Dad’s Life: It’s a Dirty Job and Dad Has to Do It

IT’S A DIRTY JOB AND DAD HAS TO DO IT

Research has found that you’re destined to become your baby’s primary playmate. Despite the obvious advantages mums enjoy in terms of baby appeal, two-thirds of six-month old babies choose dad when it comes to playtime (and the other one-third were just hungry).

Why They Pick You for Playing

It starts right after birth when your bright little bundle notices that you look, smell, feel, and sound different to mum. While mum is soft, warm, comforting, beautiful, and smells good, you are, well, different. Your baby won’t know what to think of you right off, which is why they stare at you so much, just taking you in. As the weeks go by a baby notices that while mum tends to be protective and calming, dad is more playful and physical, and sometimes very surprising. Your baby soon learns that mum will pick him up when he is fussy, but dad tends to tickle him or lift him into the air. When even a very young baby hears their father’s voice, they’re likely to raise their shoulders and eyebrows, or begin kicking their legs, anticipating something exciting. As the months go by, mum might ask dad to not get the baby worked up before bedtime, but all dad has to do is walk into their room and they’re thinking, “play time!” A mother’s natural reaction might be to put out her hand to steady a set of blocks that are about to fall near the baby, while a father is likely to let them fall or even push them over, usually to squeals of delight.

Hire a Tens Machine

Hire a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) machine to help reduce your pain during labour and childbirth.

Palmerston North Parents Centre (PNPC) has five TENS machines available for hire by our members for ONLY $20 for up to four weeks’ hireage (plus a $40.00 refundable bond).

Machines can be booked for the two weeks prior to your due date until two weeks post due date.

Watch a video interview with a TENS machine expert at youtube.com/

watch?v=4gUEtYAqPw8

Book your TENS Machine from: Junior Kids Store, 23 Broadway Ave, Ph 06 354 5516, info@juniorkidsstore.co.nz, Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm › Sat 9.30am - 4pm. Please pay by cash and bring your PNPC Membership card. Full terms and conditions on our Facebook page: facebook.com/PNorthPC

Mom and Dad: Complementary Roles for Raising Babies

While they can come into conflict, a father’s adventurous role complements that of a mother’s, and the combination is what turns

out well rounded children. Dads introduce new challenges to their babies and encourage them to explore their worlds. Bottom line, playtime with dad contributes to your baby’s physical, intellectual, and social development and leads to great qualities later in life: good relationships with peers, a knowledge of limits, a spirit of adventure.

Babies Grow By Playing

Never underestimate the power of play. For example, the skills a three-month old baby learns by playing a simple game of “peek-aboo!” includes observation, language, coordination,

communication, exploration, problem solving, socialization, rhythm, creativity, and humor. Other games work on things like dexterity, balance, trust, strength, and timing. So remember when you are crawling on the floor, perhaps barking like a dog as you chase them around, it is a dirty job, and Dad has to do it. Thanks to dadsadventure.com for this article