A Dad's Guide to the First Year (New Father Series)

This books in really helpful in cutting all the info down to what a dad really wants to know. Unlike some other books geared to dad's, this is a serious discussion of the important role dads play without being patronizing

My husband read these books. I noticed during my pregnancy he would speak up about things he had read. He felt more confident. He was also more prepared and understanding during delivery and once we brought the baby home. I recommend these.

Bought this because Armin's first book, The Expectant Father was helpful. This book was not. Did not provide much good advice and a lot of the stuff in this book repeats itself and was already stated in Expectant Father. Felt like there was a lot of page filling...

I recommend instead 'Be Prepared' and 'Happiest Baby on the Block'

This was a wonderful companion during my first year of being a new father. It really helped me understand that what I was going through was normal, it reinforced so many instances of parenting, and was wonderful guide throughout. This should be a must read for any new fathers!

The book has really good practical information. Even my wife (who has read several books about pregnancy and new born babies) finds useful and easy to follow information in this book. I'm really glad I bought it.

My husband absolutely loves this audio book and with his busy schedule he doesn't have much time to read. He just pops in a cd while on the go. He's learning so much and is excited to listen to the next one! His enthusiasm contagious!

Currently reading this book. The only reason I gave it a 4 star rating rather than a 5 star is due to the slight lack of proofreading. Since this is in the 3rd edition, I didn't expect to find so many grammatical errors

Being a new parent is difficult and finding information for fathers can be challenging. I found the first book in the series helpful, and this one is also offering solid insight into my child. A great resource for dads.

Pretty solid advice all around. There are a couple of jokes in there that I found troublesome like the one about how great it would be to have a hot young nanny around, but those were few and far between. Seems like the best book out there that speaks directly to men about parenting so hey!

I guess there is some usefull information here, but i just dont trust this book. Forgive me for not remembering the exact items i had issue with, but while reading I came across several topics that I knew to be false, or over simplified, making me question anything I may have learned.

That complaint aside, I found the book to be incredibly repetitive. It felt that a third of the book was repetition, a third was the author trying to convince you why you should listen to this book, and the final third was the content the book was purchased for. I read through 3/4 of the book, unless the last 1/4 of the book is where it redeemed itself, i would not recommend at all.

My husband got turned off pretty quickly by this book when the author discussed bringing the placenta home to bury and grow something over. He said he will use it as a reference book but likes another book better (Be Prepared).

A baby that is intact (not circumcised) should NEVER have his foreskin retracted. It is literally fused to the glans (head) of his penis!!! Pulling it back before it has naturally separated can lead to infections and scar tissue!!! Only the child himself should retract his penis as he matures. Once he reaches puberty and his foreskin is retractable, he should retract and simply rinse in the shower, no soap should be used on the glans!

Please anyone who is reading this, visit yourwholebaby.org and read about how to properly care for an intact newborn's penis (you literally just wipe it off)!!!!!

I have previously read Armin Brott's "The Expectant Father" in preparation for the birth of our first child and found it to be very helpful. So, I plunged into his "The New Father" as soon as our daughter was born, hoping for more of the same, and Brott delivered. The greatest strength of Brott's books is their comprehensive nature, covering a host of expected topics and addressing many more issues that never would have occurred to me. Rather than the juvenile attempts at humor that fill most books for new dads, apparently addressed to a population of men who are much more interested in sophomoric jokes than actually becoming capable fathers, Brott takes his audience seriously. He intentionally presents a wide swath of parenting choices to avoid unnecessarily alienating those who think differently than he does, while also freely offering reflections and rationale behind his own fathering decisions. In this regard, he strikes a good balance, which is very difficult in regard to something as potentially polarizing as parenthood.

Having read the book chapter by chapter over the course of our daughter's first year, I do not remember a lot of the specifics that I read almost a year ago at the beginning of the book. But his month-by-month approach helps to divide the exhaustive content into digestible chunks, and I felt like it was very appropriately paced. Certainly, the content is a bit dry at times, and many of his periodic attempts at humor fell rather flat for me. But I wasn't reading this book to laugh; I was reading to learn. And Brott offers sufficient content to insure that I learned a great deal.

If we are blessed with more children in the future, I suspect that I'll refer back to this book to address particular topics that may escape my memory a few years from now. And I'm certainly glad to have read "The New Father." As I plowed through it this past year, I am confident that I became significantly better equipped for fatherhood. I'm happy to recommend it to any new father who may feel a bit unqualified and is willing to sift through a lot of information to become more informed about how to successfully navigate the challenges, trials, and many joys of fatherhood.

After hearing me complain that he didn't take enough interest in what sorts of milestones our son was supposed to be going through, my husband was the one who bought this book. I told him that the books I already had would tell him everything he wanted to know...but he saw this book aimed towards the father and thought it would be more helpful for him.

