Korn Stefan - Dads Guide to Babys First Year For Dummies

Dads Guide to Babys First Year For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944020

ISBN 978-1-119-27579-4 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-27581-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-27580-0 (ebk)

1. Table of Contents

Welcome to the wonderful, wacky, and yes, sometimes scary, world of dadhood! Being a dad starts before you ever see your babys face and doesnt end until well, it never actually ends.

This book starts at the very beginning and assumes you want to know whats going to happen for the next few years, at least. After all, once youve been a dad for a few years, what more is there to learn? Plenty, of course, but we dont want to overwhelm you, so we concentrate on the first 7 or 8 years.

We wrote this book because we either love being a dad (three of us) or we love the dads in our own lives (the other one of us). We want to see dads succeed, because a good dad can have a huge impact on a little ones life. We also want you to have fun being a dad, because theres more to being a dad than worrying about potty training, good schools, and whether or not your kiddo is good at sports.

Being a dad is an adventure, and were happy to accompany you through the first few years.

One of the best things about a For Dummies book is that we assume youre interested in knowing what you really need to know, without a lot of extra stuff thrown in. But because some guys really do want more detail, we include some extra info in the sidebars, which are shaded boxes. Feel free to read these if you want to dig a little deeper or to skip them if you want just the facts for now.

Keep in mind that this book is a reference book, so you dont have to read this book in order (unless you want to!); just use the table of contents and the index to help you find what youre looking for. You can dip into and out of chapters as you like.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

If youre reading this book, we assume youre either a dad, going to be a dad, or want to be a dad in the future. That doesnt mean that moms cant read this book you can, because theres lots of information here that applies to both parents. If youre a grandparent, this book may help you keep up with whats new in the world of parenting (stop rolling your eyes, we can see you!). If you want more detail about the pregnancy months, pick up a copy of Dads Guide to Pregnancy For Dummies, by Matthew M.F. Miller and Sharon Perkins, RN (Wiley).

Icons point you to certain types of information. In this book, we use the following icons:

Tips include information that may help you be a better dad or partner.

This icon points out information we consider absolutely necessary for good dads to know.

This icon gives you information that can keep you from making a really big mistake in the dad game.

No book can cover everything there is to know on a topic. For that reason and because you may not want to carry this book with you everywhere weve created an online source you can turn to for some quick bites of essential information. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for Dads Guide to Babys First Year For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

The Cheat Sheet for this book includes such valuable information as a step-by-step guide to changing a diaper dads arent born knowing this stuff, after all some suggestions on soothing a crying baby, and best of all, ideas on how to have fun with your baby and toddler.