Dads to be can get hands-on crash course in what to expect when you’re expecting
What to expect when you’re expecting can be overwhelming.
On top of the sleepless nights full of feedings and diaper changes, there’s also supporting your significant other, maintaining the home and balancing work and child rearing.
While motherly roles are generally more clear cut, dads might feel a little scatterbrained.
Enter coach Russel Adamski.
Through the national Boot Camp for New Dads program, Adamski volunteers his time to teach the basics of parenting to first-time expectant fathers.
“It’s important because every one of these guys will be more nervous upon the birth of their baby than any other day in their life,” Adamski said. “It’s also important because this class is catered specifically to men.”
St. Rose Dominican Hospitals offers the class from 9 a.m. to noon July 11, Aug. 8 and Sept. 12 and from 6 to 9 p.m. July 28, Aug. 18, Sept. 22 and Oct. 22 at the Barbara Greenspun WomensCare Center of Excellence, 2651 Paseo Verde Parkway, Suite 180.
The course covers topics including handling parents and in-laws; introducing pets to baby; postpartum depression versus baby blues; breastfeeding; handling a newborn; roles as a protector; and more.
“I push them to do a lot of these things, especially supporting their wives,” Adamski said. “Even if Mom is breastfeeding, you can get the baby, change the baby, burp the baby between sides. Things like that can be so helpful to Mom, and we men never think of doing them.”
The male-only boot camp allows expectant fathers to ask questions they might be embarrassed to talk about in front of their significant others.
“I try to limit the class to 10 people because it’s a little easier to get hands-on experience with the babies,” Adamski said. “Plus, the more intimate the setting is, the more open they are to asking questions. If there’s 100 people in the room, you’re not going to ask a whole lot.”
Adamski invites “veteran dads” who have taken the class to come back with their baby so the expectant fathers can receive hands-on practice.
“They learn how to change a real baby, swaddle a real baby, feed a real baby, burp a real baby. We could do all this on a mannequin, but mannequins don’t move, so it makes a big difference,” Adamski said. “It also gives them the perspective of dads who were once going into this blind but now have a feel of how fatherhood is.”
Veteran father Chad Stevens attended the boot camp in May after his wife April signed him up.
“Two of my friends took it before I did, and they told me, ‘It’s the best three hours of your life,’ ” he said. “I was nervous at first, but it ended up being awesome. There was no pressure and no stress.”
About a month after attending the class, the Henderson-area couple welcomed their daughter Giana. Stevens said he felt prepared bringing her home and didn’t worry too much.
“A lot of the things I remembered learning in the class, like, ‘Oh, I knew that would happen,’ or ‘I knew that would fall out,’ ” he said. “It can be stressful. Sometimes when they keep crying, you find yourself thinking, ‘I don’t want to be a parent anymore,’ but remember, ‘Don’t shake the baby.’ ”
Boot Camp for New Dads was launched in 1990 by founder Greg Bishop, who authored the book “Crash Course for Dads-To-Be,” on which the course is based.
“We give them a copy of the book to take home, and it’s pretty simple reading,” Adamski said. “Sometimes parenting books can be a little brash or forward, or they can sometimes include information dads don’t need. I think this book is a happy medium.”
As a father and pediatric registered nurse, Adamski is an expert in child care. He also attended a three-day course in Denver to be a certified boot camp coach.
“I’m a pediatric intensive care nurse at the St. Rose Siena campus,” Adamski said. “I also do pediatrics, neonatal ICU, labor and delivery and pediatric (emergency room). I can take care of any baby from one second of life until they can vote or become pregnant.”
Adamski has offered the class for about a year and said he has never received one negative comment.
“This class is important because 38 percent of babies don’t have dads that are involved,” he said. “… It’s fathers reaching out to other fathers and sharing what has worked for them.”
The class costs $20, and registration is required. Visit tinyurl.com/bootcampnewdads or call 702-616-4900.
To reach Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher, email cbelcher@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0403. Find her on twitter: @caitlynbelcher.