about 6 months old, and after changing I went in search of her, picked her up, and she threw up, vomited all over me. So I put her down in her cot, and walked straight into the shower with my clothes on.

So be warned when you come home, always change first.

I wrote a book about my first year, and all the things I had to learn. Its called 'My First year as a Dad' its at : http://www.1stbaby.info

Enjoy

Checking your new baby at night time

The first few weeks of our new baby, was somewhat strange. Here we had this new person in the house, and there was a strong temptation to keep on checking her, even at night. It took a few weeks to get over this, but during this time, I decided on a couple of things to do to make these checks a little easier and less noisy.

I bought a flashlight, so that I wouldnt need to turn on any strong lights, which made it easy to locate handles on doors, and prevent me from accidently knocking into anything. Also I found that the sliding sides of the cot/crib tended to make a noise when they were lowered and raised, so I put some non stick vegetable oil on the sides, and wow the slides slid up and down, wthout making any noise.

The first year was a real learning curve for me, and I found myself doing many things I hadnt done before, and learning new skills.

I wrote a book called 'My First Year as a Dad'. You can find it at http://www.1stbaby.info

Washing baby's hair

You know the thing that was a problem at first, and that is as my Baby's hair grew and I had to wash it, was keeping the shampoo suds from getting into her mouth and eyes as I was rinsing. One of the problems was that she would keep moving.

The actual washing seemed to be ok, but it was the rinsing off that gave me less control. So I put some coloured stickers on the ceiling about the bath tub, so she could look at them and in that she kept still. I changed them every week or so. I found that by having something like this that distracted her, helped me do what I had to do and do it much faster. I also found that having numbers or letters on the stickers seemed to make it more interesting for her.

The first year of being a new Dad was certainly a challenge, and it gave me plenty of opportunities to discover what I was capable of.

I wrote a book about all that had happened in that first year, as a sort of therapy of wow this is what I achieved, even going thru the major heart surgery, she had to go thru. I hope you find it just as interesting and helpful.

The book is called 'My First Year as a Dad' Its at http://www.1stbaby.info

Things to help you change baby's Diapers at Night

Hi,
Having a new baby is a challenge, no matter if its the first one or the next one. There are still new things to learn, as every baby has his/her own personality, and things that might work and be ok for one, wont work for the other.

Some tips for those midnight changing of diapers :

Why not keep a flask of warm water for when you need it, for wiping baby or just for having some warm water around, when you need to 'clean' up. Much better then stumbling in the dark, in the bathroom, waiting for the water to come out at the right temperature. After all you want to get back to bedquickly, dont you.

Why not cover the changing table pad with a pillow case, which can be removed easily for washing.

Having a new baby will certainly test you, especially for the Dads who will wonder as to how they fit in.

I wrote a book about my first years experiences. Its called 'My First Year as a Dad'. You can find at it : http://www.1stbaby.info

Enjoy

Seeing to your baby's needs

So your wife has asked to dress your new baby. Of course this would seem an easy task. Your baby is a few months old and you have been left with responsibility of performing this activity. It should take no more than a couple of minutes and then you can back to watching your favorite program, and of course its the football, so you dont want to miss all that much of it.

Of courrse you darent try and do both, as that will attract the wrath of your wife, so you make sure that you are totally concentrating on the matter at hand and that is to dress your baby.

So in most cases the vest, trousers, or zip up shouldnt be too much of a problem. This is accomplished quickly, you are feeling very good. Both arms are thru the sleeves and nothing is twisted. So now all that remains are the socks and shoes.

So you put on both socks, how little they are, they hardly cover the foot. Then you reach for the little shoes, and when you turn around the socks are off, and your baby has thrown them away just out of reach. So, with a smile you start again, both socks on and your reach for the shoes. Again the socks are removed and throw away, what a neat game has suddenly been created.

...and then you discover, that everything has an order, and in this simple process, the order is not sock, sock, shoe, shoe, its sock shoe, sock, shoe. So holding the shoes very close you put the sock on and then the shoe. Remarkably the sock stays on, because your little one cannot undo the shoe. (well not yet). Now its much easier to put the other sock and shoe on, and you can get back to your football game.

I wrote a book about all my experiences both major and minor, and called it 'My First Year as a Dad'. Its aim is to help other new Dads. You can find it at http://www.1stbaby.info Enjoy!

