Ever since my wife and I got back from our Vegas vacation, in which we left our almost 2-year old with the grandparents, he wants to sleep in our bed. I know it has to do with us being away for three days and those nights he slept with both grandmas in a big bed. Our fault, I know. But now we’ve been home for a week and need to kill this habit. Or do we?

He’s pissed when when we send him to bed at his regular time. We don’t give in, and he finally goes to sleep after 10 minutes. I’ve stressed before how important a regular bedtime is. The problem is around 4am, sometimes even 3am, he wakes up and screams bloody murder. We try to let him “cry it out”, but it’s more than just crying. It’s pissed off screaming that becomes hyper-ventilating and his head is drenched in sweat. Refilling his nighttime bottle (that we’re also trying to phase out) doesn’t work, nor does his favorite stuffed animals and rocking him to sleep.

Needless to say, we’re extremely tired at this time in the night and eventually give in and bring him to bed with us. He tries to crawl up and out of his crib and he’s almost at a point of succeeding. It’s scary, because he would land head-first if he managed to get his butt over the rail! I’m thinking it’s almost time to switch our convertible crib to a toddler bed to avoid that fall. And then I must be ready for his little hand tugging at my arm at crappy o’clock in the morning. I guess it’s better than him screaming from the other room.

It might not just be that we were away for a few days. He’s officially a toddler and becoming more aware of the dark, that he’s alone in the room, and misses us at night. I guess the best thing for us parents is to be OK with our little bed invader and doing our best to not get frustrated.

Since I’m a first-time dad, I”d like to know what more experienced fathers have to say about this. Nip it in the bud or embrace this new toddler phase?

The post My toddler is demanding to sleep in our bed — Normal Phase or Bad Habit? appeared first on This Dad Life.

Nowadays, it can be a combination of money savings and the fact that there are other alternatives. I want to cut cable not because I am broke, but  I would like to save money (we’re looking to buy a house) and it wouldn’t mean complete lacking of TV. I already subscribe to Netflix and have an Amazon Prime account (a lot of Amazon Video content comes with it).

Lately I’ve found that we flip through channels and find nothing. It’s all (well, mostly) crap and end up on some mind-numbing reality show. How will we survive without it???!!!!

What will I miss if I cut cable?

There are a few pieces of TV that we watch and absolutely love. This is going to hurt. Here we go:

• HBO. This is huge for us. We look forward to Sunday nights because we’re either watching Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, or True Blood. The vampire show used to be good but it sucks now. Game of Thrones and Boardwalk are two of my favorites.
• NHL Hockey. If you know us in “real life” then you are aware that we are HUGE LA Kings fans. The past few seasons have been very emotional (with the Kings winning the Stanley Cup and all), and I would hate to give up hockey every night. It’s one of the biggest things I look forward to every year. Watching Bob Miller and Jim Fox tell the stories of each game is a highlight of my day and losing them will be devastating.

Solutions? As of right now, there are none. Even if I get the NHL GameCenter or Center Ice package, they black out local games. No LA Kings hockey at my house. For HBO, I can always go to a friend or family member’s house. We will find a way to watch Game of Thrones! Same goes for the Kings. Visiting my dad/brother and listening on the radio will become more common.

It’s not the end of the world. And those are the ONLY TWO SACRIFICES we would have to make. I’ll slightly miss Dodgers baseball, NFL games, and Lakers playoffs. But not that much. To save myself over $100/month, I’m willing to try it.

What will we watch?

Disclaimer: We’re not huge TV viewers. With both of us working, raising the kid, and my wife’s roller derby adventures, we don’t have much time. Half of my work is “work from home” so any free time I have I’m on the computer. There are a few things we’ll sorely miss, but I’ll talk about those later.

