10 Vital Items For Your New Dad Survival Kit

Hold On – Do We Deserve One?

Being a new dad is challenging, especially if this is your first. It doesn’t matter how much prep you do; it can still be daunting.

Here you are, in charge of this thing that wasn’t even about a few weeks ago.

Not just in charge – RESPONSIBLE FOR! Wow.

You will also need to support mom, don’t forget that! She has been through a lot. We must be treated, too; we must survive these early stages of being a dad.

We need a new daddy survival kit! But what do we want in it? What will make our lives easier now that we are responsible, good-looking, humorous dads?

As a New Parent, What Do We Want In Our Survival Kit?

I wanted to create a post that explains the best things we would LIKE to see in a new dad’s survival kit.

Because it is all well and good receiving gifts, we like to be able to use them.

The list below doesn’t have to be a complete survival kit, but it is an excellent list to give you some ideas of what to put. Don’t spend your hard-earned cash on every item on this list.

TV Subscription

The rumor is that you don’t get much time when your baby is fresh into this world.

It’s a lie!

To some extent, at least. For example, survival kits for new dads should contain at least a trial to a subscription service if he doesn’t have one already.

When they are older, you look back on when they were a newborn baby and wish you could go back because you had more time!

Trust me, when your kids begin crawling, you are on your feet a lot more than you were when they were a baby, and that is only warming you up for when they start walking, then running!

When your baby sleeps, it is the perfect time to get onto Netflix, Amazon, or other streaming subscription services.

Our heads start to spin a bit with everything going on in the early stages of parenthood. We need to kick our feet up and unwind by escaping reality for a few hours!

Photo Frame

We genuinely do love this as a gift. A photo frame with a picture of our kid is not just something moms think is cute. It’s a top gift in a new dad kit.

I have a picture of my son on my desk (The photo was taken when he didn’t answer me back). It is to relieve the stress at work. Looking at the picture will give dad some added focus on what they are trying to achieve.

I was trying to achieve a stable, safe and warm environment for my son to grow up in.

This is why I work and look at the photograph whenever I need to be reminded.

Coffee

You have to put some coffee in his new dad’s survival kit!

If he does not like coffee, fine, move along. But if, like me, he does, then put some in.

Ground coffee (Italian, please), instant coffee (why?), or coffee beans. Just coffee.

If you can, figure out the coffee he likes. Look in the cupboard to see if he has bought some recently. What you are looking for is the ‘roast’ level.

The roast level is all very technical. Find his favorite.

Caffeine has also been linked with some health benefits, notably reducing the risk of Parkinson’s, a long lifespan, and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease!

Being a total coffee addict, that truly is fantastic news!

Candy/Chocolate

Chocolate isn’t just for moms. I love sitting in front of the TV with a huge bar; it is part of my chilling-out routine.

The sugar will help during those tired moments. The ‘pick-me-up’ will give dad the extra burst of energy needed.

Also, dark chocolate has some excellent benefits for everyone, including a dad!

Recent studies have added weight to the growing evidence that chocolate can positively affect heart health.

That’s right! Look after his health with some dark chocolate!

A Book About Being a New Dad – Make It Good

Pocket Commando Dad is an excellent book for surviving the first year of being a dad!

Trust me; he will love this book! It gives practical and funny advice!

Pocket Commando Dad is a book that is not only highly rated by me but also highly rated on Amazon. Neil Sinclair (The author) presents this book in a no-nonsense way; you need to read this to survive a newborn.

It was exceptionally well written for the dads and dads to be out there!

It is also an excellent read for both parents, but it is his present, so let him read it first.

New Dad Utility Belt – Batman!

All the top people wear utility belts! Look at Batman.

These are pretty funny and very useful, and I wish I had one of these when my son was a baby!

They are baby utility belts with spaces for everything you need for those stinky tasks that form part of a parent’s job!

As soon as he is called upon to take on these thankless tasks, he will grab his belt and rush off like a regular superhero.

Multi-Vitamins

Lack of sleep can induce some health problems.

So what can you do to give the immune system a boost? Multivitamins are the answer!

Tiredness during the day can dumb you down and force you into making silly mistakes. For example, vitamin B12 can perk you up and increase awareness when you didn’t get enough sleep the night before!

With a multivitamin, you can be sure that despite your lack of sleep and your erratic eating patterns (welcome to parenthood!), you will be getting the daily dose of what your body needs in terms of vitamins.

Dad will need these! So will mom.

Berocca is perfect for a quick boost, so throw some of these in for extra dad energy.

Condoms

Give him hope, and raise a smile with a packet of rubber friends!

Give him some light at the end of a long and lonely tunnel!

At the very least, a packet of condoms is excellent for mocking him, perfect for a new daddy survival kit, right?

We know that you won’t be ready as soon as you leave the hospital. Tiredness will kick in with us, and neither will have the energy.

As long as some magic happens before the use-by date passes!

And hey, it also protects us both from another round of childbirth!

PS – don’t get too many; you don’t want to set unrealistic expectations. A friend of mine once said to me, after becoming a dad:

‘When you first get together with a girl, put a coin in a jar every time you have sex. When you become a new dad, take a coin out every time you have sex. You will soon realize that the jar will never be empty.’

Time

Time is very, very precious! 

If you could package up some free time and add it to our ‘daddy to be’ survival kit, that would be awesome!

You might be getting enough sleep, and you might be getting your daily dose of vitamins, but NOTHING helps me reset than having time to myself.

I know that the moms will also want time do to their own thing too before you bring that up!

Why not print off some ‘Time Promises’ and put them in a new dad survival kit? It’s a cheap present and probably one of the most effective too!

Get a bit of A4 paper and print, or write, 1-hour slots marked as ‘Dad’s Time.’ Cut them out and put them in the gift box.

Dad gets to call on these promises whenever he needs to, within reason! i.e., not just after he notices the kid needs a change!

While you are at it, do the same thing for mom! Then she can also call upon these cards in times of need.

The rules are simple – when these ‘time promises’ are called upon, they are only to be disturbed in an emergency.

Dad’s – if you use these to go and have a drink, you need to use the rest to get over a hangover. Do not blow them all in one go!

Bag for ‘New Dad Stuff’

This one is a bit more expensive than the rest, but it is still a great idea! So if you have loads of cash, maybe you could put ALL his gifts in an awesome diaper backpack! One complete new dad survival kit.

An all-in-one backpack for dad is a great idea.

Why?

Because we do not want to be walking around with the one you have bought, I know you think it looks cute, but it isn’t that functional.

Something like this backpack is perfect for everything we need to take the little one out and about.

You don’t have to go overboard, and it doesn’t have to look pretty. Primary man colors are acceptable. Black, grey, and dark blue.

No flowers. I don’t care if it is a girl, just no.