The New Daddy Guide and 10 Helpful Gifts for Husband When Baby is Born

Your husband is a new father, and it must be scary as hell for him. We understand! Newborns bring a sense of joy and satisfaction, however, along with it comes a trepidation and a certain degree of chaos. No one has to tell new parents, especially new fathers, how much your life changes when you have a baby. There are many new things you’ll experience when you have a baby – from holding the baby for the first time to seeing him or her smile for the first time.

Your husband is 6 feet tall, and your baby is just 20 inches. He or she can fit in the palm of his hand easily, causing your husband to feel awkward, like a clumsy giant, afraid of dropping the baby. Make sure your husband is sitting when he carries the baby for the first time. He needs to remember that the baby’s head is heavy and has weak neck muscles. Make sure that one of his hands is supporting the body and the other is under the back of his/her head. There are different ways to hold a baby that you husband can try: cradle hold, belly hold, face-to-face hold, snuggle hold, and football hold.

Your newborn baby is going to be a poop and pee machine, and changing diapers is a task that you are probably least excited about. You’ll be amazed how much of waste your little one can produce. Diaper duty is no fun, but it’s necessary when your baby poops every two hours to be precise, so rest assured you’ll both get plenty of experience to clean your little one and keep them in shipshape condition.

The most important skill your husband needs to master, especially if you both wish to maintain your sanity, is being able to calm your baby when it cries. First you need to work out why your baby is crying: is it because she is hungry or is it sleepy, or they could even be hurt. Although this reasoning might sound quite obvious to you, when your baby is bringing the roof down it’s hard to think about it. A few tricks and tips to help soothe your baby are: rock and swing, make some noise, sing to them, take a walk or just be downright silly to make them smile. Just know that every baby is different so you have to learn on the fly and figure out what works for you by trial and error.

You might have loved to travel when it was just you and your husband, but with a kid in the equation it’s a whole different story. Boarding a plane with an infant can be an intimidating idea. What if he cries, what if she doesn’t sleep, what if they’re cranky throughout the entire journey, will we be able to handle; these are some of the thoughts you’d probably have. But, you’d be surprised to know that in fact this is the best time to hit the road. At three months, a bottle is all that requires to keep them entertained. They really have few needs, and fewer opinions, it really doesn’t make any different to them if they’re in India or the Maldives.

A lot of your time will be spent on cleaning and getting things off of the floor. At first it’s going to be all kinds of bodily fluids: poop, pee, barf. And after that you’re going to be dealing with food material: fruit slices, or other food items. And once you’re kid grows, the list will include glitter, forgotten noodles, paper, and anything else that can be shredded by small hands. Rather than try to clean up the mess with your hands, invest in a good rechargeable, cordless hand vacuum to clean up the mess that’s going to be a constant in your house.

Yes, you read it right. However, there’s a lag between when a child is ready to be left in the care of someone else other than its parents and when the parents are actually ready to leave them. Your baby is ready to be left alone as soon as they can be bottle-fed or go fours hours between nursing, however the parents are not ready to leave until much later, when they’re emotionally ready to be part from them for a few hours. Just remember that fatigue and frustration are cumulative and you need to take a break once in a while. You and your husband might not be ready for it or you might not realise how badly you need one; enlist the help of your parents or friends to babysit your little one for a few hours and go on a brief date. And trust us, everything will look more manageable after a good meal and a glass of wine.

Are you worried you might use too many wipes or using too many wipes might hurt your little one? There’s no such thing as using too much or too little. The hygiene of your little and yourself are well served by the generous and preemptive use of wipes. So go ahead and be use every bit of it.

There’s nothing cuter that wearing Quoted Baby and Daddy T-Shirts, especially this one. Daddy’s t-shirt has the quote “There’s this girl who stole my heart. She calls me dad” and the little one’s t-shirt has “I stole my daddy’s heart”. Made out of cotton, this t-shirt will be comfortable and safe for your daughter to wear. You can buy this cute set on Amazon for Rs.999.

Congratulate your husband on your baby’s arrival with a personalised mug with a message stating he’s the best dad. He will be very happy and will feel proud every time he sees the mug. Made out of ceramic, it can hold up to 300 ml, making it a perfect coffee mug. You can get this Best Dad theme mug on Giftcart for Rs.225.

