Parenting: Expert Guides and Resources

Co-parenting works best when expectations are clear long before disagreements arise. Most conflicts between co-parents aren't caused by bad intentions—they happen when nothing has been decided in advance, leaving every decision to feel urgent and every disagreement to feel personal. The solution is structure. By putting a few key agreements in place early, from communication plans and conflict resolution strategies to financial boundaries and emergency decision plans, you create guardrails that keep your co-parenting relationship steady and shield your children from unnecessary tension.

Here’s a collection of seven traits that are often found in amazing dads — qualities that each and every guy can develop on his journey to becoming a father: Confidence: It takes time to feel truly confident about handling a newborn, but you gain confidence by doing things and getting your hands dirty (literally in some cases), even if at first things don’t go right.

An unfortunate consequence of separation and divorce is that a large number of fathers are separated from their children. Separation should be no barrier to continuing to be a great dad and role model for your child or children.There’s very little difference between the responsibilities of a nonresident father and a living-at-home father.

Camping with children is an outstanding way to share a love for the outdoors without breaking the budget. While family backpacking or camping does take a great deal of planning and loads of patience, it is a rewarding activity for both you and your children. If you have gone camping before, you will quickly realize that to go camping with children requires added responsibility and alertness on a parent's part.

You have either been granted a parenting order by the courts or negotiated with your former partner to be the primary caregiver. It’s more unusual for dads to be primary caregivers than it is for moms, so take pride that you’re blazing a trail for dads everywhere! As the primary caregiver, you’re in charge of your kids.

Pregnancy looks easy when it’s happening to someone else. As a man, you don’t have to endure what’s going on in a pregnant woman’s body 24/7 — and there’s a lot going on. Helping in any way you can is greatly appreciated. Take care of your partner Growing a baby is hard work and takes quite a physical toll on a woman’s body.

Potty training is an important step in childhood development. As a parent, you need to recognize the signs that your child is ready for the toilet talk, institute a potty-training process, keep that process going, and recognize when your child is almost there. Along the way, you need to make sure that your child knows potty-trianing terminology, be able to spot problems that need medical attention, and separate potty-training myths from reality.