STRONGSTART™ FOR EXPECTING DADS

Are you ready to dad?

Learn proven tactics to build confidence, baby-proof your relationship, and build a lifetime of mental wellness for your child.

✓ Understand Child Development

✓ Babyproof your relationship

✓ Connect with other new dads

  • "When it comes to a new mom's mental health, a supportive, engaged partner is absolutely the best medicine."

    Nataly Petrovic, Director of UCLA Maternal Outpatient Mental Health Services (MOMS) Clinic

  • "I truly believe the world would be a better place if every new dad did StrongStart"

    Nicole P.

  • "[StrongStart] was an incredible resource during pregnancy and after."

    Daniel E.

StrongStart™ Benefits for New Dads

A family of three walking on a sandy beach, with the father and mother holding the child's hands. The ocean waves are visible in the background, and the sky is partly cloudy.

Build your child’s mental wealth during the critical first three years

Understand your vital role in building the thinking, feeling, and people skills that lead to success in school, at work, and in relationships.

Children and adults playing with wooden blocks on a blue mat in a classroom.

Join the brotherhood of fatherhood

Connect with other new dads to share challenges and triumphs. Research shows prenatal paternal preparation benefits dads, babies, and moms.

Close-up of a father and newborn baby touching noses, the baby wearing a white flower headband.

Become a stabilizing presence

Model a sense of confidence and calm that will help shape your child’s mental health for the rest of their life.

A couple holding an ultrasound photo, with the man kissing the woman's forehead.

Steer clear of common conflicts

Your relationship is your child’s environment. Model healthy behavior and stay on the same team even when it’s 3 am, the baby’s crying, and you’re deciding where to spend Thanksgiving.

What you’ll learn

Dads bring something different to the table—and a growing body of research shows just how much that difference matters.

Dads specialize in introducing their children to the outside world. The way dads play and introduce risk, the way they stretch language and coach emotions, helps build core social and emotional skills children need–especially during the critical 0–3 learning window. 

While there may be “no quick start guide” for parents, there are things that dad can do right now to look beyond “birth partnering” and prepare for his role on The Parenting Team.

In Strong Start for New Dads™, dads get information, “hacks,” and helpful tips to help him get ready for his role - and the special fun he’s going to have. He’ll learn:

  • The science of Patrescence!  The very real chemical, mental, and emotional changes that men undergo as they become dads.

  • Babyproofing the relationship!  Parenting is a team sport - and it’s tough on relationships. He’ll learn simple communication habits and get a take-home program to help keep the team together - even when it’s 3 a.m  and the baby’s screaming and you still can’t agree on where to spend the holidays.

  • Secrets to self-care for dads. Systems to put in place before the baby comes to help him enjoy the game - and protect the quarterback.

There may not be an owner’s manual, but there is a playbook!   

Your StrongStart™ Instructor

Man wearing glasses and a cap

  • Founder & Executive Director of Early Engagement

    Ben studied RIE directly under Magda Gerber acolyte Elizabeth Memel. In the two decades since, he has helped hundreds of dads unlock the tools of respect-based parenting. He has also been a leading advocate for the role dads play in cultivating their kids’ confidence and mental wellness.

StrongStart™ 8 Things New Dads Need to Know