Researchers in Germany discovered several years ago that a child benefits from a playful father.

So playing with your child from an early age increases the long term attachment between parent and child.

I love playing with my children so this is good news for me.

Fathers playtime with their children was the predictor of long-term attachment, even surpassing the security that a mom provides for an infant or toddler. The fathers created that attachment by being sensitive, supporting, and gently challenging during playtime with their toddlers.

So the message here for all dads is to make regular, sensitive playtimes with your children as it is important for their development.

Rich Batten is a graduate from the National Center’s “Train the Trainer” Program.
He has these four suggestions for dads who play with their children:

Make time for play with your kids. It needs to be a real priority.
I agree with this one, no matter how busy your lifestyle is you should always take the time to play with your children.

Maintain a positive tone. Give your “disciplinarian dad” character a break.
In most families the father is the authority figure, it is the case in my home. My daughter tends to disobey her mother a lot but when I tell her to obey her mother she does so without hesitation.
When its playtime you must remove this authoritative figure and bring yourself down to their life and basically act like a kid yourself.

Talk as you play. Ask open-ended questions. Get your children involved in thinking and being creative.
I do this one a lot too, I think it is important to communicate with your child.
In my situation it is a little funny because I am from the U.K. and am living in Brazil, my daughter speaks mostly Portuguese but I insist on speaking to her in English as I want her to learn the two languages. The thing is though she keeps telling me I am speaking wrong and correcting me with the Portuguese words.

Follow their lead sometimes. The imagination of a child is a wondrous thing. Give a little encouragement, and then just watch and see what magic develops.
My daughter has a play tea set, it is so cute and funny because she always asks me to join her and of course I do. She makes me drink imaginary tea and eat imaginary cake. I find it so funny playing imaginary games with my daughter.

One game my daughter loves to play is chase. She is crazy for this, I have to chase her all around the house. Everyday she comes asking me lets play chase, its good for me too as its probably the only exercise I am getting at the moment.

A group of Pediatrician scientists have discovered better ways to help bring up children.
So now the manual has been rewritten instead of following a set of rules we have to read the baby’s signs.

Years ago scientists, doctors and professionals carried out research and then gave advice on how to raise a child but now with new research they have discovered new ways that contradict the old ways.

Read the following list and see which you think is better the old way or the new way.

1. Potty Training

Old Way;
It was recommended to have your child out of nappies and toilet trained before the child reached two years old.

New Way;
Now they are saying it is normal and acceptable to allow your child to remain in nappies up to the age of 4.

2. Mouth Hygiene

Old Way;
We were told to clean the babies teeth as the teeth start to grow.

New Way;
They are now saying we have to clean the babies gums before any teeth start to show because the babies saliva mixes with milk and creates bacteria in the mouth which can affect the new teeth.

3. Baby’s weight

Old Way;
When the child reaches two the ideal weight was 12.7 Kg (28.13 Ibs). Scientists used to believe that a fat baby was a sign of a healthy baby.

New Way;
Now they are saying the ideal weight is 11.6 kg (25.57 Ibs) because they are now worrying about obesity in infants.
For example: out of 100 babies overweight 75 will end up being fat when they get older.

4. Feeding

Old way;
It was recommended to give plenty of eggs to infants after they reach 6 months because eggs are rich in proteins.

New Way;
Now its not recommended until the child is over 1 year old because eggs are also rich in Albumin which is a protein that can provoke allergies. Infants under one year old don’t have a fully developed immune system and so are vulnerable to this protein.

5. Colic

Old Way;
Before scientist used to believe colic was related to poor indigestion that caused gases and used to recommend medicine.

New Way;
Colic is more related to stomach contractions. It is not possible to eliminate colic but you can reduce the affects by massaging the abdominal area or placing a hot water bottle on their belly.

6. Sleeping Position

Old Way;
For years doctors and scientists have been telling us to sleep the baby on the side to prevent cot death.

New Way;
Now they are saying they were wrong all these years and the baby should sleep belly up and the head slightly elevated so that it is higher than the rest of the body. The reason for this is that babies can suffocate more easily on their side than on their backs.

