A New Dad's Guide to Being a New Dad

So, you're going to be a dad. Maybe you already are, and it's just been a while. What are you going to do? Babies need a lot of stuff, and you'll need a lot of stuff too. Here's what I've found helpful in my short time as a dad.

1. The Man Bag

Let's face it -- it's not easy to exude manliness while you're adjusting to Dadness. There's nothing worse than being out in public, carrying your wife's flowery Kate Spade bag when you need to change your baby or find a pacifier. Please guys, don't let this happen to you. My recommendation is a nice manly bag, that you can't even tell is a diaper bag. Personally, I chose the Diaper Dude. It's got plenty of room for a change of clothes, wipes, lots of diapers, bottled water... whatever you need. It even comes with a cell phone holder, so you are fumbling around your pockets while trying to hold the baby. This one would even make Joey Tribbiani proud.

2. Diaper disposal

If you are like I was, you will be utterly amazed (and horrified) at the number of diapers that 8 lbs, 13 ozs. can produce in a day. And it's also surprising at how bad something that little can smell. These things pile up, and you've got to come up with some sort of storage that you don't have to change all the time, but doesn't stink you out of your house. My personal recommendation is the Diaper Champ. The big benefit is that the Diaper Champ works with any size bag, meaning you can throw any old grocery or garbage bag in to collect Jr.'s mess. (Trust me... one scramble in the middle of the night when the thing is full will be all you need to know how big of a hassle this eliminates.) It's easy to use, virtually orderless, and relatively inexpensive.

3. Warm those wipes