0-1 Years

6 tips for overcoming sleepless nights. At This Dad Can we know how hard sleepless nights can be. Here’s our run down of tips to cope with those eerie nights. 1. Be flexible At times, you may have to back down and accept the situation. Your plans for tomorrow may just have to change; your sleep pattern may be temporarily knocked. Work may temporarily have to suffer. But be safe in the knowledge that you’re being flexible and it won’t always be like this. 2. Learn to listen You’re the best judge of your child.… Read More »6 tips for overcoming sleepless nights

The Sleep (Lack of Sleep) Paradox. We had Oscar in August 2014, excitedly we got ready to meet our new arrival. He came in the night, after 26 exhausting hours. My wife Livvie turned out to be a great mum and got in tune with Oscar very quickly. She knew what he wanted and what he needed when. I took a little longer, Mums have a great gift of hormones. Maybe it was for this reason or the fact I was at work but Livvie took on everything; Cooking, cleaning, looking after Oscar and the… Read More »The Sleep (Lack of Sleep) Paradox

Breastfeeding 7 Top Tips For Dads To coincide with World Breastfeeding Week 2017, we asked mums who had previously breastfed, what advice would they give to new dads regarding breastfeeding? And what can dads do to support them? BEFORE WE HEAR FROM THE MUMS, HERE’S WHAT DADS THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW “Mum’s need reminding to drink lots and eat lots”. “It’s not easy being Dad, as baby may just want mum, but nappy changes can be great as it’s a time that baby is normally alert and responsive to facial expressions and often when our… Read More »What women want

Right here, right now So last minute, as per usual, I confirm that I’ll attend the launch of ‘This Dad Can’, more out of curiosity than anything else. I’d heard a little about it, and I guess I now wanted to hear more so that I could get my head around it a bit more. I went, I sat, I drank tea, I ate biscuits, I listened and I watched. All very interesting stuff, and I went away thinking about what I’d heard. That is until I got off the train, walked to the car… Read More »Right here, right now

One Born Every Minute “Excuse me, are you Tasha and Jonny?” “Erm, yes.” “great, let me just give you your microphones – please wear these at all times…” This conversation is not the one usually had by heavily pregnant ladies and their partners when they arrive at the hospital to deliver a baby. I don’t think its normal to have selected what you will wear that day based on hiding your beer belly or looking cool. Usually, the birthing situation is pretty informal. Usually you’re preoccupied with having a baby and nothing else really matters,… Read More »One Born Every Minute

New Beginnings and New Challenges If you’re reading this, first off, well done, and if you’ve already got rug rats this won’t be new information but if you don’t, here it comes: It’s going to get a lot better, but before that, oh dear lord is it going to get worse! Finding out you’re going to become a Dad can come in a number of forms: completely out of the blue, as a massive relief, the news you definitely didn’t want to receive, and on occasion, weirdly cryptic. Like when your ‘co-copulant’ approaches you with… Read More »New Beginnings and New Challenges

Fathers Day – The Value of Dad We want to recognise the fantastic contribution of all the Dads this Fathers Day. So, we’re rewarding the first twenty This Dad Can forum contributors, with four months free premium membership when the content goes live. All entrants are required to register for a This Dad Can (TDC) account. Contribute to an existing TDC forum topic or start a new topic of your own. To qualify contributors must produce a relevant TDC discussion point (no spam or ads). So what are you waiting for? For full t&c’s head over… Read More »Fathers Day – The Value of Dad

Dad’s & Postnatal Depression (PND) When I met my husband, I knew I wanted to get married, have babies & live happily ever after. I think we can all agree that the latter is easier said than done. Marriage is hard & isn’t always about being happy. I have never experienced it more so than when I had post-natal depression. Emma Isobel Sweeney arrived in September 2014. Chris & I navigated our way through parenthood as best as any new parents, getting used to sleep deprivation, guessing what our daughter needed when she cried for… Read More »Dad’s & Postnatal Depression (PND)

Become a thisdadcan.co.uk contributor Read our blog, now want to be a contributor at thisdadcan.co.uk? Join our community of guest bloggers. thisdadcan.co.uk/blog is a blogger’s community. Being a community blog, we always encourage upcoming bloggers to contribute an original article related to the topic of our blog, in order to showcase themselves in front of a wide audience. The purpose here is to help you to reach out to a new audience base, share your experience, and perhaps most importantly, give something back. Blogging is a great way to help others who are soon to embark on some… Read More »Become a thisdadcan.co.uk contributor

What the election means for your paternity leave. A look at the Manifestos. What the election means for your paternity leave. A look at the Manifestos. At This Dad Can we’ve been deep in political manifestos, to give you a roundup of how your future paternity leave may be impacted by the general election. Currently Paternity Leave consists of 1 or 2 weeks paid leave in the UK. This is stark contrast to Sweden offering 18 weeks, Iceland 12 weeks, Norway 10 weeks, Finland 8 weeks and Lithuania 4 weeks paid paternity leave. However,… Read More »What the election means for your paternity leave.