The other day a friend who works in a nursery told me about a conversation she had with a father of one of the children in her group. He mentioned that he was worried about his latest addition to the family (6 month old baby
girl) who was "falling behind" in her development because she wasn't as interactive as other babies in the ante-natal group.
To me this is all wrong - how can a 6-month old baby be behind for lack of interactivity. Obviously I wasn't part of the conversation so I'll give this particular father the benefit of a doubt - perhaps he was just curious to hear my friend's opinion. However I am quite concerned about the level of benchmarking that I am experiencing as a new father (and it's only been 5 months). Depending on who you talk to (midwives, GP, nurses, family, other ... read more >>
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One week on and things have changed - thanks to all the great suggestions! Noah still wakes up every 2h but we've now got a nanny that has to get up at nigth ... JUST KIDDING. We've figured out that he isn't always hungry when he wakes up - usually it's the teeth but often it's also just a bad dream or some other disturbance.
Whoever coined the phrase "he/she sleeps like a baby" should be made to work in a maternity ward at night. Obvioulsy the have clearly never been near a baby. We are in month 5 now of parenthood and our little man Noah still wakes up every 2.5h. This is getting quite tough now after such a long time of sleep deprivation - especially for Raquel who does all the breast feeding at night.
One of the most frustrating aspects of having a baby is what happened to my partner’s boobs. When we first found out that we were pregnant I thought â€" cool … at some point the boobs are going to get bigger and I get to play. Well that lasted all of a few days because as they were getting bigger they also got more and more sore. DOH. 
Money and Children sometimes go hand in hand depending on your wealth, If you’re like most families having a child means that your family will drop in wages, and usually the father will continue working. Why would you teach children about money? When is best to teach children about money? Who is going to teach them? 
The teller â€" a guy was very helpful and made the comment whilst I was swinging pyper in one hand and then calculating the totals in the other that he thought only women could multi task ... "hmmm really" I thought!!
One of a teenage males biggest fears can be getting a girl pregnant. What do I tell my friends and family? How will they react? Do I want to continue to be involved with the mother? What’s the story on child support? How can I afford it? What about sport, further study, future career, my mates and all that stuff?
Pyper is just over 9 weeks old, so she's at the goo goo gaa gaa stage, she is alert and wanting a little attention. For me who is about as creative as a dead cat entertaining her can be difficult. So unfortunately I had to watch my wife and steal some ideas from her. When we first became pregnant Renee went around and brought all this "stuff" for the baby which at the time I thought what a waste of .... money but now I've finally changed my thoughts on this. 
There is absolutely no question that James has my attention. We do, after all, spend all day every day together and I am never far away if not right there with him. He is not unwell; its true what they say, you can tell when they are crying for real and this is most definitely not real crying. He is certainly not bored; we lead a pretty active life, go to playgroup, music group, play outside, go to parks, play with toys, take train rides. Nor is he tired; sleeps in the afternoon, goes to bed at 7pm with no dramas and sleeps like a champion. James is in every sense a well adjusted, happy, loved, two and half year old boy. 
This article was originally written by Emily Anthes and submitted for publication to DIYFather.com by Maurice Mok.