We need some kids shows for little Mike and Netflix/Amazon has plenty of it. Most of what he watches is on Netflix. The new origina show on Netflix “Orange is the new Black” looks really good and we’ve never watched Breaking Bad. Netflix has old episodes. There are a handful of shows that Micelle and I are multiple seasons behind and luckily we can catch up on Netflix/Amazon. One of our favorites is The Walking Dead on AMC. Amazon struck a deal with them the past few seasons and the show was available to watch as soon as soon as each episode ended on network cable. You could have bought the entire season for around $26 or pay $1.99 per episode.

So as you can see, there is plenty of content available. And I haven’t even tried Hulu or Verizon/Redbox Instant yet.

Try calling the cable company and telling them your situation!

Cable Companies: Can this be avoided?

I tried. I spent over an hour on the phone with Verizon (including wait time) trying to figure out a solution. Our main roadblock was the sports channels. I wanted to simply lower the amount of channels to save at least $20/month. At the same time I needed to keep Fox Sports West (FSN/Prime Ticket) for hockey. I am willing to continue paying $15-20 bucks/month for HBO.

Nope! Here’s the problem…

They couldn’t’ lower my bill or the tier package and keep Fox Sports. I have to pay $100/month for a ton of channels that I never watch just to have local sports. I know it has to do with their TV deals and contracts, but DAMN. They need to rethink their long-term plans if they want to keep customers. If HBO decides to branch off without them and offer HBO GO to anyone without a cable subscription for $20/month, I’d be all over it. Take my money! Same goes for the NHL and LA Kings. I would gladly pay $149/year for NHL GameCenter if local games weren’t blacked out.

How much will I save?

If I cut cable right now and don’t add anymore TV services I would save $120/month. That’s $1,440 in a year. That’s how much my cable bill is including HBO.

I already pay $7.99/month for Netflix and $79/year for Amazon Prime. For Amazon, I pay it to get free 2-day shipping on everything I buy. I do a lot of Amazon shopping! They throw in Amazon Video as a bonus and I love it. So I won’t count Amazon in my calculations.

What if HBO GO and NHL GameCenter did what I told them to? That would cost me $32/month. So for shits & giggles, let’s add it all up and break it down:

Netflix + Amazon = $15/month. 

HBO GO (if $20) + NHL = $32/month (if possible).

That’s a total of $47 a month. Much better than $104.99, right?

To end off this article, I’ll throw the cable companies a bone.

Would I keep cable it if I didn’t need the extra money?

The short answer is yes.

The picture looks great, I rarely have signal issues, and enjoy DVR/Rewind features. I’ve been extremely happy with Verizon Fios and would love to continue being a customer. But at this point in time my family can use the extra cash and it’s just not worth it. They want to play games and keep me paying for the higher tier just to have the sports channels. No thanks.

At the time of publishing this article I have not pulled the plug just yet. I’m still trying to think of other solutions before I make the decision. That, and we have two more episodes of True Blood to watch. And Boardwalk Empire starts next month! This ain’t going to be easy.

Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Cutting the (cable) Cord — It’s not an easy decision and here’s why appeared first on This Dad Life.

My wife and I got in the habit of rocking our baby to sleep with a bottle and some background noise. It’s nice to do in the first few months of your child’s life since he is so small, cute, tender, and new. But if you continue this beyond 6 months you’re setting yourself up for frustration and stress. Since both us parents work the old bedtime routine of rocking him to sleep for 20 minutes (and then he’d wake up again) was tedious and exhausting. 

Both of our parents warned us early on — and not purposely, we ignored them for the most part. “Give him a bedtime and stick to it”, they would tell us. It wasn’t until he was about 7 months old that we made a conscious effort to put him to bed at the same time every night — without rocking him to sleep. It really hit us hard when Michelle and I left the baby with her mom one night and went out for a drink or two. We returned a few hours later to find out that he didn’t want to go to bed, screamed bloody-murder, and gave the grandparents hell. They had tried to put him to bed around 8pm and he didn’t have it. That’s when we knew it was time to drop the hammer and get this kid on a schedule.