So who ended up reading it? Me - of course. My husband read the baby's progress for the month that he bought it and set it aside. I've found it to be a helpful book, although some of the milestones were a little off for EVERY baby. The author makes the mistake of not saying, "Your baby may be able to..." or "He/She might be sitting up/crawling/etc." Instead he says, "He can get to a sitting position from his stomach" (this is in the 7 month chapter). Oh really? Says who?

I'm not overly offended by this, though. I know that all babies reach milestones on their own time, of course, and it won't result in me rating this book poorly because it does have GREAT information (at the bottom of page 22-23 there is a great chart that explains the APGAR score to you, on page 132-133 check out 'The Nine Temperament Traits of Babies' for fun and see if you have an 'easy' or a 'challenging' child, height & weight charts are also included on the last page!).

Not only does this book focus on what baby is doing, it focuses on what Mom is going through Post-partum not only physically, but emotionally. What a considerate man to add this part of the book. Sometimes we new moms feel forgotten in the fuss over the baby. I enjoyed reading about what was supposed to be going on with ME after the baby was born and I was watching my body heal itself (Again, what did I say? If ONLY you could get your husband to read it). It doesn't forget dads either...it talks about feelings of jealousy towards the child, fear of being like your own father, changing sexual relationships with your wife, etc.).

It's a great book for mom AND dad. Lots of bulletin-pointed info, easy reading, and some cute cartoons. Another must-have book for the first year of life.

The New Father is a summary of information about parenthood during the first year of the baby's life. Unlike many books not geared specifically to men, it presents information in a concise, direct way without a great deal of context. For this reason it is much less annoying than a great number of other pregnancy/parenthood books.
I bought this book for my partner, but ended up using it a lot myself. Organized by month, the book presents a lot of information that some of my other books didn't. In the fourth month Armin A. Brott discusses temperament, presenting a table of nine temperamental traits that babies are born with and the indicators of those traits. The balance between work and family is given a lot more page space than in other books, and money issues as a possible stressor is discussed as well.
Brott could have expanded some of his topics. I'd like the book to have been longer and more complete. Some topics are barely introduced and then dropped before they are fully addressed. But like parents, no parenting book is perfect. I recommend this book for new parents of all genders.

This will make an excellent gift for any new fathers. It is written by a father for fathers, and is one of the few books of the seemingly millions of parenting books meant especially for dad.
It is broken into chapters corresponding with each month of a new baby's first year, and I have found myself going back to my well worn copy each month to re-read the chapter for a particular month. This is a good reference, but is unusually well written for a parenting book. Your dad friends (and the moms) will thank you for this nice gift when they get it, but more importantly, throughout the first year. I assure you they will use this book.

I have really appreciated this book over the past 18 months, as my wife and I anticipated the birth of our child, and as he grew into a happy, bubbly one year old.
I've passed on copies to other fathers and will continue to share this wisdom with others.
There have been plenty of times I've reread chapters in anticipation of what was to come, dreaming of the time I would again be able to sleep through the night, hear my son call me "da", dance for the first time.
All of these events have occurred and are treasured in my heart.
This book helped keep me comfortable and informed through times of great change, great responsibility and overwhelming circumstances.
Moved by the sensitivity and good humor in the pages of this book, I respond by saying buy this book
A mans perspective in a field overflowing with women's experience based books is rare indeed.
Read the book and be reminded that there are other men in the world who take the time to consider their actions, take responsibility when appropriate and believe that having a child is the greatest growth experience a person can have, but only when they remain involved and loving.
Buy it for yourself, buy it for a friend.

I bought this book for my husband after pouring through MANY fathering books. I read it more than my book on the first year! It has tons of useful information without being too wordy and is organized beautifully! It's written by a man to men for understanding and knowing what to expect (next or currently). It is a great find and a must-have!

This the perfect book to read after reading Armin Brott's The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-To-Be. It breaks everything down each month in a very simple, easy to read way. The book talks about what the baby should be doing, how you are feeling, how the mother is feeling, and what you should and should not be doing.

I think it is the perfect book for any first time father.

I am buying The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years today.

We received the "New Father" version along with the many other books that you get given at a baby shower. As a result, it went on the shelf like all the others ;) One day, we dipped into it and have found it to be the best "one stop" resource we have. Although written with a fathering focus, we have found the book to be an invaluable resource for us as our child has grown (he is now 18 months and we are using the Toddler edition). More than any other book, the developmental stages outlined at the beginning of each paragraph have proved spot on every single time; remarkably so in fact. Furthermore, these books cover issues that you really battle with as new parents (separation anxiety, sharing, etc., ) to great depth and with a pragmatic approach. eat. A great series!!

Really good book about parenting, it made a lot of sense everything i read, and really practical book, even my wife read it from time to time because her motherhood books where really big and complicated