[blparent] Question for Blind Dads About Dressing Babies

[Michael Baldwin]

I never really had anything beyond the normal issues with dressing babies
and toddlers. I have less issues than my wife who is sited. Some of it might
have nothing to do with site. Some people just have troubles dressing
babies.
When it is really hot, I tend to cheat anyways and just put a diaper on the
baby. 

As another posted, he might just need some practice with a doll.

Michael

----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Allison via
BlParent
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 1:07 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: allison82 at cox.net
Subject: [blparent] Question for Blind Dads About Dressing Babies

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


_______________________________________________
BlParent mailing list
BlParent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
BlParent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/mbaldwin%40gpcom.net