A Double Position Baby Carrier is most definitely a good investment as a gift for your husband. You cannot hold an infant for too long, you’ll grow tired, your arms and back are going to hurt, it’ll just wear you out. You should get a good carrier as soon as you know your baby has the strength to hold its head up straight unaided. And this Double Position Baby Carrier is one of those good baby carriers. It can carry up to 13 kilos, it has adjustable head support, and padded shoulder straps. If you baby is more than 3 months old, you should get this right away on giftcart.com for Rs.1425.

Once you have a baby, you might have realized that noise is a permanent factor in your house. If your husband enjoys watching the news or a movie late night, but he has to forgo his favourite activity because you don’t want him to wake up the baby, we’ve got just the thing for you - JBL C300SI On-Ear Dynamic Wired Headphones. If you want to give your husband a little bit of peace and quietness so that he can enjoy some alone time, this is a perfect gift you can give your husband. He can experience completely immersive and engrossing listening experience with these headphones. This is available on Amazon for Rs.999

Custom footprint or handprint cufflinks make a wonderful gift for a new father. If you wish to give your husband a wonderful, sentimental gift then a Personalised Cufflinks from Etsy is perfect for it, making it a keepsake that your husband can treasure for years to come. All you need to do is send an image and the the image is mounted inside the silver plated cufflinks and then sealed with jewelers grade resin beneath a crystal clear glass cabochon that both enhances and protects the image. This keepsake is priced at Rs.2,111 only. Order it here.

As a new parent, you cannot step out of your house without a diaper bag. You need one to carry all the essential items like diapers, clothes, bottle, tissues etc. Don’t allow your husband to carry these items in just any bag, carry all these essential items in an attractive bag – the Babymoon 5 in 1 Backpack Style Diaper Bag Polka Dots Print. It’s large capacity allows you to carry all the items you’ll require for your baby, it’s easy to clean and most importantly waterproof. You can buy this product on First Cry for Rs.2,658.

When the baby is feeling unwell and kicking up a fuss, not to mention bawling his or her eyes out, the last thing you can get her to keep in her mouth is a thermometer; at least not long enough to get a reading that is. Now imagine this scenario with your hapless husband in charge. Your heart does go out to him doesn't it. What can come to the rescue is a pacifier thermometer, which is exactly what it sounds like - a pacifier that also reads your baby's temperature.

There are plenty of them available in the market, pick one which is a good size to sit comfortably in your baby's mouth, made by a reliable brand and is made of safe material. Also check if it reads temperature accurately. You can try the Summer Infant Pacifier Thermometer which comes in a pack of 2, coloured teal and white. While it is of a good size, some users on Amazon say it takes long to read the temperature. However it does have a 3.5 star rating based on over 400 reviews. Buy it for Rs.1,437 here.

As a new parent, we’re sure child safety is a top priority for you, and one such item that ensures your child is safe when travelling is the infant car seat – LuvLap Infant Baby Car Seat Cum Carry Cot. This baby car seat is suitable for newborn babies up to 15 month old babies. It’s ergonomically designed to make sure your baby is comfortably supported and safe while travelling in your car. This should be a must-have item on your list, get this right away on Amazon for Rs.2,453.

You’ll be shocked at the number of times your baby pees on you just when you were changing the diaper. If you’re blessed with a baby boy, the pee pee teepees will come in handy. He will no longer be vulnerable to the attacks from the little boy during diaper changing times. He’ll just have to place the pee pee teepees on the baby’s wee-wee and voila, problem solved. Made entirely out of pure cotton, it comes in a set of five. What’s more, it’s washable and reusable too. You can purchase this useful gift on Kiron for Rs.2,890.

Let’s admit it, the whole setup of the maternal and child healthcare system doesn’t include the topic of new new dads in all the celebrations. Since the system concentrates so much on new mothers, her needs and challenges – new dads find themselves on shaky ground, completely unprepared for their transition to fatherhood.

Send some love and care his way too so that he feels included. Also make sure you communicate with your partner. Gone are the days when childcare was solely left to mothers or other female relatives, fathers are now taking up a greater share of childcare tasks too.