# 5 Crucial Tips for Expectant Fathers | Dad University **Creator:** Dad University **Platform:** youtube **Duration:** 7m **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY ## Summary Expectant fathers often face a whirlwind of emotions and uncertainties as they prepare for parenthood. In this video, Jason Kreidman shares five essential tips to help navigate this transformative experience, emphasizing empathy, prioritization, and adaptability. - **Empathy for Your Partner**: Understand and share in your partner's feelings during pregnancy, acknowledging the physical and emotional challenges they face. - **Focus on Emotional Support, Not Tactical Skills**: Instead of worrying about practical tasks like diaper changing, concentrate on how to support your partner emotionally. - **Buy Essentials, Not Luxuries**: Distinguish between what your baby needs (like food and a safe sleeping space) versus what is merely a convenience or luxury. - **Prepare for Emotional Chaos**: Expect a range of emotions as you reflect on your own upbringing and future; this is a normal part of becoming a father. - **Have a Plan, but Stay Flexible**: Understand that plans will likely change once the baby arrives, and being adaptable is crucial for managing new challenges. ## Transcript [[0:00]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=0s) there is no doubt that when you are an expectant father you go through a lot you start thinking about your own childhood you have emotions coming up that you didn't even know you had and you start wondering what is it going to be like with this child well i'm here to help you in this video i'm going over five crucial advice tips for expectant fathers what are the important pieces of advice that expectant fathers need to [[0:29]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=29s) know [Music] hey guys i'm jason kreidman creator of dad university if you're a dad and you want to go from overwhelmed and confused to calm and confident father well my courses can help set up a phone call with me to see if you're a good fit i'll put my contact information in the description below okay so here are the five crucial advice tips for expectant fathers number one have empathy for your partner if you're [[0:59]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=59s) not familiar with empathy it means to understand and share the feelings of another it means you're putting yourself in your partner's shoes and looking at the situation from their perspective in my opinion learning to be empathetic is probably the most valuable thing that you can do as a father as a husband and as an overall human being to be empathetic towards her imagine what it is like to be going through pregnancy to have another human [[1:32]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=92s) being growing inside of you you get to experience morning sickness and cramps and being tired all the time not to mention the physical changes and the hormones that you have to deal with number two don't waste time on tactical things when i talk to expectant fathers a common anxiety and worry is about changing diapers or holding the baby so i call these the tactical items it's changing diapers feeding burping uh [[2:04]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=124s) holding all of the things that you physically need to do i'm not saying that these things aren't important i'm just suggesting not to worry about them when you're an expectant father it's understandable if you've never changed a diaper or held a baby it can be a little overwhelming and can cause some anxiety but just know that after doing it a few times you will be an expert if you are a warrior and you need something to worry [[2:33]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=153s) about then worry about how you can help your partner even better than that is to work on how to stop worrying but that's for another video spending your time worrying about these tactical things when you're an expectant father is just wasted energy and that energy can be used elsewhere to be more productive number three buy what you need not what you want when you have a baby there's really only a couple of things that you need [[3:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=182s) food clothing a safe place for the baby to sleep uh and maybe a car seat there might be one or two other items that you could argue are needed but the rest of the items are wants and so many people will tell you you have to have this or you need this and the truth is that those are all wants these wants are not necessities they might be items that will make you or your partner more comfortable or [[3:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=211s) things will be more convenient but they are wants they are not needs the majority of items that we purchase as expectant fathers are wants we might say hey i need to have a sound machine or i need to have a monitor or i need to have a changing station these are all great and there's nothing wrong with that but we should recognize that these are wants not needs my suggestion is to wait on the wants save [[4:01]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=241s) your money there may be items that you purchase that you will never use or you will feel like you are forced to use them because you bought them when you find yourself wanting something because it will make the situation more convenient or make your partner more comfortable well then you can go and purchase it at least you'll have a really good or better understanding of exactly what it is that you will need want number four expect emotional chaos [[4:32]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=272s) and that it's going to be okay now i'm not talking about your partner and the emotional turmoil or the hormones that she might be going through i'm talking about your own emotional chaos it's very common as an expectant father to have all kinds of emotions that you either haven't felt in a really long time or that you have never felt before it may be experiences from your own childhood or things that you dealt with with your own parents [[5:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=302s) and you start to question the things around you your career your friends your interactions with your own family and more just know that having all of these thoughts and feelings is totally normal and that it is going to be okay this is your mind and body preparing you for the journey that you are about to embark on nothing brings on self-reflection and evaluation like being an expectant father but if you expect the emotional chaos [[5:35]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=335s) then you're going to be prepared to know that it's totally normal when it does happen and sometimes knowing and expecting that it's going to happen can help reduce that stress and anxiety now you don't want to stress about the idea that you might have emotional chaos but allow it to happen and know and recognize and say you know what i remember jason said that i might be feeling this way and that's totally okay number five have [[6:06]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=366s) a plan but be flexible plans can and will change when you have a child whether your partner has a detailed birthing plan or your family is scheduled to visit at this specific time or you know exactly how the time is going to go when you come home from the hospital it's great to have a plan but know that likely plans will change i am a planner i like things organized i like to know what i'm doing when i'm doing and how i'm doing [[6:38]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=398s) it so when i was an expectant father we had all kinds of plans set up that didn't happen as planned when you add a child into your life things just don't always go according to the schedule whereas before you are just in charge of yourself your own time how long things take you to do something where you need to be now that you have a child the child may have its own schedule may not cooperate in the way that you had [[7:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=428s) planned so you need to be flexible i do hope these advice tips are helpful for you i would love to hear from you when is your baby due and what are you most excited about leave your feedback in the comment section below also it really helps us spread our message and get this video out to more people if you hit that thumbs up button and if you know anybody that might enjoy it please share it with them we'll see you next [[7:34]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1_foni7QY&t=454s) time [Music] you