SA Footy

Hello everyone.

Just letting people know that we are expecting our first child. We are both very much over the moon. And yes there will be a little Bays supporter running around. Doing a quick sweep over the Internet there are hundreds of websites that are aimed at females and rightly so.

I have found a a number of websites (Australian based) aimed at males.

http://www.dadsclub.com.au/

This is one that gives advice to males, from males. Advice about issues new fathers, things to do with young kids, present ideas, etc.

http://www.beerandbubs.com.au/

I will be attending this. This session is aimed at men supporting their wives in the last trimester. It is aimed at what to expect at the birth. Over dinner you get to hear from midwives about the whole process.

mrjbeam1981 wrote:http://www.dadsclub.com.au/

This is one that gives advice to males, from males.

That site couldn't possibly do it any better than SAFooty.net

Seriously mate, good luck and enjoy it ... it only gets worse from here on in

My advice, I have three. Don't read too much in to it, it all goes out the window when baby arrives. Most things come natural and are common sense and as thay say practice is better than theory.

If you had only listened to your father.....

Keep away from women.....

www.newdadssurvivalguide.com

i thought it was really good,but to be honest nothing can prepare you for when your wife goes into labor ...

woodublieve12 wrote:http://www.newdadssurvivalguide.com
i thought it was really good,but to be honest nothing can prepare you for when your wife goes into labor ...

I delivered 10 babies as a medical student at the QEH - it quite prepared me for the idea of not getting into the whole deal, personally.
By contrast dissecting a corpse in Anatomy classes didn't bother me at all, while it eliminated 10 of my fellow students from 3rd year Medicine inside 2 weeks.

Dog_ger wrote:If you had only listened to your father.....

Keep away from women.....

It would appear at least one football club's supporters have taken this advice seriously...

LMA wrote:My advice, I have three. Don't read too much in to it, it all goes out the window when baby arrives. Most things come natural and are common sense and as thay say practice is better than theory.

This.

Wedgie wrote:

LMA wrote:My advice, I have three. Don't read too much in to it, it all goes out the window when baby arrives. Most things come natural and are common sense and as thay say practice is better than theory.

This.

Agreed... Quality post...

woodublieve12 wrote:

Wedgie wrote:

LMA wrote:My advice, I have three. Don't read too much in to it, it all goes out the window when baby arrives. Most things come natural and are common sense and as thay say practice is better than theory.

This.

Agreed... Quality post...

And for mine too. No book can teach you and nobody can tell you that you're right or wrong.

My wife works in childcare and there is a current wave of "re-teaching" that is reviewing the standards of "play" set down in recent years. Basically, the structured rubbish that was implemented some time ago is being reviewed to be replaced with more free time, climbing trees, eating dirt, all the stuff kids should do.

woodublieve12 wrote:

Wedgie wrote:

LMA wrote:My advice, I have three. Don't read too much in to it, it all goes out the window when baby arrives. Most things come natural and are common sense and as thay say practice is better than theory.

This.

Agreed... Quality post...

Being a new Dad, I concur

go to the pub & go home when the doctor rings to tell you it's all over. Like the good ole' days.

Congrats and good luck, JB!

Theory is very helpful so dont discount it. Practice is a whole new ball game, (no pun intended!).

I didn't know of (or look into) sites like this. I have to say though, that the hardest thing I found was the lifestyle changes that are required. You will suddenly have new routines yourself, overnight. Your petty cash for beer will suddenly be a rush to the shop for nappies, or an unexpected doctor's appointment. Murphy's Law is also suddenly very common - like a few beers out with the boys sees you "turn in early" and head home at 1am. Then as luck will have it, your baby will require your earlier-than-expected, full attention and you wish you'd had 4 less beers and left two hours earlier!

One more thing - babies don't instantly bond with their dad like they do with their mum. Babies want sleep, boobs and clean nappies. I reckon dads start to get some genuine return on their investment from about 6-9 months of age.

Good on you for looking up stuff for dads - there isn't enough attention given to becoming a father and it isn't always easy learning how to be a good dad! There are many upsides amidst all the hard work!

Squawk wrote:Congrats and good luck, JB!

Theory is very helpful so dont discount it. Practice is a whole new ball game, (no pun intended!).

Agree with this. My wife read lots of books etc. and believed in knowing as much as she could before our baby came along. I wasn't that much in to reading or the baby classes, but read the bare minimum and went to 2 out of the 3 the classes. Was happy to listen to what my wife had to say and all you can really do is support your wife as much as possible because the bloke can do bugger all during labour and if the baby is breast feeding you can't do much there neither. You can get involved with everything else though and I was/am keen to be as involved as much as possible - to the extent that we made career choices to enable both of us to spend a lot of time with our daughter.

We were very lucky during that first year. Our baby slept well and we had little trouble. I was even luckier, my wife would be the one to always get up to feed the baby so I didn't really lose any sleep. The vast majority is just what comes naturally, but it is good to sometimes have google on standby or call up the Parent helpline in situations you are not completely sure about.

Of course, when we have baby #2 it might be completely different and what we thought we knew might be turned on its head. No doubt having children has been the best thing to ever happen to me. It's lots of fun. Good luck JB!

Our baby boy is about 7 1/2 months old now. Apart from reading the odd snippet in the mags where there is usually one page of advice from the editors for the Dads I never did much research. Drove my Mrs. nuts as she thought I didn't care about it as much as her, but I tend to just go with the flow.
There is nothing you can do in labour apart from be there, so don't stress about that too much. I spent the day fetching and making jugs of ice (about 6 I reckon) but it was 40 degrees that day (New Years Day).
Every thing else just wing it and do the best you can. Babies don't really care too much as long as their parents are around they are usually pretty happy. The main thing I guess you could do is just to do extras around the house for the first few weeks at least, like dishes, washing, cleaning etc. Your Mrs is probably going to be the one getting up during the nights and she needs her sleep during the day when she can, so doing these extra chores helps her just focus on whats important.
You'll be fine mate. I used to hear people say its the best moment of their lives and think yeah whatever, but trust me, it really is your best moment without doubt!

JB if you need any advice on feigning sleep for the early morning night feeds and excuses for working extra long hours to avoid new-born hassles, I'm your man!

Men had traditional solutions that are harder to apply these days.
Go on an extended hunting or raiding trip, and come back in about 6 months when all is settling down.
In the 12th century, and thereabouts, if desperate, you could go on a Crusade..