The New Father Quotes

“realfoodbydad.com, cookingfordads.net, dadcooksdinner.com, and dadsthatcook.com.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be

“Carry your baby more. The more you hold him (even when he’s not crying), the less likely he is to cry. In one study, researchers found that a two-hour increase in carrying time per day resulted in a 42 percent decrease in crying”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“You may really be looking forward to spending some time with your baby while your partner is recuperating. But you may be worried that you won’t know how to do all the things that she usually does for the family. (If this last part is true, you’d better learn how to do the laundry and run the dishwasher in a hurry.)”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be

“ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment). Basically you work whenever, wherever, and however you want—as long as you get the job done. This option can only work if your employer is not only incredibly flexible but also incredibly clear on what you’re supposed to accomplish. At the same time, you have to be extremely well organized and self-directed.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), nearly 60 percent of employers offer some kind of flexible work arrangements—and nearly half of those companies make those arrangements available to a majority of their employees.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“Loyal, happy employees are engaged employees—and engaged employees are profitable employees”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“FWAs improve recruitment. Companies find that offering FWAs helps attract top talent. •  FWAs improve employee morale and loyalty. When employees feel that their employer respects their need for flexibility, they’re happier, don’t take sick days when they’re not sick, and are more committed to their employer’s success.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“FWAs increase retention/reduce turnover. The telecommuters in Bloom’s study quit their jobs at about half the rate of their peers in the office.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“FWAs boost productivity. Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom found that employees who telecommute are 13.5 percent more productive than employees who go into the office.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“Sixty-four percent say that being a father makes them a better employee, and, according to the Boston College Center for Work and Family, more dads say that having a flexible schedule that would allow them to spend more time with their family is of greater importance than career advancement or high income. In fact, according to monster.com, 82 percent of working dads searching for a job view companies more positively if they offer a flextime benefit.”
― Armin A. Brott, The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be (Fourth Edition)

