Life, as you know it now, will never be the same. While your child is an infant, your spare time will be devoted to your wife and your baby. changing diapers, warming bottles and lack of sleep are all in store for the new father. As a toddler, your baby will be discovering everything. remember, this is all new to your baby. be sure to cover the electrical outlets and lock the cabinet doors. discovery is the key word for a baby. As preteen, your child will be intermingling with other children, its age. a time for more discovery. As a teenager, your troubles are just really beginning. be prepared to dish out money for everything, clothes, cellphone, and money for those first dates. also, be prepared for puberty and the age of becoming an adult. This may sound overwhelming, but you are not alone. raising a child is just part of a normal life and most of us go through it, without any problems. others require outside help. Love your children and grow up with them. never loose track that you are their father. you are their for guidance, as well as for punishment, if the need be.

Read books and listen to other parents. Understand you are not the first person to be a father, and that you can get help from other parents. Practice patience. Learn to think before you talk, take a deep breath before you yell, and understand it's ok to get angry with your child. Just learn when to walk out of the room before you lose your cool. Understand your child is not on a schedule that others make for them. They do not have to talk by age one, or be totally potty trained by age two. Children are different and must be allowed to grow on their own. Worry if they're not close to the scale. It's not a competition. Keep your baby (and you and mom) away from artificial food additives, dyes, and preservatives. You don't have to eat organic, but know that nasty stuff is made of petroleum products and are known to cause health problems. Start on the Feingold Diet now so you all can be healthy. Make sure the vaccines haven't any mercury or thimeresal in them, and that they're spaced out properly. See if your pediatrician will wait on some of them until the baby is much older. They may not have absolute proof they can cause autism, but there's some tie, BUT you must have the vaccines. Help your wife as much as you can when the baby is young. You'll get important one on one time and mom will get some rest. Make time for you and mom alone!! Do NOT let yourselves become parents and lose each other in the baby. Put your marriage first, the baby second, and you will all be happier. Hold your baby a lot. Never let them "cry it out." A baby needs love and protection. You can't spoil a baby with hugs and snuggles. Good luck! Get lots of sleep now because you won't be sleeping well for a looong time. :)