How can I be a better Dad the second time around?
As we’re expecting our 2nd kid, one thing that I’m wondering is: “How can I be a better Dad the second time around?”
I mean, you might think that I’m beating myself up here, but really, its not like that. I its more like: I’ve been given the blessing of being able to raise a second child, so how could I do it differently?
The one thing that was really hard for me was the breastfeeding phase with Mr. Busy Belly. He was quite a finicky eater, and as a Dad, it was really hard. We were trying to not feed him formula too much, because that has the double-detrement of both reducing “supply” and getting baby used to the feel & speed of a bottle instead of “the real thing”. There were times when he’d be crying, and my wife would be at her wits end, and I just didn’t know what to do. This is the one thing that I think I could have been a better Dad, but I’m still puzzled as to what the right solution was, and I’m a bit nervous to have to go through it again. I always felt that pumping+bottle was the only way I could really help out, but I also understood my wife’s aversion to the entire pumping situation, and I agree that it feels ridiculous to be pumping when there’s a hungry little person sleeping just feet away…
There are lots of other places where I feel I could have been better, but I also realize that having a second kid is going to be totally different. Maybe my job this time will be to take Mr. Busy Bottom away for a few hours? Maybe it’ll be the opposite and Mom will want to spend time with the “big kid”. Maybe its something new entirely?
So, fellow Dads, what did you do to get through that breastfeeding phase? You know what I mean — its that time when baby is off-limits, where you have to tread litely and watch what you’re saying. A misplaced “I think he might be hungry” and you’ll get quite an earful… And whats it like having a second (or third?) How does the role of “Dad” change for the first 3 months? How’d you make it through, and what can I do to prepare?
