There are several ways to involve the father in your new addition before the big arrival, starting with day one and finding out you are pregnant. Some women want to take the test with dad and celebrate immediately together. Others choose to take the test alone and tell the father after the results come in. If the dad is not with you, you can tell him in any number of exciting ways.

If it is around a holiday or his birthday, you get him a card from the baby. If you have other children you can have them meet him at the door wearing t-shirts that say, “I am going to be a big brother/big sister”. You can also go to the store and make a little gift bag with baby booties or a rattle and stick the pregnancy test in the bag to give to the dad-to-be over a special dinner out.

Once the dad-to-be knows of the pregnancy is when the fun begins. If he wants to, let him help decide how to tell the rest of the family, and his family in particular that there is a new addition on the way. Let him make the plans so that he feels involved in the decision. If you are sick and he wants to help, let him be there to rub your back, bring you ginger ale, and make you eggs, or whatever it is you can keep down. Try to schedule your doctors’ appointments at a time when he can attend as well, and encourage him to ask questions. While they eventually might be routine and boring for both of you, knowing that you are trying to accommodate his schedule will help him feel involved.

Discuss baby names with him, and listen to his opinions and feelings. Make sure he can go to all the ultrasounds, and discuss with him before hand if he wants to find out the sex of the baby. You don’t have to agree, but if there is a discussion he will know that you care about his feelings and what matters to him.

If family or friends are throwing you a baby shower, discuss with them either letting the father attend (assuming he wants to), or having a co-ed baby shower. If neither of these will work, get together with another male you know and consider throwing a “Men’s only” baby shower for your husband, inviting the male friends and family members that have children and know what to expect.

Let the father be involved when creating the baby registry, and put things on the registry that he wants for the baby, even if you think or know that it isn’t needed. Besides Lamaze or other childbirth classes you and the father-to-be take together, look into some classes specifically for dads either at the hospital or your local baby store. You can also look at classes for both of you dealing with newborns or infant basics, and make sure when you schedule them that the father-to-be can attend as well.

Tell the dad when you first start feeling the baby move, and let him lay his hand on your belly to try to feel the baby as well. Encourage him to talk to the baby and read to the belly, and if he is willing, let him give you massages and rub lotion on your belly. When it comes time to deliver, encourage the father to not only be by your side the entire time during delivery, but to stay in the hospital with you at night, sleeping on the pull out chair or couch that is provided so that he can be with the baby every minute that you are. Let him hold the baby, change diapers and bring the baby to you when the baby is crying. Also, have him accompany the baby to the nursery if the baby has to go for the various newborn hearing checks and blood draws.

Just a little effort on your part will help the father feel as involved in the pregnancy as you are, and who could argue that the back rubs and tummy massages aren’t one of the greatest things about being pregnant!

When you first come home with your new baby, there are so many new things to learn that it can be quite overwhelming. One priority, however, is to help your baby establish good sleeping habits. For a long time now baby has been sleeping in your womb, which is quite a restful place. The big, wide world is quite different, and it takes time for baby to learn to adapt. But the sooner you can help baby sleeping well, the sooner you can get some much needed rest yourself!

There are probably as many stories about what helps babies to sleep as there are babies – and the reality is that there isn’t one totally successful secret that works with all babies. However it’s very important to find a way to help your baby to transition between being awake and being asleep. Once baby can do this on his own, he will be able to fall asleep much more easily and with a lot less effort from you. Establishing a routine that baby associates with going to sleep. Use the tips below as a starting point, to try and determine the best way to help your baby through transition. And always remember to trust your instincts – it’s amazing how often they’re right.

Fathering Down

One useful trick if daddy is around at bedtime, is called “fathering down”. Just before putting the baby to bed, daddy should cradle baby, with baby’s head resting on his daddy’s neck. Daddy should then talk to baby in a gentle voice. A male’s voice is much deeper than a female’s, and many babies find that deepness soothing, and so will transition into sleep more easily.

Wearing Down

Another technique is called “wearing down”. No, this doesn’t mean playing with baby until he’s so exhausted that he falls asleep on the floor! The idea is for you place your baby in a sling or carrier – “wear him”, basically – and go about your regular household activities in the lead up to bedtime. This is particularly helpful if baby has been very active and is either too excited to sleep or overtired. Moving about with you helps to rock and soothe baby, and so calm him down in preparation for bedtime.

Driving Down

A more modern option is “driving down”. Most parents have heard of this trick, which basically involves putting your baby in his car seat and driving around for a while until he’s asleep. Unfortunately this is rather inconvenient and uses up petrol, but if you’re desperate, it’s worth a try – it has a very high success rate. When my children were babies, I often used to time driving somewhere or coming home so that it roughly coincided with the start of my baby’s naptime. Then once we were home I’d transfer my baby into his bassinet or crib, and he’d have a lovely long nap. I’ve been known to take the long route home for just this reason!

Although these techniques are generally successful, obviously you don’t want to be obliged to drive around with your baby every night just so he’ll go to sleep. The idea of these techniques is to start out with these more drastic techniques, to help baby learn the feel of going off to sleep, then gradually ease out of them. Replace driving in a car, for example, with being rocked in the bassinet. Always remember that learning to transition into sleep is a big thing for your baby to learn, and it probably won’t happen overnight. With patience and persistence, however, baby will gradually learn how to fall asleep by himself, helping both baby and yourself get a good night’s sleep.

About the Author:

Discover more ideas for helping baby to sleep well at Info About Baby You can sign up for a FREE Baby Tips newsletter at Baby Tips Newsletter. The author’s book about babies is available at Baby’s First Year.