Ray Romano's Advice for Dads

Celebrity dads go through the same grind as any first-time dad, including having fatherhood jitters. Ray Romano admits that he was no different. In his recent appearance on the Today show, Ray confessed to Matt Lauer that he was so nervous after his first child was born that he couldn’t get anything right.

The Everybody Loves Raymond star remembered the birth of his daughter Alexandra over 19 years ago, which led to his first dad debacle, followed by his first lesson in parenting as well.

“My daughter was born at St. Vincent’s Hospital right here in New York,” he says. “I went to pick them up, my wife and child, and [with my] newborn baby in my arms, [I] go outside [and say], ‘Where’s my minivan?’ I parked in a tow-away zone so we had to go to Queens in a yellow cab. My daughter came home in a yellow cab.”

Ray and his wife Anna are also parents to 16-year-old twins Matthew and Gregory, and Joseph Raymond, 11. The 51-year-old star admits that raising four kids has made him wiser. He has some very good advice for dads, “My advice is just let the woman tell you where to go and what to do.”

Ray Romano is also the voice of the mammoth, Manny, in Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which is now in theaters.

Know More About Postpartum Depression In Dads

Postpartum depression is traditionally thought to affect exclusively moms as they are the ones who go through the most significant changes in their bodies and their psyches. However, it is common among dads too. In fact, a recent study published in the August 2006 issue of the journal Pediatrics, reports that about ten percent of all fathers in the U. S. are affected by postpartum depression.

Symptoms of postpartum depression in dads may include:

• Strong feelings of emptiness or sadness
• Tendency to withdraw from others such as family and friends
• Feelings of failure
• Suicidal thoughts

Dads who suffer from postpartum depression:

• Exhibit reduced positive interaction with their babies.
• Are less likely to read stories, talk, or sing to their babies.

Additionally, babies whose parents both suffer from depression are:

• Fussier and less well-socialized
• Less likely to be put on their backs to sleep-this is important as it helps prevent the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Less likely to be breastfed.
• More likely to be put in bed with a bottle-a practice linked with tooth decay and ear infection.

Possible reasons for postpartum depression among dads include:

• Increased responsibilities
• Financial worries
• Feelings of entrapment
• Loss of freedom

Dads can avoid postpartum depression by:

• Watching for symptoms that signal depression such as increasing irritability or hostility.
• Discussing their problems with a doctor or a counselor who can deliver diagnosis and treatment for the same.
• Sharing their feelings with their spouses.

You are truly ecstatic about the impending birth of your baby. But, deep down, you are also grappling with fears regarding your new status as a father. Read some of the emotions many new fathers feel.

Dad Site - Because Dads Don’t Always Think Like Moms

Try this. Search 'parenting' in any search engine and you'll be surprised to see that almost all the results featuring websites created for moms. Not only is the shortage of good information on dads frustrating, but also the status quo for dad sites is not the same. The fact is that most parenting websites conveniently ignore dads.

Feeding this is the stereotype that dads are always "away, earning the bread" while moms play the all-important role of nurturing kids. Thankfully, with changing times, terms like 'stay-at-home-dad', 'gay dad', 'single dad' don't attract puzzled stares that would have been the case just a few decades back.

Why a Dad Site
Dads are as important as moms in the lives of their children. According to research, children with little or no contact with their fathers are more likely to drop out of school and become involved in drug, alcohol abuse, crime, and violence. Even many fathers who are around their children are not emotionally present.

Dads' parenting style is quite different from moms. One is not better than the other. In fact, research has revealed that kids develop more completely when the parenting styles of dads and moms complement each other. It is important to understand that fathers parent differently because dads don't always think like moms.

What most dads need is a single place to discuss parenting issues and experiences with each other and improve their parenting skills. That's where a good dad site comes in. A good parenting website built by and for men can help them become the dads their children desperately need.

Dad Site for the New Age Dad
Clearly, men are from Mars which is why most parenting issues are alien to them. The new age dad is now grappling with new terms like ectopic pregnancy and pregnancy calculator that his forbears would have been careful about discussing in public. Considering this shift in attitude, a dad site needs to cater to common but embarrassing questions such as "is sex during pregnancy bad?" and also provide fathers with information on how to deal with the overwhelming experience of being a father.

As Paul Banas, founder of GreatDad, points out, "Many dads today are more involved in parenting but have limited resources from a man's point of view from which to better understand the challenges of their changing role." It was this thought that led Paul to start the only online parenting resource with a dad's point of view. In fact, GreatDad.com is the only dad site to offer a pregnancy newsletter for fathers.