Not Much Help for the New Dad

When I discovered I was to be a Dad for the first time, I looked around for someone or something to help me. Surely there must be millions of people in the same position as me. But I couldnt find what I was looking for, something (or someone), that could guide me, help me understand what was about to be unleashed onto my well-ordered life, and give me a chance to prepare for this event.

Also I wanted to know, just what was going to happen during the early part of the baby's life, what was my role, what was I supposed to do. There were no books, no magazines, little information about what I would have to do. All the information available was directed to the New Mom.

So once I had made it thru that first year, the many struggles and challenges of those first 12 months, I decided to write a book about my experiences. I called the book 'MY FIRST YEAR AS A DAD'. I wrote specifically with the aim to give information to other new Dads.

You can find the book at : http://www.1stbaby.info

I hope you enjoy it.

A new Baby and your world turns upside down

There you are travelling along this life of yours, going out, meeting and mixing with your friends, going to the football games, the Basketball, the Baseball. Not much of a care in the world, money in your pocket. You have a lovely partner, you have your times together, dinners, movies, outings. The world surely is a great place to be in.

'We are going to have a baby'. Those words will totally change your life and the way you act, react and also how the seemingly simple things in life, take on a whole new meaning.

Suddenly, the conversations now include a third person, as yet unborn, but no less important, and in many ways even more important.

A room has to be made ready, (that is if you have a spare room). Clothes have to be bought, now pink or blue (does it matter?), of course it does. Your wife wouldnt think of dressing your new baby girl in blue, perish the thought.

New activities to learn, new ways of handling situations. One really good tip, BEFORE the baby is born, practice folding and unfolding the push chair with one hand. Make sure you can do it with both your left and right hands.

I had an eventful and interesting first year as a new Dad, so much so that I wrote down my struggles and victories in a book. 'My First Year as a Dad', is an attempt to help other new Dads, understand what will happen when their first baby arrives.

You can download and read it at :

http://www.1stbaby.info I hope you gain an insight of what it will take to be a new Dad for the first time.

Having a First Baby, but then...

Ventricular Septal Defect, or VSD is the medical term for a hole in the heart. Our baby was born with one of these. The main problem with something thats wrong internally is that there is nothing to show anyone, or tell them why you keep having to go to the specialist and why you need to keep having ultra sounds on your new baby.

There is nothing visual, so while all other new Moms and Dads are enjoyng their babies and telling you what is the latest they have experience, (a smile, a giggle, some recognition), you know in yourself that you have a huge problem to overcome first before you can really enjoy any of these.

I wrote about our experiences with this in my book 'My First Year as a Dad'. Standing outside the Operating Theatre with my Baby in my arms, waiting to hand her over to the Surgeon, was probably the toughest thing I have ever had to do. Anyways its all at : http://www.1stbaby.info

Having a First Baby

It's amazing the feelings you go thru as a new Dad, when you're wife tells you that she is pregnant. Fear, anxiety, concern, happiness. They're all there, plus a whole heap more that are a variation of them. To be sure your life will never be the same again.

Suddenly there is a change, subtle at first, but ever growing, in the things you will be asked to do, and most of them will be new and strange.

Its a learning time, a time of working out how much you will give in this new order of things, and how much you need to educate yourself, so that you can cope with the new environment.

However, no matter how much you learn, or think you know, your wife will always know more, will always be ahead of you and will always have a better way of doing things.

So the first thing to do, on the day you are told that a baby is on the way, is to remove your ego and store it away, because you wont be needing it, and it will only get in the way.

Welcome everyone

Well the longest Journey begins with the first step. I've made many first steps and I'm sure you have too. Each step takes us on a journey, where we dont necessarily know the destination, and thats ok, because never reaching your final goal or destination is how it should be because really its the journey that beings us the success. Its the little milestones that we reach along the way, that tell us that we are doing it right, or going the correct way. Every time we reach the top of the mountain, and smile and congratulate ourselves that we made it, only causes us to look up and to realise that we have other mountains to above us to climb.

It doesnt matter how you get up the mountain, because the view from the top of each one is the same.

Remember Set your goals in concrete, but cast your plans in sand.

I was a Dad, a new Dad a few years ago. It was a time of total change. At the end of the first year, I had achieved so much, in what I had learnt about myself, and what I could do, that far outweighed what I thought I could do.

So Guess what, I wrote a book, called 'My First Year as a Dad'. Its about the highs, the lows, the good times and the not-so-good times. Its about the challenges and the things I had to do no matter how much I hated them. Its really for every new Mom, every new Dad and every new Parent to be.

The book can be found at http://www.1stbaby.info Its a good read. Enjoy.