A new survey of dads across the UK, has uncovered the true thoughts of modern fathers, revealing that 26% of dads would prefer a boy to a girl.
It would seem that Dads in their 30’s enjoy fatherhood the most, older dads find it leaves them out of pocket and just 17% would have a baby themselves if men were able to! Colief commissioned the research to find out more about modern fathers after noticing a sharp increase in calls to their helpline from worried dads seeking advice when their baby has colic symptoms.Rollercoaster of emotionsAdjusting to being a parent, coping with crying babies and dealing with common problems such as infant colic means fatherhood is a rollercoaster of emotions. The experience of fatherhood is best for dads in their 30’s with 63% saying fatherhood is better than they thought it would be, and 62% rushing home from work to be with their family. Fatherhood had the biggest effect on dads in their late 40’s (age 46-50) with 46% saying it had changed their perspective on life.
It’s a very different story for younger dads with 28% of those aged 22-25 saying fatherhood is worse than they expected, with 1 in 10 actually staying at work longer to avoid going home to their family and over a quarter (27%) of young dads saying they regret having a baby.
The research discovered that the difficulties dads face vary depending on age. For 37% of younger dads (aged 22-25) lack of sleep was the worse thing about being a dad with lack of sex (13%) and the baby’s constant crying (12%) following close behind. For dads in their early forties, lack of sex was also a major downside with 26% finding this the worst aspect. Older dads aged 46-55 found fatherhood had left them out of pocket with 43% saying the expense was the worst thing about being a dad.Footie or Fatherhood?When it comes to getting their priorities straight have dads got it right? If they’re watching the football on the TV, 68% of dads would get up to tend their crying baby, 27% would ask their partner to take the baby out of the room while reassuringly just 5% would head to the pub to watch the game leaving their partner to look after the baby.
June 2008
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Sex After Baby - A Dad's View