The VERY next night we put him to bed with a bottle at 7:30pm after he was fed, bathed, and hair was dry. No rocking him to sleep and no quiet time in the dark room. Just a kiss goodnight and his music mobile soother with a little monkey swinging from the tree. He cried and it was hard to bear, not knowing how long it would go  on. We tried our hardest to watch TV and ignore him. After about 10-15 minutes went by we noticed it was quiet. No more cries, just the sound of the TV and my wife and I talking. It was one of the most relieving moments that we had felt in awhile. 

To some women and moms this might sound like typical dad complaining — but seriously just listen to me and try it!

Michael is now 14 months old and he loves his bedtime routine. It’s to the point where we tell him “it’s bedtime” and he’ll follow us into his room, allow us to lay him down, and reach for his bottle. We try to get him down by 8pm and usually no earlier than 7:15. Sometimes, like last night, he’ll cry for a few minutes but eventually he’ll give in and go to sleep.

Knowing that we have peace and quiet from 8pm on is an amazing thing when you’re a new parent! It’s when you finally get to read a book, try to work on your business from home (if you’re like me), watch TV and relax, and enjoy your partner like you did before the baby was around.

The post New Parents: Establish a bedtime routine and keep your sanity appeared first on This Dad Life.

This prepacked item is the right idea, but I’m going to assemble my own.

I recently realized that if there is a natural or man-made disaster here in Southern California my family would be pretty screwed. I need to get my act together and start coming up with an action plan in case the worst happens and we need to act fast.

Part of this plan must include an emergency disaster kit to get us through at least week of self-reliance and independence. Even if it’s not a life and death situation you can bet on shortages in stores of water, food, flashlights, toilet paper, etc. People will flock to the local grocery stores to try to stock up on essential items — after the fact. The key will be to avoid those crowds and situations as best we could. Be prepared before “the big one” strikes.

Let’s start by simplifying the necessities: food, water, warmth, first-aid, communication, and safety/self-defense. As of right now I have a short list of items that I’m working on with items that I found at Amazon. Have a look…

My DIY Emergency Items List, So Far

• First-Aid Medical Kit
• Water Packets (fresh for 5 years)
• High-Calorie Food Bar
• Snap Glow Sticks
• Flashlight
• Two-Way Radios (walkie-talkie)
• Emergency Solar Hand Crank AM/FM/NOAA Digital Radio
• Fire Starter Kit with Striker
• Fire Wood (stored in the garage)
• Emergency Thermal Blankets (12 Pack)
• Dust Masks
• Water Purification Tablets
• Swiss Army Knife
• Hunting Knife
• Pepper Spray
• Candles and Matches

That seems like a good start. Let’s not also forget about other necessary items related to personal comfort and hygiene for us parents and our baby. This separate bag will include things such as:

• Extra set of clothes and underwear for everyone
• Stash of diapers
• Wipes, wipes, and more wipes – These can be used by everyone, not just the baby
• Tooth brushes, tooth paste, mouthwash
• Bar soap, hand sanitizer

Why Not Buy A Prepacked Emergency Kit?

Rather than buying a prepacked/generic emergency kit (like this one), I decided to put together my own. Reason? From my research and after reading many reviews it seems these kits have the right idea, but cheap materials. The backpacks usually fall apart easy. The quantity of each item is not meant to go past a few days, and the items themselves are unreliable and gimmicky (faulty flashlights and band-aids that fall apart).

If I’m going to do this I want to do it right. That means a durable backpack, quality tools, and reliable food and medical supplies. I thought it would be a good idea to take the list of items included in the prepacked emergency kits and buy the items individually at the best possible prices while still making sure everything will work when I need it most.

The list could probably be a lot longer but I figured I’ll start somewhere and buy items as over time. This method of buying everything separately might be a bit more costly, but in the long wrong it should be beneficial. As mentioned earlier, I’ll probably buy one of the prepacked emergency kits for each car, just in case something happens on the road.

Let me know if I’m missing any crucial items or recommendations that you might have in the comments below. I’ll be following up this post in a few weeks with prices, deals, and items that I might have forgotten to add to the list.