7. Breast Feeding

Old Way;
It wasn’t a problem if you breast fed or bottle fed your new born baby.

New Way;
It is strongly recommended to breast feed the baby until they 6 months old because breast milk is high in nutrients. There is more than 250 beneficial nutrients in breast milk and also it increases the bond between mother and child. The baby should be fed when and how often they so desire and not at regular hourly intervals.

8. Crying

Old Way;
It was thought that when a healthy baby cried it was just for attention and so we were told it was ok to leave them cry.

New Way;
A baby that cries must never be ignored, you have to make sure they are not hungry, too hot, too cold, need a nappy change and so on. 90% of the time if a baby is crying it is for a reason.
If it is for a attention it is because the baby needs to feel safe and secure and a little cuddle does that.

Another thing that these scientists are recommending is not to force your child to learn to read and write under the age of five. Doing this can cause them to develop learning difficulties in the future.

It is ok to teach them if they show an interest but never force them to learn.

Here are 10 tips on how to get through those sleepless nights with your newborn baby.

1. Breastfeeding mothers need help.
Even though the mother is doing the feeding don’t assume she does not need any help. Something my wife really appreciates is when I wind the baby after she has fed him or even change the nappy. It doesn’t have to be every time the baby wakes up but if you do these things now and again your partner will really appreciate it.

2. Take it in turns with your partner.
This one will only work if you are bottle feeding your baby or if mum extracts breast milk and stores it ready for the night.
Arrange to take it in turns to wake up with the baby. For example;
Mum will wake up at midnight to feed the baby as normal.
Then the dad wakes up around 3-4am with the baby and feeds him using either synthetic baby milk or mums stored breast milk
Mum then wakes up 6-7am for the final shift. You can do it this way or swap for dad to wake up first. In doing this both parents get to sleep around six hours instead of just three making the night a bit more bearable.

3. Learn the different ways your baby likes to be held.
Some babies like to be held chest to chest, others like to be cradled and others like to be seated facing away from you. Find the position that your baby feels most comfortable in and try soothing them in that position.

4. Don’t be too proud or embarrassed to sing to your baby.
I have been singing to my children since they were born in fact my two year old daughter, Amanda still asks me to sing to her now. I know for a fact that I sing awful but my kids seem to like it.
The sound of your voice is very reassuring to your baby and it is part of the bonding process. Your baby will quickly learn to associate your voice with safety and security.

5. Gentle bouncing works sometimes.
Sometimes a gentle swaying back and fourth or side to side makes the baby relax and drift off to sleep but be careful not to bounce baby too much or you may upset your baby’s tummy.

6. Use a pacifier, dummy.
My daughter, Amanda refused to accept a dummy every time I put it into her mouth she would spit it straight back out but many babies do accept them and this is a good way to calm and relax your baby.

7. Take them for a ride in a car.
This one is proven time and time again babies and children fall asleep so easy in cars, with my daughter, Amanda, I would only have to turn the engine on and the small vibrations in the car would make her fall asleep. On the downside, occasionally as soon as I turned the engine off she would wake up crying again.

8. Pacing up and down.
Just a gentle walk though your home will calm the baby. This one, I have been doing a lot lately with my newborn son and it does work. I get up and pace up and down and he drifts of to sleep. Sometimes I would think he is sleeping and sit down then the crying would start all over again and back to the pacing I would go. If you have carpets in your home don’t pace in the same place to often or you may end up wearing out your carpet.

9. Try to keep your baby more awake during the day.
If your baby is more awake and active during the day he may sleep more during the night.
When the baby is awake in the daytime talk to them, play with them to keep them more alert and awake. Singing is not advisable as it will make them sleep.
Changing the baby’s nappy regular and giving baths are also good ways to keep your baby awake more.

10. Give a warm bath before bed.
A warm bath is a great way to relax and soothe your baby before bed.

I hope these ten tips will help you get that little bit extra sleep.

If you have other tips to offer then write them in the comments box for other fathers to see.

Everybody who has children can relate to this.

The baby is born and whether its a girl or boy they always look so cute, family and friends come to visit and they always remark how beautiful he or she is and then they look at the parents.

