Hellobee Dads

I have not read the Happiest Baby on the Block, but my DW is always reading different parenting and child raising books, so I tend to get the cliff-notes versions of them later on.
We did know about swaddling, sucking(I would use my pinkie(nail down) and DS liked it better than pacifier), shushing and swinging, I did not hear about the side/stomach positions though. That is interesting to know. We read the Dr. Sears books before having DS, and I actually read this (or most of it anyway).

Since DW was better at putting the LO to bed, she did it most of the time, until recently. I wish I started helping out with that sooner. It is amazing how overwhelming a simple task of putting a baby to bed is. I wrote down the steps to the routine, to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Biggest dad mistake, would probably be getting frustrated with DS when he wouldn't go to sleep. Little did I know, that my frustration was actually making it much harder for him to settle down and go to sleep.
It really helped me to keep in mind that a baby doesn't cry for no reason(usually) and there is a reason for them crying(hungry, tired, gas, dirty diaper, etc.). The reason DS was crying was mostly due to being exhausted and wanting to fall asleep, keeping this in mind that my son was having just as hard a time as me and he wanted to fall asleep just as much as I wanted him to totally changed my frustration into compassion and sympathy, this made those rough nights a lot easier, on both of us.

aw! i love the dad thread. and the dad perspective. If only DH was active on the computer. (but then he would have to know english)

Ditto on the frustration part.

@Mr. Jacks: haha good to know. I always thought it was cause we don't have the boobs. My son, whenever being held by DW, always just tries to eat.

@mrbee: Actually, my son is pretty timid, so he does not really cry as much as he fusses. He only cries, when very upset (either he got hurt/trapped/scared or he is very tired or very hungry)
I have seen that he gives off cues for when he is tired (yawning, rubbing eyes, his eyes get a little red around them, etc.) and when he is hungry, makes sucking faces, moves his head from side to side tries to suck on anything you put near him, etc.
He does not really cry when he has a dirty diaper, but I usually change him pretty frequently, so I may just not have seen it.
There is definately a difference between his scared and extremely tired cry.

It definately didn't happen over night, and the more I spent with DS the more I got to know him. I am sure it will only get easier to address his needs as time goes on, as long as I stay attentive.