The post DIY Emergency Disaster Kit — Part 1: Preparing a list of items appeared first on This Dad Life.

But something like this eventually happens to everyone, right? I was recently stung by a stingray and it was the most intense pain I’ve ever felt for 2 excruciating hours!

Before I tell you the story about my stingray incident, I’ll first go through the steps you must take to relieve the pain and instantly feel better. Most of those who end up reading this will have found the article by Googling something like: Stung by stingray what to do for pain. That’s exactly what the wife and I did!

Stung by stringray — How to treat the pain

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor and have no medical training. This advice was recommended to me by the lifeguard on duty. Believe me — It works!

The one thing you have to do to make the stingray sting feel better:

• Get your foot in the hottest possible water that your skin can take without getting burned. It needs to soak for about 2 hours. The pain will be off and on, but when you tolerate the hottest water possible you’ll quickly realize the pain from the stingray goes away. I’ll take scalding hot water over stingray venom any day.

After about 15 minutes the hot water in our house ran out and became warm. Warm water is useless. My wife had to put water on the stove, get it hot — just before the point of boiling, and bring me a fresh bucket every 10 minutes. I also pounded a few beers and probably should have taken a few shots of liquor to help subside the pain from the hot water.

Things you don’t do:

• Don’t pee on it! This is for jellyfish and urine has no affect on stingray venom.
• Don’t use cold water or ice to treat a stingray sting. This will make the pain worse!
• You might get bleed a little bit. Don’t try to stop the bleeding! I made this mistake because I saw a little bit of blood and my natural instinct was to wrap my shirt around it. Big mistake. You end up trapping the venom in your foot instead of letting it seep out with the small amount of blood the sting creates. Unless your are bleeding large amounts of blood, you won’t lose enough to harm your body. Let it come out and some of the venom should come out with it.

After a few hours you will feel a lot better and the pain should be completely gone. This was probably the worse pain you’ve ever been through and now you feel like a champion because you made it through!

Big thanks to a few articles online that helped me get through this. The two that helped the most were at EMediceHealth and the blog An Expat Life in Nicaragua. Check out that first link for more professional advice.

How did this happen?

Two Saturdays ago my sister and I decided to go surfing at a local beach. I proposed we go to my local favorite Seal Beach, but she  was recently warned that it was infested with stingrays. So we decided to go a bit further down and check out Sunset Beach. Sure enough, the stingrays have also inhabited Sunset and Surfside.

After being in the water for awhile I wanted to take a break and head back to the shore. I was in about waist deep water when I felt my foot touch something slimy and soft, which I initially took for a small fish. A few seconds later it felt like a big hook had caught my foot and dug in. Since there were a few guys fishing off the shore I thought maybe one of them had caught a fish and their line caught my foot! That would’ve sucked too, but after this nightmare I prefer that over the sting. Before I had time to pull my leg up to look at the damage my entire foot felt like it was on fire. I could no longer pinpoint where the cut had happened; for a few seconds I thought maybe I had been attacked by a small shark. This is because the venom from the ray was quickly injected into my foot and went to work almost immediately. I called my sister over to help and I couldn’t see a cut or a bite. I was astonished because I was in the most pain since I can remember. That’s when I saw the little hole in the soft spot where the big toe and foot meet. At that point I realized I had been stung by a stingray!

The lifeguards came over and didn’t have any way to help. They knew exactly what I needed to do though. Get my foot in the scalding hot water as soon as possible! He told me that no other remedies would work and even if I went to the hospital they would do the same thing. His best advice to me was to go home and soak the hole in hot water for 2 hours. And that’s exactly what I did. It was the worst 15 minute drive from the beach to my house, but my sister did awesome and got us home quickly and safe. The wife already had hot water running for me and it was perfect timing because at this point the pain was unbearable.

