Firstly, I know Dad Gold is filled to the brim with advice for Dads. This post will take a look at the best books for first-time Dads because sometimes we need to read some advice, and the battery on our phone is dead!
When you are an expectant Dad, you need all the help you can get, right?
Best Books For First-Time Dads
- We Are Pregnant! The First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook
- Pocket Commando Dad: Advice for New Recruits to Fatherhood: From Birth to 12 months
- The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions
- Dude You’re Gonna be a Dad
- Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads
- Heading Home With Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality
We don’t need an instruction manual; we know it already, right?
Here is an exercise for you, close your eyes and go really deep for a minute or two. Get right down and open up that box of feelings that we keep slammed shut (just me?).
Inside, you might find something that gives you the sweats.
The feeling that you get when your partner opens up the internet history on your computer
Did I delete it all?
That feeling is trepidation because you are going to be a first-time Dad. I got it, all my friends got it, and you have probably got it too.
It is natural to be nervous about something this big that you haven’t done before, just chill Man!
The key to being cool about this whole ‘I am going to be a new Dad‘ vibe is preparation. That word is in at least 80% of my posts. You can prepare by asking or by picking up one of the best books for first-time Dads.
Do not look at it like it is an instruction manual.
They will not simply tell you how to change a baby and what to do when they cry (and Mom isn’t available). These books will also prepare you for some other stuff (like being an awesome birthing partner). Stuff you might go through during the birth and long afterward.
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Best Books For First Time Dads
Let’s take a look at some of the best books available. These are in the order that I recommend them.
1. We’re Pregnant! The First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook
We’re Pregnant! the First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook is well written by Adrian Kulp, who is vastly experienced in the art of being a dad.
This witty book will give you everything you need as a first-time dad without any sexist undertones. It is one of the best pregnancy books for dads!
That is extremely important when it comes to writing about this topic for Men. We are not all beer-drinking, knuckle-dragging imbeciles who shy away from getting hands-on when it comes to bringing up a child. We’re Pregnant! the First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook will give you the information you need and will let you get on and deal with it.
By far the best bit about We’re Pregnant! the First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook is the way it is broken down into chunks.
Each section will give you knowledge about what to expect and give you some useful tasks to complete. Top marks!
2. Pocket Commando Dad: Advice for New Recruits to Fatherhood: From Birth to 12 months
The Pocket Commando Dad book is only one part of a range of books written by author Neil Sinclair. All of which are excellent books for new Dads.
You can probably tell the book’s tone by the title and the picture on the front of the book! You guess it; this is a no-nonsense guide to being a new Dad, written in a military style.
Some new Dad books can be a little flowery, they can take a little while to get to the point.
Not Pocket Commando Dad: Advice for New Recruits to Fatherhood: From Birth to 12 months, no sir!
This book will hit you like a 2-week boot camp with a commando.
I have Pocket Commando Dad: Advice for New Recruits to Fatherhood: From Birth to 12 months, I found it very engaging, witty, and full to the brim with useful information. Information that will help you through the first year as a new Dad.
3. The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions
When you will be a first-time Dad, and you are looking for advice, a pediatrician is your perfect guide! The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions is written by Louis Borgenicht and Assistant Professor of Pediatrician.
You may think that a pediatrician will fill a book with complex medical words with little or no engagement for people who do not understand it. If you do, you cannot be more wrong.
The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions book is laid out like an owner manual for a car.
Yes, it may be assuming that the only thing Men can understand is a car manual, but it IS effortless to read. Packed with useful diagrams that you can easily reach out to when you need them. Great first-time dad book!
The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions has the information that you need. There is no back story. There is no self-praise, just a simple, easy-to-understand baby manual.
4. Dude You’re Gonna be a Dad!
Dude You’re Gonna be a Dad! is an awesome book geared towards getting through the pregnancy more than getting through what happens AFTER the pregnancy.
That being said, I love the writing style used by John Pfeiffer! After reading this, you will be pumped up and ready for (mostly) anything that pregnancy and being a new Dad will throw at you!
If you are looking for a pep talk on getting through pregnancy, then you cannot go wrong with Dude You’re Gonna be a Dad!
If you are looking for some practical advice on BEING a new Dad, then go for one of the other options on this page.
5. Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads
Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads looks like an old School book published in the 1970s, but it genuinely isn’t! In fact, it was first published in 2004.
The delivery style is good! In fact, there are a few laughs in there, which kept me entertained when reading (If I don’t laugh, I book the book down)
Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads is another no-nonsense book that covers many topics. Although it does not go into a great deal of detail, it does cover what you need to know about being a new Dad.
6. Heading Home With Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality
I had to have a book on here that was not geared towards Men. One that the author did not write with comedy in mind.
The reason is that bringing a baby home for the first time can be very daunting, and there is some stuff you need to know that the other books may not touch upon.
In Heading Home With Your Newborn, the new Dad can receive tips from a Pediatrician and recommend by Pediatricians!
The focus of this book is the first 4 months, which can be the most complicated time in a child’s life. It can also be the easiest (assuming you are lucky and have a good sleeper!).
Although a medical professional writes it, Heading Home With Your Newborn is written in a very readable manner. The explanations are clear and research-based.
They will give you the added confidence that you can believe what the author is telling you! You can easily use this book as a point of reference during your newborn’s first few months and beyond.
Best Books For First Time Dads – Conclusion
If you or someone you know is about to become a Dad for the first time, the selection of books here will give you what you need. After careful consideration, these are all the best books for new dads!
Because this book needs to be written with Dad in mind, many of them lean towards comedy more than going into great depth about WHY you need to know what the book is telling you.
Perfect reading material for me!
If I want to know more, I am more than happy to investigate further.
The last book here goes into more depth and offers a little more than simply a ‘first-time dad book.’
If I could roll back the clock and go through being a Dad for the first time, then I would certainly be buying these books so I can swat up before the big day!
There are also quite a few posts on DadGold.com that will help you prepare to be a first-time Dad, so don’t forget to check back for some real-world advice!
Good luck!