Baby Tips for New Dads Baby's First Year [Paperback]

Jeanne Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Baby Tips: for New Dads | Publication Date: January 1999

New dads are often as mystified by their wives after they become mothers as they are by their babies!

This book will help any dad adjust to his new role so he can enjoy the experience and be a hero! It humorously expresses a lot of the things new parents think about each other, but won't admit. Mothers will want their husbands to read this book -- and it makes a great gift for new dads.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555611699
• ISBN-13: 978-1555611699
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Content does not match title, August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Tips for New Dads Baby's First Year (Paperback)

I think that this book is pretty good. But it should be calle " Tips for husbands of wives that just had their baby". The whole book is dedicated to tips on how to handle women who have just had a baby and the weeks of the adjustment. As a woman it is really nice advice. But I bought the book to give to my brother who will be a single parent. He needed some advice for men who are first time fathers. So I am really disappointed in the title because it caused me to buy the wrong book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every new dad needs this book because it's funny and true., August 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Tips for New Dads Baby's First Year (Paperback)

My wife and I just recently had our first child and we recieved this book as a gift. We were shocked at how appropiate and well written this book is for new dads. It covers everything that a new father has to handle. It certainly is a must.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Casts pall over what should be happily anticipated, June 19, 2000

By 

Joe (soon to be new father) (San Jose) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby Tips for New Dads Baby's First Year (Paperback)

The book is a collection of tips, one to a page, with pictures intended to lighten the tone. As mentioned in another review, the focus is primarily on helping your wife; the baby is secondary.

Two problems: the tips aren't all that enlightening, and they seem slanted toward shaming or intimidating the new father. A good example is (paraphrased) "If you say 'I'll be back in five minutes,' what she'll hear is 'I consider my activities more important than yours and am abandoning you.'" I protest that the poor guy could be simply picking up dinner for them, or going to the bathroom! Perhaps the author's husband took off when the baby needed changing, and that episode was generalized into the above tip?

Unfortunately, the tone is too Oxygen/'You just don't get it'/patronizing/bitter to be constructive. The book could be boiled down to two pages: "whatever you do is never enough" and "you're not doing it right anyway." I'm glad I know my wife well, we've talked about what we need to do, and she's not like the author at all. Otherwise I would dread fatherhood after reading this book.

There are some truths buried in the pages: Having a baby changes everything, your old priorities are put behind you, you will both be under a lot of stress, you will need to both give of yourself above and beyond what you ever have, and give your partner as much support and understanding as possible. But other books have treated this with more detail and a more professional tone.