“Walkers I had a walker when I was a baby, and my two older kids did too. One might think that something called a walker would help with walking. As it turns out, there’s research showing that babies who use walkers actually start walking as much as a month later than kids who don’t use walkers. Other studies have shown that walker use may delay mental and physical development. And then there’s the actual danger. Eighty percent of walker-involved accidents are falls down stairs, and most end in a head injury—often the result of the baby pulling something down on top of himself or using the walker as a launching pad so he can lunge after even more dangerous things on higher surfaces. Another common complaint about walkers is that babies can build up some real speed and fly around the house smacking into everything in sight—fun for them (until they get hurt), not so fun for you. My suggestion? Stay away from walkers (amazingly, they’re still being sold) and most of the “safe” alternatives that are out there, unless your pediatrician specifically tells you to get one. Your baby will learn to walk when he’s darn good and ready.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“You get spread out. All the demands on your time and energy leave you feeling like there isn’t enough of you left to be a good dad, friend, spouse, and employee at the same time.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“If you underdress your baby, he’ll probably let you know about it; babies usually complain loudly when they’re too cold. Babies who are too hot, though, tend not to complain, preferring instead to lie there listlessly.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re getting ready to read: • Select a regular place for reading. • Set aside a regular time, when you will be able to devote your full attention to the baby and the book. Just before or just after a nap is usually good. • Try to read for at least fifteen minutes each day.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Use a blanket sleeper or sleep sack (basically a sleeping bag with arms) instead of a blanket.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Being out of control is hard for anyone, but it’s especially discombobulating for men, who are supposed to know everything and be in control all the time.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Canadian researcher Anne Storey found that new fathers’ testosterone levels often drop by as much as a third right after the birth of their children. Since testosterone is involved in energy and mood, lower levels could explain why some men feel a little down.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Mobiles Mobiles are among the most popular furnishings in almost any baby’s room. And this is the perfect time to put some up: one over the bed and perhaps another, smaller one over the changing table.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Going from man to father is one of the most dramatic changes you’ll ever experience. It’ll force you to rethink who you are, what you do, and what it means to be a man. Your relationships—with your partner, your parents, your friends, your coworkers—will change forever as you begin to reevaluate what’s important to you and reorder your priorities.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“TRACKING GAMES Hold an object in front of the baby. When you’re sure she’s seen it, let it drop out of your hand. At five or six months, most babies won’t follow the object down. But starting at about seven months, they’ll begin to anticipate where things are going to land. When your baby has more or less mastered this skill, add an additional complication: drop a few objects and let her track them down. Then hold a helium balloon in front of her and let it go. She’ll look down and be rather stunned that the balloon never lands. She’ll also give you a priceless look of betrayal—as though you cheated by defying the laws of physics. Let her hold the string of the balloon and experiment. Another great game involves your baby’s newly developed abilities to track moving objects even when they’re out of sight part of the time. Put your baby in a high chair and sit down at a table facing her. Slowly move a toy horizontally in front of her a few times. Then put a cereal box between you and the baby and move the ball along the same trajectory but have it go behind the box for a second or two. Most six-month-olds will look ahead to the other side of the box, anticipating where the ball will emerge. If your baby’s still having fun, try it again, but this time, instead of keeping the ball on the same path, make a 90-degree turn and bring the ball out from the top of the box. You can do the same kind of thing during games of peek-a-boo. Step behind a door so the baby can’t see you. Then open the door a little and poke your head out. Do that in the same place a few times and then higher or lower than where she was expecting to see you. Most babies find this endlessly amusing. Again, if your baby doesn’t respond to some, or any, of these activities, don’t worry. Babies develop at very different rates, and what’s “normal” for your baby may be advanced—or delayed—for your neighbor’s. And keep in mind that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on fancy toys. When my oldest daughter was about this age, one of her favorite toys was a plastic dish-scrubbing pad. And I remember taking her to FAO Schwartz in New York—zillions of fantastic toys everywhere—and thinking that she was going to want to play with everything. But all she wanted to do was play with the price tags. (She’s a teenager now, and I look back at that experience as a warning—she still spends an awful lot of time looking at price tags …) Give the Kid a Break Don’t feel that you have to entertain your baby all the time. Sure it’s fun, but letting her have some time to play by herself is almost as important to her development as playing with her yourself. And don’t worry; letting her play alone—as long as you’re close enough to hear what she’s doing and to respond quickly if she needs you—doesn’t mean you’re being neglectful. Quite the opposite, in fact. By giving her the opportunity to make up her own games or to practice on her own the things she does with you, you’re helping her learn that she’s capable of satisfying at least some of her needs by herself. You’re also helping her build her sense of self-confidence by allowing her to decide for herself what she’ll play with and for how long.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“REACHING GAMES To encourage your baby to reach and to expand her horizons, try holding attractive toys just out of her reach: above her head, in front of her, to the sides. See how close you have to get the toy before she makes her move. Remember, the object here is not to tease or torture the baby, it’s to have fun. You can add another layer of complexity by putting the out-of-reach object on a blanket or towel. Then slowly pull the blanket and show her how it gets closer. Will she try that herself? TOUCHING GAMES Try this: let your baby play with a small toy without letting her see it (you could do this in the dark or with her hands in a paper bag). Then put that toy together with several other toys she’s never played with. Many babies this age will pick up the familiar toy. Although this may sound fairly easy, it isn’t. You’re asking your baby to use two senses—touch and vision—at the same time, and to recognize by sight something she’s touched but not seen. If your baby isn’t ready for this one, don’t worry. Just try it again in a few weeks. It’s a concept that can take a while to develop. IF … THEN … GAMES There are thousands of things you can do to reinforce cause-and-effect thinking. Rattles, banging games, rolling a ball back and forth, and splashing in the pool are excellent. So is blowing up your cheeks and having the baby “pop” them with her hands. Baby gyms—especially the kind that make a lot of noise when smacked—are also good, but be sure to pack them up the moment your baby starts trying to use the gym to pull herself up; they’re meant to be used while sitting or lying down and aren’t sturdy enough to support much weight. OBJECT PERMANENCE GAMES When your baby is about six or seven months old, the all-important idea that objects can exist even when they’re out of sight finally starts sinking in. • Object permanence develops in stages. If you’re interested in seeing how, try this: Show your baby a toy. Then, while she’s watching, “hide” it under a pillow. If you ask her where the toy is, she’ll probably push the pillow out of the way and “find” it. But if you quickly move the toy to another hiding place when she’s not looking, she’ll continue to look for it in the first hiding place. • Peek-a-boo and other games that involve hiding and finding things are great for developing object permanence. Peek-a-boo in particular teaches your baby an excellent lesson: when you go away, you always come back. This doesn’t sound like much, but making this connection now lets her know she can count on you to be there when she needs you and will help her better cope with separation anxiety (see page 222).”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“The ancient rabbis of the Talmud described it pretty well. The first stage of life, they said, “commences in the first year of human existence, when the infant lies like a king on a soft couch, with numerous attendants about him, all ready to serve him, and eager to testify their love and attachment by kisses and embraces.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“The produce section of your local grocery store is a great place for experimenting. Have her feel the difference between a kiwi or a peach and a coconut or a pineapple. Let”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“Excessive sleep. It can be a little hard to determine this in the early days, but generally speaking, your baby should wake up every 2–3 hours and be ravenous.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“keep the baby’s head higher than her butt, always support the head, and gentle patting or rubbing is”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“The American Dietetic Association recommends that parents refrain from giving their babies juice until they’re at least six months old, and then restrict juice intake until age two.”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year

“As a general guideline, though, you’ll want to give your baby 2–2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body-weight every day. Then divide that into 6–8 feedings. Remember,”
― Armin A. Brott, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year