O my god!
No longer is the mother sparkling with beauty with the life inside her, instead she has transformed into a mess of tiredness with black skin sagging under her half closed eyes. Her face droops and the glowing smile is now upside down and of course where theres tiredness theres irritability too.

The dad always gets more sleep but he himself too looks tired and all because of the arrival of an innocent angelic baby.

The biggest problem we faced was that when our new born son woke up for feeding, straight after he would get colic and cry a lot which would quite often wake our two year old daughter.
Then it would take an hour or two to get her back to sleep and by that time our son is just starting to wake back up again for food.

In the day our son Nicholas sleeps around three hours in the night he goes just two hours between feeds and this is because babies grow more in the night and so require more food.

My wife had a cesarean with our second child, Nicholas and so for the first few weeks she was not able to lift the baby so every time he woke we both had to get up, the only difference is in the day I had to work while she could take a nap in the afternoon but I cant complain because now she gets up with him and I get to keep on sleeping. I do get up and help occasionally but theres not a lot I can do anyway as he is on breast milk.

Baby Facts

New born babies don’t know the difference between day and night yet and their tiny stomachs don’t hold enough breast milk or formula to keep them satisfied for very long so they need to feed every few hours, no matter what time of day or night it is.

A newborn may sleep as much as 16 hours a day (or even more), often in stretches of 3 to 4 hours at a time and like the sleep all of us experience, babies have different phases of sleep: drowsiness, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and very deep sleep. As babies grow, their periods of wakefulness increase.

As the baby grows these short 3 to 4 hour stretches will increase allowing you to sleep more.
At first, though, the need to feed will outweigh the need to sleep. Many pediatricians recommend that a parent not let a newborn sleep too long without feeding. In practical terms, that means offering a feeding to your baby every 3 to 4 hours or so, and possibly more often for smaller or premature babies. Breastfed infants may get hungry more frequently than bottle-fed babies and need to nurse every 2 hours in the first few weeks.

I have an electric gate that opens and closes for my car to access the house. It has an electric motor that obviously has to be lubricated with grease.

My daughter sneakily waits until nobody is looking and slyly collects the dirty black grease from the motor and smears it all over my new car.

Amanda is always crazy to help me work around the house, what ever I do she is always with me trying to help whether its holding my tools, cleaning the car, gardening or cleaning the house she is there wanting to help out, usually being more of a nuisance than a help but I don’t mind I enjoy her company.

The first time my daughter, Amanda decided to cover my car in grease was when she was helping me clean it.
Like always, I gave her a sponge and we shared the same bucket, she does not clean so well as she is only 2 but i let her just play around with the sponge as normally it does no harm.

I started my way around the car cleaning and she copied but it wasn’t until I had caught up with her that I realized she had exchanged the nice clean soapy sponge I had given her for a handful of thick black grease and had followed me around the car dirtying everything I had just cleaned.

She especially likes to cover the name badge in grease and of course the badge is so difficult to remove the grease from.

Do you have any similar experiences? Share them with us in the comment box.

There is a new page that you can find on the main menu called kids being kids. Every week I will be adding new funny video clips and images to this page showing kids being themselves.

Here is a taste of the type of things I will be adding.

I can imagine many fathers or mothers can relate to this.

My son is just three weeks old now, in fact he was born exactly three weeks ago today, anyway he always decides to take a pee when I am changing his nappy and hardly ever when his mother changes him.

The moment he was being born he started peeing and sprayed urine all over the doctors. I managed to stay dry as I was by the mothers head but he’s been trying to spray me ever since.

I usually wait a minute or two to remove the old nappy, to see if he is going to do something and then when I think its safe, its a race to clean him, dry him then apply the new nappy and always he starts peeing before I get the new nappy on him. On some occasions he ruins the clean nappy and I have to put another one on him.

I know babies at this age have no sense of good or bad and right or wrong but I don’t know he seems to have an expression of awareness after he’s peed on me, like he’s found it funny. Who knows what he’s thinking?

If you have any similar experiences you wish to share to this add it in the comments box.