Daddy boot camp catches on in Ohio

Men of all ages have started participating.

ZANESVILLE (AP) — Boot Camp for New Dads, a nationwide program that teaches inexperienced fathers how to handle, diaper and burp their infants, is catching on in Ohio, as more men say they want to learn how to cope with the demands of parenthood.

Although expectant mothers have long been offered classes to help them prepare for birth and the care of their first child, men typically have been left to figure out parenthood on their own, instructors for the Boot Camp for New Dads program say. The program, with more than 260 training sites across the country — and more than a dozen spread throughout Ohio — hopes to change all that.

The program’s three-hour workshops are taught by veteran fathers, or “drool instructors,” who bring their own babies to help coach nervous first-time dads through the mysteries of swaddling, feeding and diaper changes. Men usually attend the trainings one or two months before their baby is born.

Instructors facilitate discussions ranging from planning for financial hardships to dealing with sleep deprivation and even preparing to abstain from sex for weeks or months after the birth. Coaches say exploring these topics before men become parents can help ease the shock of living with a newborn.

“For many guys it’s the first time they are pulled in different directions with a baby and mom and a job,” said Mike Northrop, 26, a boot camp instructor in Zanesville and father to 8-month-old daughter Riley. “It’s not easy, but we are here to help.”

The boot camps attract men of all ages, cultural backgrounds and economic levels, but both local and national officials say they hope to lure more teenage fathers-to-be.

“Our teen pregnancies are up in this area so this program is needed here,” said Andrea Retherford, coordinator of childbirth education for Genesis HealthCare System in Zanesville.

“There are many new dads out there that have never been around a newborn baby, let alone being the one that holds the baby and is responsible for it.”

Greg Bishop, a father of four and author of the book, “Hit The Ground Crawling,” founded the Boot Camp for New Dads organization in Irvine, Calif., in 1990. Organizers say 150,000 fathers have completed the boot camp trainings.

“A lot of the guys are shocked and feel like they are second in the relationship behind the baby,” Bishop said. “We help them focus on how to bond with both their wife and child.”

And some expectant fathers need a little extra help getting ready to become parents.

“One guy walked in, looked around the room, said he couldn’t handle this and didn’t want his baby,” Bishop said. “Some guys just panic.”