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So You're Going to Be a Dad
Dr Peter Downey knows babies and fatherhood, and his bestselling book – now in this 25th anniversary edition – helps first time dads prepare for what’s coming their way … with a grain of salt and a smile on their face. Fully revised and updated, and packed with useful information and wry humour, he explores the joys and trials of new parenting,
- Navigating pregnancy and childbirth
- Dealing with nappies, travel cots and sleep deprivation
- Avoiding topics that will ruin a dinner party
- Living with a baby in your home
- Getting the gear you need (and skipping the stuff you don’t)
- Surviving the latest apps, tech and the online parenting world
- Coping with sex (or the lack thereof)
- And most importantly, how to be the best damned dad you can be
New to this edition is a Foreword by Mark Scott, an updated glossary of handy words new dads need to know (and some they don’t), a new and improved list of films to watch (and those to avoid), as well as updated 'then' and 'now' words of wisdom from other ordinary Aussie fathers. So You’re Going To Be a Dad remains Australia’s most engaging, reassuring and down-to-earth book for new dads.
- Navigating pregnancy and childbirth
- Dealing with nappies, travel cots and sleep deprivation
- Avoiding topics that will ruin a dinner party
- Living with a baby in your home
- Getting the gear you need (and skipping the stuff you don’t)
- Surviving the latest apps, tech and the online parenting world
- Coping with sex (or the lack thereof)
- And most importantly, how to be the best damned dad you can be
New to this edition is a Foreword by Mark Scott, an updated glossary of handy words new dads need to know (and some they don’t), a new and improved list of films to watch (and those to avoid), as well as updated 'then' and 'now' words of wisdom from other ordinary Aussie fathers. So You’re Going To Be a Dad remains Australia’s most engaging, reassuring and down-to-earth book for new dads.
- GenresParenting
320 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2020
10 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Peter Downey
14 books2 followerseter Downey is on executive staff at a Christian school in Sydney, Australia. The author of three marriage and parenting books, including So You're Going to be a Dad, he was listed in The Bulletin magazine as one of Australia's Top Ten parenting authors. He is also author of Everything You Want to Know about the Bible (co-authored with Ben Shaw), a book about Jesus for the Bible Society, and has written for a range of journals and publications. Although he has a Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral degrees in Arts and Education and a diploma in Biblical Studies, he feels like a guy writing a book about automotive engineering when all he’s done is worked part-time in a carwash. He and his wife have three daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 7, 2023
Perfect for the clueless Dad to be (me)!
December 15, 2025
This is a good book, but not a great one. It would likely suit dads who feel overwhelmed and want information delivered in a relaxed, conversational way like advice coming from a mate at the bar.
For me, it didn’t quite hit the mark. I was looking for something more robust, with clearer, more explicit guidance grounded in medical expertise, closer to hearing directly from a doctor than from a well-meaning friend.
Helpful in parts, but not what I needed overall.
For me, it didn’t quite hit the mark. I was looking for something more robust, with clearer, more explicit guidance grounded in medical expertise, closer to hearing directly from a doctor than from a well-meaning friend.
Helpful in parts, but not what I needed overall.
February 9, 2025
Real good prep guide for being a parent, looking forward to putting into practice in May!
May 12, 2021
Terrifying. I didn’t realise Stephen King wrote under another pseudonym.
Kidding- good laugh, loved the catch-up with the Dads at the end.
Kidding- good laugh, loved the catch-up with the Dads at the end.
December 30, 2022
A good overview of pregnancy and the early stages of being a dad. Written in a light hearted but informative manner. 3.5 rounded down
June 30, 2023
If you've been following my journey, you're likely aware that I've recently embarked on the incredible journey of fatherhood.
To my surprise, both my beautiful wife and my team at work gifted me a book that I found myself finishing the night before my son, Benji, made his grand entrance into the world. Timing couldn't have been more perfect, and it felt as if Benji had chosen precisely the right moment to join us. It's a humorous coincidence that even Gandalf the wizard would appreciate. As the title suggests, the book I received is a guide for first-time dads, offering a delightful mix of lightheartedness and practical wisdom to help navigate the exciting path ahead.
The book begins by exploring the contrasting reactions that expectant fathers may experience upon learning the news. Some may feel shock, disbelief, and even a touch of despondency. Others, like myself, embrace the news with pure joy, elation, and an overwhelming excitement for the impending arrival of their little one.
Written with a generous dose of dry humour and peppered with personal anecdotes from the author's own parenting journey, Downey delves into the highs and lows of new parenthood. Here are just a few of the topics covered:
- Navigating and supporting your partner throughout pregnancy and childbirth.
Dealing with travel cots, nappies, and the undeniable reality of sleep deprivation (I can certainly vouch for that, five months in!).
- Skilfully avoiding conversational landmines during polite dinner conversations.
- Adjusting to life with a new little being in your home.
Sorting through the overwhelming array of baby tech and gear, only acquiring what you truly need.
-Surviving the bewildering online parenting world, deciphering the latest tech and apps.
Coping with changes in your sex life (or the lack thereof).
- And, most importantly, discovering how to become the best dad you can be.
Packed with invaluable nuggets of wisdom that I still find myself applying five months into fatherhood, this book is an essential read for anyone seeking guidance in a role that usually comes without an instruction manual. From reminders that "your baby can't fall off the floor" to other indispensable tips, it provides a solid foundation and benchmark for what one should expect.
Having experienced seven different professions in my relatively short time on this earth, I can say with absolute sincerity that being a father is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles I've ever had. What resonated with me deeply in this book was the inclusion of a glossary of terms that every new dad should know (alongside a few they probably shouldn't). Additionally, the reflections of everyday Aussie fathers on their early experiences with their own children, shared through the lens of "then" and "now," offer heartfelt insights.
