The Perfect Gift for the New Abbeville, AL Dad

by Jill Weinlein

Calling all new Dads! Pregnant Mommies, please pass this on to your husband. The information in this article can change your life for the better. The National Center for Health Statistics states that more than 4.1 million babies were born last year, and approximately 1.5 million men become new fathers every year. Happy Fathers Day! When our first child was born, my husband and I went to a few parenting classes. Most of the classes focused on labor and delivery, barely touching on what to expect and do when we brought our baby home. Without an instruction manual, we acted on instinct. I wished I had learned about Boot Camp for New Dads.

Boot Camp Founded at the Irvine Medical Center on Father's Day in 1990 by Greg Bishop, health care consultant and father of four, Boot Camp for New Dads is a non-profit, father-to-father, community-based workshop beginning 1-2 months before new babies are born. A coach and three or four "veteran" fathers of the program lead the three-hour classes. Veterans bring their 2-4 month old babies to demonstrate hands-on, real-life experiences. It's characterized as "a nursery in a locker room" where no females, over two-feet, are allowed. The program empowers soon-to-be Dads to be confident and comfortable with the birth of their child and raising this new life, instead of feeling lost and unsure of what to do.

Rookie Dad Working in trauma centers throughout the nation, Bishop noticed many of the kids brought in didn't have a father. When they did, their Dad was often uninvolved or abusive. Bishop started these Boot Camps for fathers to realize that they aren't secondary in importance and have as much impact on a child's life as their wife in forming attachments with their newborns. It's a place where men can talk to each other about fatherhood. Rookies see veterans cuddle and interact with their babies, and let rookies hold them. It's a special moment when a rookie holds a baby for the first time. Watching veterans change diapers, feed a bottle, and burp their babies, the rookies say, "I can do this."

Love and Marriage

Boot Camp is also about discussing wives and the changes that occur when they become new Moms. Studies show that two-thirds of marriages decline in quality after the first child is born. Boot Camp encourages Dads to become proactive in the childrearing duties to create more time, love, and energy for family building.

Where to Find Them Boot Camps are offered in hospitals, community centers, health clinics, churches, and temples. Men of all types, races, and economic levels are welcome to be empowered. Bishop also has a new fatherhood book, Hit the Ground Crawling: The Essential Guide for New Fathers, focusing on the 15 years of fatherly wisdom shared at Boot Camp for New Dads. It's a must for new Dads and a great Father's Day gift for dads-to-be.

For additional information, and to find classes near you, go to www.bcnd.org.

Jill will celebrate Father's Day with two awesome dads, her own father and her husband. To contact Jill to either nominate someone to be featured as an Angel Among Us or to learn more about someone you've read about in her articles, please contact her at weinlein@familymagazinegroup.com.