Dear new dad,
Picture the first week home.
She’s sore and she’s tired. The baby is feeding every couple of hours. Family keeps texting. And you’re standing in the kitchen, ready to help, not sure where to start.
You want to be good at this. Not “helping out.” Actually good at it. The guy who has things handled, so she doesn’t have to ask.
The problem is simple. Nobody showed you how.
Why “just ask her what she needs” isn’t enough
She’s recovering from birth and running on broken sleep. Asking her to manage you, too, is one more job on her list.
What she needs is someone who notices the job, plans it and finishes it. That is a skill. And like any skill, it gets easy once someone shows you the moves.
The First-Year Dad Playbook: the moves, chapter by chapter
- Her first six weeks. What recovery after a vaginal birth or a C-section involves, the typical lifting and driving limits, and the jobs that become yours.
- Know when to act. The warning signs after birth that mean call her doctor right away, or 911. Saved on your phone.
- The baby, hands-on. Holding, diapers, burping, the bath, the swaddle and safe sleep, step by step.
- Feeding support. How to help with breastfeeding, how to make formula safely and give a bottle, and how long milk keeps.
- Night shifts so you both rest. A shift plan and the 2am handoff script.
- Running the house. Meals, laundry, and how to be the visitor gatekeeper, with the texts to send your family.
- What to say. Word-for-word scripts for the hard moments, including how to repair one.
- Staying a team. A ten-minute weekly team talk, a fair split of the work, and taking the pressure off intimacy.
- When it’s more than tired. The signs that mean she needs more than rest, the numbers to call, and how to bring it up.
- You matter too. Your own stress, where dads can get support, and a small support circle.
$19 once · Instant download · Start today
The words, not just the ideas
Most advice tells you to “be supportive.” This book tells you what to say.
When family wants to drop by: “We’re keeping visits short and planned. Please text me first.”
At the 2am handoff: “Last feed was at __. Last diaper was at __. I need you to take over now.”
When she says she’s failing: “I see how much you’re doing. What part feels hardest right now?”
Every chapter ends with one job you can do today, and a line to write it down.
Built on the real guidance
The recovery, warning-sign, feeding and safe-sleep pages follow the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the National Institutes of Health. Every source is listed, so you can open it yourself.
Here’s everything you get
We asked what stops dads from using a book like this. Then we added a fix for each answer.
The core
The First-Year Dad Playbook
10 chapters, 52 pages. Her recovery, the baby, feeding, nights, the house, what to say, staying a team, when it’s more than tired, and you.
Value $29
Bonus 1 · for “I’ll never sit down and read a book.”
The phone edition
The whole playbook sized for your phone. Read a page on the couch, in a parking lot, or while the baby naps on you.
Value $9
Bonus 2 · for “I’ll forget what to do next.”
The First Six Weeks checklist
One page for the fridge. Three jobs for each of the first six weeks, so you always know the next thing.
Value $7
See the pages for yourself
These are real pages from the playbook. Tap any one to open it full size.
$19 once, no subscription · Instant download · 7-day refund
So what does it cost?
| The First-Year Dad Playbook | $29 |
|---|---|
| Bonus 1: The phone edition | $9 |
| Bonus 2: The First Six Weeks checklist | $7 |
| Total value |
You won’t pay $45. You won’t even pay the $29 the book is worth alone.
Today, the whole playbook is $19, one time.
That’s about 37¢ a week for the first year. Less than the coffee you’ll need after the first night home.
Now picture next week
Dinner is made before she thinks about it. The bathroom is stocked. Your mom texted, and you already answered.
At 2am you take the baby, do the diaper and the burp, and hand her a glass of water. You know the signs that mean call the doctor, and the number is saved.
And on Sunday, you sit down for ten minutes and ask, “What felt heaviest this week?”
That’s the dad she brags about to her friends. The one she never has to remind.
Buying this for him?
Hand him the phone edition and point him to page 3: “Be useful in five minutes.” It’s written so he can start the same day, without you having to explain a thing.
The First-Week Guarantee
Use it for a week. If it isn’t for you, one email within 7 days of purchase gets every cent back. No forms. No hoops.
Why a week? Because that’s long enough to own a few jobs and run one night shift. If it doesn’t help, we’d rather hand your money back.