Game Day Dad

This subject is a lot of fun for me and I think a lot of you dads won’t need any advice on this front but it’s still fun to blog about given recent developments with our baby starting to babble out syllables, vowels and “da da” “ba ba” sounds.    We’ve got our baby on the “Your Baby Can Read” videos among other things and we’ve learned a lot on that front about what our interactions should be.   Do not be afraid to make a fool out of yourself and talk about nonsense to your baby at home or in public.   When they start babbling you need to talk back to them and encourage them to make those sounds so they’ll remember them and continue to develop.   The first few years are by far the most important for people to develop.  The video below shows our little one talking to me during feeding time and I talk back to her asking questions and being interactive in general.   I wish I had a better one at the time of thinking up this blog but this will do just fine.   She’s so cute!

Probably one thing most first time fathers won’t plan for or be ready for is dealing with constipation issues. You’ll get hit with all the diaper teasing but nobody is going to bring up great things like glycerin suppositories and ways to help your baby have a bowel movement. This came to mind today when my wife mentioned that our little tootie bug always has a movement when she’s in her walker. Well in all those panicked early months I learned all about pushing off and bowel movements. Because your infant is on her back they can’t push off and get that extra umph to help them go. Makes sense when you hear that sentence doesn’t it? Well it’s a little harder to come to that conclusion at 11pm when your little one is struggling after not going for a couple of days and believe me you’ll know exactly how many hours it’s been when you’re the first time father! I learned that little piece one night late just like that when debating whether to get out and find an all night pharmacy.  Here’s my advice to you:

Don’t Panic

It happens and it’s common.   A babies digestive system is a delicate thing and it doesn’t run like a well oiled machine like yours does.   In fact chances are even if your system doesn’t run well it still probably doesn’t behave like your baby’s system.   They’re different and given a little knowledge you can likely help a little with their troubles.  First off you’re never going to resolve it in your time.   They’ll go when they go however you can do a few things to help them out. 

Remember what I said about not being able to push off on the floor?   You’ll be able to tell when your little one is struggling to go so put your hand under their feet and give them something to push off on.   It helps and If they don’t go they’ll get closer to going.   Additionally give them a little apple juice diluted in water or some Karo syrup diluted in water.(Google it)   Any of these common remedies will help loosen the situation.

Glycerin Suppositories

Suppositories and other medications are likely only going to be necessary if you knew ahead of time your baby has issues.   We purchased some when we first had irregularities but we never used them.   It just wasn’t necessary.   We called the on call nurse when upset on one occurrence and she said we needed to wait 3 days until we even had to consider a possible problem.   What do you know she was right!

Well that’s it for this entry.   I promise there’ll be some readers very thankful for this blog entry because this is one nobody ever plans for on the first child.   Good luck first time dads!

The world of your pet and your baby will never be the same once that baby gets control of his or her legs. We’ve all seen it on America’s Funniest Home Videos but somehow it just doesn’t click until that first time they’re going head to head over the couch, a food bowl or just a random collision in the hallway. Dad be ready and start working on the scenarios where your pets world and your child’s world become one.

For us it took about 7 months. Our cats sniffed the baby a few times when we brought her own and then minded their own business. I’m not a cat person but I have to say our cats are good like that when it comes to our baby. However at around the 5-6 month mark our infant started getting better control over that little body. Scooting, crawling and now with the help of a walker she’s moving around with those little arms stretched out grabbing anything she can. Guess what the number one target is:

My thoughts are that we’ll have to let them collide. The baby won’t leave the cat alone and I don’t want the cat running from the baby all the time so I’ll have to eventually let the cat land a couple of blows to the head of the baby. It won’t hurt her because kitty doesn’t have claws but it’ll let her know to keep her hands off the kitty unless the kitty says ok.

My advice is to try and get an early detection on how your pet will do with toddlers and babies. We already knew this cat would be trouble because he’s slapped my niece and a couple of other toddlers already.

Dads do you really want to get yourself in trouble?  Do what I did and give your little one the remote control.   My daughter now thinks that the Cox DVR remote control is the holy grail of teethers.   Was it on purpose?   Is that remote control really so cool?   Are we genetically built to love remote controls?

NO

Don’t forget your baby looks at you all the time for everything.   When you think they’re not paying attention that little brain is firing on all cylinders learning more than you learn in days.   When they see you with a remote control they want it.   Something has to be special about it right?   

Well it’s happened now and she loves it so we cleaned it and disinfected it.   Take the batteries out and let her chew on it.  Google it to make sure it won’t cause cancer.   Do whatever it takes but I’m sure I did a lot worse when I was a baby and I’m perfectly healthy.   The point is to keep in mind that the smallest thing you do is picked up by your infant.   Tread carefully.   I’m even considering not drinking at home anymore for the sake of my daughters first experiences.   They’re so important!

One thing I didn’t initially do is buy a state of the art digital camera.   I own a panasonic digital camcorder that’s a little old and I owned a small Olympus camera that I used during the first months of having our baby.   One day at work my co-worker and I were talking about our babies.    She just had her first which is around 5 months older than our baby and she always has a ton of great pictures and small videos.   They’re awesome and I asked her about it.   She reached in to her purse and pulled out a small Canon Powershot Elph camera which she told me she used to do all the video clips and pictures.   This one little device which she purchased for around $300 with all the accessories did better than my $1000 worth of equipment.

Why?

Because the cameras I owned were around 4-5 years old which in the 21st century is completely obsolete.   I advise you dad to pull out your man card, read some reviews on Amazon or Bestbuy and then purchase a great digital camera.   It’s a great investment in recording the history of your baby and all the great times you have together.   You need the best and the best is always new when it comes to cameras.   I followed my friend’s lead and purchased the same Canon PowerShot Elph SD1400S because it had the best reviews.    I love it and already have gigabytes of pictures!