A few weeks after the sting

It’s been a few weeks and I’m not happy with the healing process. I was amazed when the pain was completely gone after a few hours of hot water, but then about 2 days  after the stingray incident happened I started noticing a few things. There was slight swelling around the hole and it started feeling like a bruise. Putting all my weight down on that foot wasn’t comfortable and even walking became a chore after about a week.

Here I am, two weeks later, and I’m about to go to the doctor. I don’t have pain unless I push down on the hole. It feels very tender around it and inside feels like there is a small hard ball. It’s more annoying than painful, but I fear that it might be getting infected. My wife says it does feel a bit warm around the hole so that’s a sign that it’s not healing correctly. I’ll get back to you in a few days and let you know what the doc says!

This might be my next purchase!

I’m hesitant to go back into the water, but I can’t stay out of the ocean forever. I think I’ll be getting myself some of these water shoes to put on for stingray protection. The $20 bucks is worth it!

Image Credit: Stingray City

The post Stung by a stingray? Hot water is the only relief appeared first on This Dad Life.

If you want a quick and hearty breakfast the hard-boiled egg on top of toast or a bagel can be the perfect meal. Like my wife and I, you can plan out your breakfast for the entire week by boiling as many eggs as you need on Sunday night. For all the dudes out there who have no idea where to start, you can use my hard-boiled egg instructions below to make your busy mornings easier!

Perfect hard-boiled eggs recipe

1. Get out a saucepan and gently place eggs inside. Add cold tap water from the sink. How much water? Put your finger on the top of an egg and let the water reach the middle of your finger, just below is fine too. About half an inch is what you’re looking for.

2. Set your stove to the high and bring water to a boil (yes, with the eggs too). This step should only take a few minutes, depending on your stove.

3. When you’re water is boiling immediately turn the flame to low-medium and set a timer to 10 minutes. Now the eggs are cookin!

Note: If this recipe comes out over-boiled and too hard then you can change the cook time to 8 minutes instead of 10.

4. Get a bowl of cold water ready to drop the eggs in when I tell you. You want it ice cold, so drop in some ice cubes!

5. 10 minutes should be up now! Turn off the heat and place the eggs into the ice cold water with a spoon. Don’t burn yourself! Let the eggs cool for a few minutes then take them out and DONE!

The whole process should not take more than 20 minutes!

Go ahead and peel one of the eggs. Pepper it up a bit and take a bite. It will be yummy! If you don’t plan on eating them now just put them into a zip-lock bag and store in the fridge. Hard-boiled eggs can last up to a week before you should start worrying about an upset stomach or worse — the runs! Don’t want to go there.

Why put the hard-boiled eggs in ice cold water?

Sometimes you get a greenish ring on the inside of your hard-boiled egg. It’s because the egg was too hot for too long. The green ring can’t harm you, but it looks gross. Cooling the eggs immediately should help eliminate this problem!

So what does the hard-broiled egg go best with? 

It’s up to you to decide. I have a few favorites…

Bagel with ham and hard-boiled egg!

I usually butter some toast, place the peeled egg on top, and chop it up a bit. Add pepper and BAM it’s delicious. If I’m really hungry do the same procedure on a bagel with cream cheese and ham. It’s even better than the buttered toast.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. Be sure to tell your wife that you learned how to cook!

Parts of this recipe was inspired by GoodEgg.com

The post How to make a perfect hard-boiled egg in under 15 minutes appeared first on This Dad Life.

Tips & supplies for camping with a baby

Below is a list of tips and items that helped us on our camping trip to Lake Silverwood. Let us know in the comments section if we left anything important off the list!

Pack N’ Play or playpen

This over-sized Graco TotBloc Pack ‘N Play play yard was a lifesaver!

