5 Great Ways For Dads to Spend Time With Kids

1. Go outside: Did you know that pediatricians are being advised to screen children for vitamin D deficiency because so many American children don't get enough vitamin D? The best way for the body to absorb vitamin D is through sunlight. Chances are you and your kids aren't getting enough, especially in the winter time! Going outside is good for you … and fun too.

2. Read books: You can cuddle your newborn on your chest while you read to yourself, read aloud to a toddler from a chunky picture book, and read more sophisticated novels, like My Side of the Mountain, Gregor the Overlander, or The Book of Jhereg, that you'll both enjoy to an older child. Even a child who is a really good reader enjoys being read to so don't stop reading to your son just because he's old enough to read to himself.

3. Wrestling match: It's Dad's job to roughhouse, even if Mom gets nervous. You can wrestle with your baby at any age! We're not sure you should do it quite as vigorously as the dad in this video that went viral last week, but that's up to you and your child to decide!

4. Play sleep: This was a favorite with my dad. Take off your shoes, climb on the bed together. The kids pretend to sleep. You actually do. Note to dads: Newborns love this game, big kids don't.

5. Play cards: A deck of cards is good for teething for small babies, toddlers can play a simplified version of Go Fish, but we say it's never too early to teach the kid how to play poker. And if their math skills aren't up for it, build card houses instead.

Love, Sex, and the Male Brain

There's a great opinion piece on CNN.com about how male brains are wired, how they respond to testosterone, and how women often misinterpret men because their brains work differently.

For our Daddy-Baby bonding purposes, the most important part of the piece is in the middle. The author, Louann Brizendine, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and founder and director of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic, writes:

The 'Doting Daddy Brain'
A man in hot pursuit of a mate doesn't even remotely resemble a devoted, doting daddy. But that's what his future holds. When his mate becomes pregnant, she'll emit pheromones that will waft into his nostrils, stimulating his brain to make more of a hormone called prolactin. Her pheromones will also cause his testosterone production to drop by 30 percent.

These hormonal changes make him more likely to help with the baby. They also change his perceptual circuitry, increasing his ability to hear a baby cry, something many men can't do very well before their wives are pregnant.

And a word to the wise for all the young mothers who are reluctant to let your husbands hold and care for your newborn. The more hands-on care a father gives his infant, the more his brain aligns with the role of fatherhood. So, hand over the baby. (Emphasis ours).

Help Your Wife Tie Her Shoes

There are lots of ways for fathers to be involved in pregnancy. The more you bond with your wife, the closer you'll feel to your new baby once he or she is born.

Study shows active fathers help children's self-esteem

In case you needed more reasons to be involved with your baby, there's actually new scientific evidence from researchers in Sweden that shows that your role in your child's life will make a big difference. Active fathers help their sons have fewer behavioral problems and help their daughters have fewer psychological problems. Here's an excerpt from the Science Daily article. Read the full article here.

Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behaviour problems in boys and psychological problems in young women, according to a review published in the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.

Swedish researchers also found that regular positive contact reduces criminal behaviour among children in low-income families and enhances cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language development.

Children who lived with both a mother and father figure also had less behavioural problems than those who just lived with their mother.

The researchers are urging healthcare professionals to increase fathers' involvement in their children's healthcare and calling on policy makers to ensure that fathers have the chance to play an active role in their upbringing.

The review looked at 24 papers published between 1987 and 2007, covering 22,300 individual sets of data from 16 studies. 18 of the 24 papers also covered the social economic status of the families studied.

The smallest study focused on 17 infants and the largest covered 8,441 individuals ranging from premature babies to 33 year-olds. They included major ongoing research from the USA and UK, together with smaller studies from Sweden and Israel...