TheDaddyBlogger.com » Tips

Tip #12

Dad — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:47:32 +0000

Been a while since I let one loose — but since it is tied to my son letting them loose, I think it is fitting. After 18 months of changing diapers and only a single incident of kiddo peeing on me during a diaper change, my tip is this:

Have the next diaper ready to put on. Don’t reach for it after you have removed the first diaper. Have it out — tabs ready — everything. When the time is right, pull off the old and put on the new.

99% effective for this dad.

Tip #11

Dad — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:02:37 +0000

If you are parents to be — or even if you have kids — and there are families in your neighborhood with kids the same age as yours, or on the way — make friends.

Going it alone works and having family around works too, but neighborhood friends can be lifesavers, and they can make the ups and downs of parenting all the more tolerable and exciting. Going through ear infections and croup with a commiserating cast seems to make it — for lack of anything better — not as bad as it seems. It keeps you from getting wrapped up in a ‘poor us’ mental state.

They can also give you an outside perspective that isn’t tinged with years of issues that typically come with family advice. You can also see how things are done outside your own family — you mean not everyone does everything the same way???? — weird, I know.

I know we lucked out with some of the best neighbors in the world that happened to have had their own kiddo (their first as well) a whopping nine days before our own and I don’ think I could ever show them enough appreciation for the help they have provided to us.

Tip #10

Dad — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:50:20 +0000

Don’t beat yourself up over past decisions. Hindsight is 20/20, especially when you have more information. We were told our son had an ear infection. Two days later he was still up all night and we were just a hair frustrated with the lack of sleep.

Turns out he had pneumonia.

We had never experienced it before, didn’t know the signs and had just visited the doctor for the ear infection diagnosis. Had we known, of course we would have done all that we could to make him feel better — but we didn’t know at the time. We didn’t have all the information that we have now.

He is fine and probably won’t remember me leaving him in his crib for 15 minutes of screaming — and we did beat ourselves up for a bit. But. we know that you have to make decisions on the facts in front of you. It doesn’t mean you go to the pediatrician and take their word for it — sometimes doctors can be wrong — but don’t sit around thinking “I should have…” when things turn out in an unexpected way.

Learn and move on.

Tip #9

Dad — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:41:12 +0000

Talk. Talk. Talk. Tell the kiddo what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and why your doing it. Not IT, it, of course — just all the little things that seem like nothing. I have read this in a lot of places — all about the benefits, etc. — but even without all that support, I have to say one thing that always seems to be missing: it’s just plain fun and it helped me see our little dude as a little person and not just a baby.

Tip #8

Dad — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:30:38 +0000

Don’t sit around wishing for your son/daughter to hit the next phase because you think things will be better. The around the clock feeding schedule will turn into worrying about them choking which will turn into worrying about them losing a finger in the door jamb will turn into worrying they will lose an eye if they fall onto something sharp while they are walking.

It goes fast. Enjoy what you have while you have it.

Tip #7

Dad — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:39:39 +0000

Just know that baby germs are like a plague. They will tear through your family faster than a tornado and leave just as much wreckage. Also — if you use daycare — you might as well shake hands with every person you run into that so much as sniffles.

Tip #6

Dad — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:12:16 +0000

This is a warning, but could be considered a tip. If you find yourself cleaning up after a Code Brown (definition being a poop that has overflowed the diaper — thanks to the neighbors for the term — although I am sure a lot of parents use it) — know this: If part of the cleaning process involves soaking the pants in a sink — once the affected area hits warm water you will realize that you might as well have gone to a sauna powered by burning human feces. I have no solution other than to warn you in advance — so you are hereby warned.

Tip #5

Dad — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:55:20 +0000

Another off label use, but this time just as a tip. If you haven’t heard about it yet, you can use these Gerber Flat Fold cloth diapers for multiple things, mainly because they are absorbent and soft. We never used them as diapers — we used them as burp cloths and they worked great. The thinner ones are better since they are a bit bigger and provide more shoulder coverage, which is ideal for newborns. I am fairly confident that if they are used as diapers they would act more like a cheesecloth than an actual diaper.

Tip #4

Dad — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:06:46 +0000

This is a simple one — and maybe common sense — but if you can’t get the Little Dude or Dudette to burp — try mixing up your burping methods (up on the shoulder, sitting up,etc.), and keep in mind that it might change. We started with the shoulder burp being the sure fire method and have moved to the sitting up method as it is now the only way he will burp.

Tip #3

Dad — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:28:49 +0000

This one is definitely a take it or leave it tip. At night, we wait between 5 and 10 minutes after our son starts to cry before we go in to pick him up. Most times, we have found that he is switching positions and wakes up for a few moments before going back to sleep. We do the same with his naps.

One caveat: Like most parents, we can distinguish between the different cries. I can’t say that I am some sort of baby whisperer — but if it is one of his distress cries, we go get him immediately.

We are not trying to teach him how to “cry it out” or ween him from affection — we simply found that if we picked him up right away he would get excited to see us and be less likely to go back to sleep.