This helped us a lot. We didn’t want the baby to be crawling on the floor unless one of us were down there with him. You can’t be holding him 24/7! We brought our over-sized Graco TotBloc Pack ‘N Play and it worked out perfect. Drop a few of his favorite toys and some Puffs snacks inside the playpen and he should be content for a little while. Be sure to keep checking for bugs. I saw a few ants get inside but nothing more. He also took his daytime naps in the play yard (play pen, whatever you want to call it) under the shade. We threw a sheet over the top of it and used clothes pins to keep the sheet from blowing off. This kept the flys out, but you still have to check for bugs that crawl through the sides. During the day the tent was WAY too hot for anyone to sleep in. Even the bugs were dying inside of the tent because of the heat! So be sure not to leave your baby in there. The Pack N Play was perfect because it’s ventilated on all sides, allowing the air to flow through. Just be sure you have it in the shade!

Pack extra wipes

You won’t just be using wipes on his butt. He’ll get a lot of dirt on his hands, face, and feet. Even if you try not to let him on the ground. It’s just inevitable. You can buy a travel pack of wipes that has a container so you don’t get bugs inside.

Prepare bottles before the trip

My wife isn’t breast feeding anymore so the baby is on powdered formula. I figured it would be a hastle to be trying to make bottles out in the wilderness, especially at 3 o’clock in the morning. I made about 8 bottles and put them in a insulated lunch bag with some ice and cold packs. The bottles were seperate from the rest of our food and drinks. When Michael wakes up hungry in the middle of the night we normally heat up his bottle. We fed him really good before bed time on this camping trip and he only woke up once throughout the night. Despite the bottle being chilled he still drank it down, filled up his belly, and went right back to sleep. So don’t be too paranoid about warming up the bottle unless it’s freezing cold outside.

Baby sunscreen

This is a must! Don’t forget to buy this and make sure to pack it. Even if it’s not going to be hot, he’ll be in the sun most of the day and this will save his skin from burning. Nobody wants to deal with a sunburned baby on a camping trip. He’ll be screaming the whole time! There are many different options for baby sunscreen on Amazon to choose from. We went with the Coppertone. This is probably one of those items you should always have with you, especially if you live in warm, dry environments like California.

Bug repellent for babies

This is a product we forgot to bring. Don’t make the same mistake! It’s more gentle than regular bug spray and should help saving him from mosquitos. Lucky for us there weren’t too many bugs and the flys stayed away from our little guy. If you don’t want bugs on your baby, be sure to pick up some bug spray for babies.

Bring extra clothes

Make sure you bring clothes that you don’t mind him/her getting dirty. The kid didn’t get too filthy, but we did have to change outfits a few times throughout the day. The temperature dipped into the upper 50s at night so it wasn’t too cold. At first we had him in some warm pajamas but he ended up getting too hot and sweaty so we just let him wear his thin onesy t-shirt. After that he slept good.

One of our baby’s favorite snacks – Organic Puffs

Something for the baby to snack on, not messy

Our baby loves these HAPPYBABY Organic Puffs. He’s obsessed with them! We just put a small handful in front of him and he goes to town. They came in handy on the trip when he started getting hungry and for whatever reason we couldn’t give him a bottle right at that moment. They dissolve in his mouth and he’s had no problem getting them down since about 5 months. Best of all… they are not messy!

Water or apple juice for hydration

Sometimes our baby gets sick of drinking formula and I can tell he is still thirsty. Putting some Mots for Tots low-sugar apple juice in a bottle will help to keep him hydrated, and it’s a taste they like. If worst comes to worse be sure to have fresh water on-hand (you probably already packed some). Last thing you want is the baby to be dehydrated and have to go to the hospital halfway through the trip.

Baby tylenol and teething remedies

At home we use teething tablets and gum gel. If he gets a fever or seems like he’s in pain we’ll give him baby Tylenol (only if really necessary). Don’t forget this stuff. Right now he has some teeth breaking through so the teething tablets and gel came in handy. We didn’t need to use the Tylenol but it’s good to have with you at all times.

First-Aid and prepare for medical emergency

Bring a basic first-aid kit for scrapes, bruises, and cuts. When entering the campsite be sure to know the hours of operation when park rangers are on-duty and how to easily find/contact them. It might be a good idea to find the nearest hospital on a map incase you need to take things in your own hands. Often times you won’t have cellphone reception, as was our case. So you pretty much on your own when the park rangers are not working.