As someone once told me many years ago, and a sentiment the author undoubtedly wants to convey, anyone can be a father, but it takes a true man to be a daddy. This book encapsulates that sentiment perfectly, leaving new fathers feeling encouraged and equipped for the incredible journey of fatherhood that lies ahead.
To my surprise, both my beautiful wife and my team at work gifted me a book that I found myself finishing the night before my son, Benji, made his grand entrance into the world. Timing couldn't have been more perfect, and it felt as if Benji had chosen precisely the right moment to join us. It's a humorous coincidence that even Gandalf the wizard would appreciate. As the title suggests, the book I received is a guide for first-time dads, offering a delightful mix of lightheartedness and practical wisdom to help navigate the exciting path ahead.
The book begins by exploring the contrasting reactions that expectant fathers may experience upon learning the news. Some may feel shock, disbelief, and even a touch of despondency. Others, like myself, embrace the news with pure joy, elation, and an overwhelming excitement for the impending arrival of their little one.
Written with a generous dose of dry humour and peppered with personal anecdotes from the author's own parenting journey, Downey delves into the highs and lows of new parenthood. Here are just a few of the topics covered:
- Navigating and supporting your partner throughout pregnancy and childbirth.
Dealing with travel cots, nappies, and the undeniable reality of sleep deprivation (I can certainly vouch for that, five months in!).
- Skilfully avoiding conversational landmines during polite dinner conversations.
- Adjusting to life with a new little being in your home.
Sorting through the overwhelming array of baby tech and gear, only acquiring what you truly need.
-Surviving the bewildering online parenting world, deciphering the latest tech and apps.
Coping with changes in your sex life (or the lack thereof).
- And, most importantly, discovering how to become the best dad you can be.
Packed with invaluable nuggets of wisdom that I still find myself applying five months into fatherhood, this book is an essential read for anyone seeking guidance in a role that usually comes without an instruction manual. From reminders that "your baby can't fall off the floor" to other indispensable tips, it provides a solid foundation and benchmark for what one should expect.
Having experienced seven different professions in my relatively short time on this earth, I can say with absolute sincerity that being a father is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles I've ever had. What resonated with me deeply in this book was the inclusion of a glossary of terms that every new dad should know (alongside a few they probably shouldn't). Additionally, the reflections of everyday Aussie fathers on their early experiences with their own children, shared through the lens of "then" and "now," offer heartfelt insights.
As someone once told me many years ago, and a sentiment the author undoubtedly wants to convey, anyone can be a father, but it takes a true man to be a daddy. This book encapsulates that sentiment perfectly, leaving new fathers feeling encouraged and equipped for the incredible journey of fatherhood that lies ahead.
September 18, 2025
It sucks. Skip it.
There's insufferably lame boomer humour in every paragraph that is very hard to get past. The analysis and information is shallow and readily accessible elsewhere. And Downey is constantly winking and nudging that dads are unengaged, unenthusiastic and unprepared. Which is not really the case anymore. Having a kid in a major western city is countercultural in 2025. If you're doing it you've self selected into it hard.
There are some interesting sociological aspects to it at least.
Despite being radically overhauled for the 2020 edition (it was originally published in 1995), it has deeply boomer attitudes about the internet. The Millennial professional managerial class consensus that the internet, smartphones and social media are profoundly wicked and bad is 100% congealed at this point. No new parents I know are publicly posting about their kid in 2025.
It's also a reminder that 20th century Australian vernacular English is an endangered species. No one I know under 35 with a university education talks like this.
The quest for an excellent dad book continues.
There's insufferably lame boomer humour in every paragraph that is very hard to get past. The analysis and information is shallow and readily accessible elsewhere. And Downey is constantly winking and nudging that dads are unengaged, unenthusiastic and unprepared. Which is not really the case anymore. Having a kid in a major western city is countercultural in 2025. If you're doing it you've self selected into it hard.
There are some interesting sociological aspects to it at least.
Despite being radically overhauled for the 2020 edition (it was originally published in 1995), it has deeply boomer attitudes about the internet. The Millennial professional managerial class consensus that the internet, smartphones and social media are profoundly wicked and bad is 100% congealed at this point. No new parents I know are publicly posting about their kid in 2025.
It's also a reminder that 20th century Australian vernacular English is an endangered species. No one I know under 35 with a university education talks like this.
The quest for an excellent dad book continues.
September 16, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I started out reading this book to screen it for Isaac but I quickly started to enjoy the humour and ended up reading it all. It was a great audiobook, read by the author - very Australian! Pretty basic stuff, would recommend for new parents right at the start of the journey for a lighthearted look into what the next year or two holds. Not much new content for me but enjoyable on drives to work, and actually super enjoyable for mums-to-be too! He was super honouring of his wife and women throughout, and while he wasn’t overtly Christian-lens teaching, it definitely was threaded through in the background.
March 13, 2024
As a first time dad I won't say it's a must read bit it's definitely very helpful. Important to remember Peter is not an expert on parenting nore is he a doctor or a child psychologist and he never says he is either. I found this really helpful in a practical sense and just hearing that other dads worry about what I worry about. It won't answer all your questions but maybe make you ask more which is just as important
November 5, 2023
Recommend to all expecting or new dads!!
February 25, 2025
I will recommend my children to read it.
February 3, 2026
Incredible read
December 18, 2024
Easily the best of the 2 books on parenthood I read. I feel confident in recommending this to any first time parents (not just dads!) though it does emphasis more on the secondary care-giver. 100% suitable for non-males in that role as well,as it touches on early.
March 4, 2021
Very well written with a lots of jokes and practical information.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews