[blparent] Question for Blind Dads About Dressing Babies

[KailaAllen]

Has he practiced at all on a baby doll, maybe that would help him figure out a way to get it over the child's head and arms through the whole.  

Thank you, 

Kaila

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.   Nelson G Henderson


> On Jun 15, 2016, at 11:06 AM, Allison via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Happy Father's Day everyone. I have a question that anybody on here is welcome to chime in on, but I'm especially looking for suggestions from blind dads. How did you learn to dress your baby? Was the process ever difficult for you and what helped it get easier?
> 
> My daughter is five-months-old and my husband is having a lot of difficulty dressing her. I kept hoping this issue would get better over time with practice, but it's not improving all that much. So far he can only manage footie pjs, which is something, but we live in the desert where it is 100 degrees or more each day and footies are too warm. Any other clothing like onsies,  dresses, t-shirts, etc seems to baffle my husband and send our daughter into fits of screaming and crying as he tries to dress her. I'm blind myself and can get our baby dressed okay. So I don't think it's just a blindness issue. I think having sight would help my husband to learn some of this more easily, but it's certainly not required because other blind parents, myself included, manage it. 
> 
> I think that maybe guys in general are given very little practice with dressing small children. And my guess is that blind men especially have almost no chances in their lives to work on this skill. I honestly don't know where or how I learned how to dress a baby, but I think I got some practice on baby dolls and baby-sitting charges growing up. As a guy, my husband didn't have those experiences, so as an adult with his own baby, he's at a loss. 
> 
> I've tried giving him dressing tips both by letting him feel what I do and through verbal description. I've also set aside a separate bag of clothing for just him to use. It's a set of outfits that seemed easier than others because they had large neck openings,  were one piece, and were on the big size. So far, none of those techniques have helped, and I'm at a loss  of what to try next because I just don't want to listen to my baby crying during daddy dressing time each day. 
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and he's a terrific dad to our daughter. He does a lot of other baby care quite well. He is better than me at giving our daughter medicine for example. He also doesn't shy away from a messy diaper which I so appreciate. 
> 
> We really just could use some baby-dressing suggestions for him because it is not practical for me to dress my daughter all the time. I work full-time and my husband is home with the baby during the day. I dress her in the morning, but if she needs a new outfit throughout the day, as babies tend to do, he needs to be able to dress her. 
> 
> Thanks in advance for suggestions.
> 
> Best,
> Allison
> 
> 
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