Here are a few more ideas that you should try, but we either forgot or didn’t have the time to pack

Baby chest carrier or hiking backpack with baby seat

I left my awesome baby carrier at home! I knew I’d forget something. Halfway there we realized we left it behind, but it was already too late to go back and get it. If you plan on going for walks or hikes you might want to bring a chest carrier or a hiking backpack with a baby seat to carry the child in. Like this one. Don’t make the same mistake that we did!

Thick plastic tarp to put on the floor under a blanket

The floor of the desert/forest is very uneven and hard. Similar to the plastic tarp you would put underneath your tent when setting up, you can use one of these to put under a big blanket and let the baby crawl around. This will make it better on his knees (and yours) while protecting the blanket from a damp or ultra-hard ground. Bring a blow-up wading pool But don’t fill it with water. Instead use it as a little area for the baby to play with some toys while you keep an eye on her closeby. If your baby is anything like mine, he’ll crawl out of it with no problem and it will be useless. This tip is probably only good for 3-6 months old, or if your baby isn’t great at crawling yet.

Sleeping arrangements for baby when tent camping and wrapup

One of the most common questions asked about our trip:

Where did we put the baby at night? We initially bought an oversized sleeping bag for the wife and baby to sleep in. Because he squirmed so much, he ended up between the both of us instead of being stuck inside the bag. He also got too hot in the sleeping bag and was sweating. Just be careful not to roll over on the little guy! It wasn’t like we were completely tent camping, but it was pretty darn close.

Disclaimer! Our small 3-person family slept in a tent and my brother-in-law had a pop-up tent trailer for him and his family. It was equipped with electricity and water hookups, allowing them to have lights and running water in the sink and toilet. My wife and I made use of their more domestic setup by cleaning the bottles in their sink and keeping the powdered formula inside the trailer to ensure no bugs can get to it. On the last evening my wife gave the baby a bath to clean him up and help cool him down. We could have done this in the campsite’s showers, but obviously it wasn’t as convenient. This is a great way to camp and I’d love to get my family a pop-up tent trailer like this. The convenience is great and I think you can find one for around $3,000. More on that in another article!

The baby ended up doing great on the camping trip and it was a fantastic learning experience for us. I’m not just talking about the fundamentals of camping, we actually learned a lot about our child. I always knew he preferred being outside rather than inside, but I didn’t realize the extent of it. Michael was hardly fussy at all throughout the entire trip, even when we put him in his playpen (which he normally dislikes). He seemed happy almost the entire two days! A good part of the day was spent at the lake where they had a small sandy beach. When temparatures reached 100 degrees I took the baby into the water, which was nice and cold to let him cool off. At first the cold water was a bit of a shock to him, but after a few minutes his body adjusted and he seemed to be having a great time. So now we take him to the park and beach as often as possible and pretty soon we’ll buy a small wading pool for him to play in when it gets hot outside. I’m sure as he gets older it will get harder. Maybe not harder, but busier. Pretty soon he’ll be walking and that will change EVERYTHING when we take the little guy camping. Thanks for reading this article!

Please share your tips and experiences of taking babies or small children camping. I’ll take all the help I can get!

Sources & References: Art of Manliness and Apartment Therapy

The post Camping at Lake Silverwood with our 7 month old baby: Tips and experiences appeared first on This Dad Life.

I just became a parent six months ago and there are few things that seem different from my childhood when it comes to child products. One thing I noticed is playpens and their lack of size. When I was little my play yard seemed big, and according to my mom and dad — it was! Much bigger than the ones currently sold in major stores. So the past few weeks I’ve been on the hunt for a big, massive, over-sized play pen for kids. When not THAT big. Just something bigger than his crib.

I wanted something in the 5′x5′ range, but didn’t find anything. Our kid extremely mobile for his age. He’ll get from one side of the room to the other in under 10 seconds doing the infamous army crawl. So yep… we need something big for him. But I’m not a fan of the fence enclosures. He’s already so strong and destructive, I feel little Mikey will eventually break through and the whole thing would become pointless. Eventually, I’m sure I’ll need to invest in some fences to block out the kitchen and bathroom areas.

For those who are saying…

“But Mike — why do you want to lock up your child? How dare you???”

Don’t think I want to keep my kid in the pen for hours on end. No, I just need something to put him in when it’s time to make dinner, do some laundry, or vacuum the house. 10-20 minutes at the most!

The biggest and most portable play pens I can find

After reading tons of reviews on baby playpens I narrowed it down to two choices. It was between a big square one – the Graco TotBloc Pack N’ Play and the Joovy Room2. Both are portable and both have a good size. I also wanted something square instead of rectangular so the little guy wouldn’t feel like he’s in his crib, which he absolutely hates being in unless he’s in a deep sleep.

TotBloc Pack N’ Play by Graco

Which did I choose?

Graco TotBloc Pack N’ Play

Like I said earlier… I read a ton of reviews. The great thing about shopping at Amazon.com is the customers love to tell everyone how much they either love or hate the products they purchased. Both playpens had a ton of reviews (like here), and both did well. With the price difference being only $35, I had to look at other factors. Some complained about the Joovy Room being too stationary and heavy, and a funny smell that couldn’t be eliminated. Some Graco TotBloc owners complained that the construction of the playpen was too weak and not sturdy enough. I’ll repeat the following statement many times on this blog — there is no perfect product. Eventually you have to weight the pros and cons and make a decision.

So far I’m extremely happy with the Graco TotBloc Pack N’ Play. Stay tuned for a full review coming up next week!

Have you found something better? Let us know in the comments below or tell us at our Facebook page!

The post Big child play yards — Do they exist anymore? appeared first on This Dad Life.

What a way to start the weekend. After a few minutes of fake crying this morning, you know – that sad whimper with no tears, I pick up the baby from his playpen (the biggest one I can find) and I feel a warm, mushy substance on my hand. Good thing it’s the weekend and both my wife and I are home!

What was the damage?

Little Mike ended up getting poop on his jungle bouncer as well! No worries, the toy has a removable seat so we can just hand wash that or throw it in the machine. He had some on his clothes, his legs – and did I mention my hand? Yep, I think I did.

And what about the cat mess?

He decided to make a poopy mess around his cat box. Flinging cat litter is his thing, but he normally keeps the biscuits inside the box! Dexter was probably mad at us for not feeding him at 2am when the baby woke up hungry. If you have a cat — you know they get jealous too.

Despite the crazy start to the morning, it wasn’t as stressful as it sounds. It was more comical than anything. The baby needed a bath anyway, so we threw him right in. The wife handled the bathing business while I cleaned up the poop around the house. Mornings like this aren’t so bad when you have a good partner, and my wife Michelle and I make a pretty good team!

Now let’s get this weekend started!

The post A shitty morning: When the baby and the cat gets poop everywhere — and things aren’t so bad appeared first on This Dad Life.

Before I get going with some articles that you’ll love I’d like to first say WELCOME! Here at This Dad Life I will be posting articles on many topics that new dads (and maybe some moms) will find helpful and entertaining. Rest assured, it won’t be articles just about parenting and product reviews. I’ll cover other topics that interest me including outdoor activities, sports, technology, and the occasional craft beer review. If you have a topic you’d like my to talk about, feel free to shoot me an email using the contact form or ask me on Twitter (@mikemacias).

The blog might look a little plain right now — and some of you may like it this way. Over time it will fill up with more content and more navigation options. I’m still trying to think up a logo as well, but I’m not in a rush to get that done. I’m more interested in getting some great content up for you to enjoy!

Have a nice weekend (if you’re reading this when I published it) and feel free to introduce yourself in the comments below!

The post First Article: Welcome to This Dad Life appeared first on This Dad Life.