The New Father: A Dad's Guide to The Toddler Years, 12-36 Months

The New Father

by Armin A. Brott

The essential guide for fathers of one- and two-year-olds, completely revised and updated

Learn how to make a positive impact in these milestone years of your child's development, when he or she goes from crawling to walking, and from knowing just a few words to speaking in complete sentences. Armin Brott guides you through this crucial phase of fatherhood three months at a time, in the third volume of the New Father series trusted by millions of dads nationwide. Each chapter covers:
Your child's physical, intellectual, verbal, and emotional/social development

What you're experiencing as a father

Age-appropriate activities you and your child can enjoy together

Family matters, including your relationship with your partner, sibling relationships, and more
This new edition of The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years has been thoroughly updated to cover the issues dads face today, from balancing work and family to managing kids' screen time. Dads will rely on this friendly yet authoritative book--and moms will find it helpful, too.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tate Schad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each time I finish one of these Dad books, I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. Didn’t I just start this one? Didn’t my daughter just turn one and say her first words, take her first steps, put on her first dress? There’s so much that happens from age one to three, it’s hard to believe this was the same baby I was snuggling just a second ago. This book sat on my nightstand through two years and a cross-country move, and helped tether me to the present while reminding me that time isn’t slowing down any time soon.

A lot happens from age one to three, but that second half has to be the most drastic change in one year their whole life. Kids go from a toddling little thing that still needs help doing almost anything, to a full-blown person with attitude, personality, and (if you’re lucky) the miraculous lack of a diaper. Through it all, this book was there with perfectly-timed insight about what’s going on with my daughter, my wife, and me individually, all the while explaining how we as fathers can make sure everyone’s needs are met. There’s financial advice, relationship counseling, playtime ideas, commiserations on bad days and bad tantrums, and so much more. It’s the most well-rounded and real advice on fatherhood in our generation, and since this is the phase of life where we generally spend more time at work and home than around other dads, it’s probably the best way to compare notes with someone else who has walked in these shoes.

It’s hard to believe the next book in this series covers more than six years of parenting life. That would be an all-time record nightstand residency. Whether it’s there or not, I’m just glad there are more years left to learn how to be Dad. Things are moving too fast already.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great edition to the series, that I can highly recommend as a psychotherapist. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great compass.
(August, 2025)

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Father a Dad’s Guide to the toddler years showcases what dad’s can expect from their toddler as their development skyrockets. From verbal to physical to specific situations this is an all-encompassing book that focuses on practical advice for dads. While kids don’t come with an instruction manual this is a close second. As others noted there is nothing in here that is groundbreaking but for overwhelmed dads this can be a nice way to organize thoughts. It touches on a little bit of everything that one should think about when becoming a parent including relationship, financial and insurance suggestions as well as all the things your toddler will be going through.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I read it earlier, again :) amazing practical book of being an involved dad. Altough many of advices are for americans only (financial advices, preschool and even divorces) i found this book to be fundamental to set a good basis for being a father i want to be. As usual, Armin takes step by step what’s happening with you, your toddler and with your partner. You loose some sort of a tension when you hear several things as being normal, and also there’s a small kick in a butt of being late for some parts.

[Jonathan Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed these books so much since we found out we were having a baby over three years ago. Reading the sections month by month gave me something to look forward to. However, I think this may be my last one. As you enter the toddler years, children become so different and unique. Much of the content in here was helpful but didn’t always apply at the right time. Each child will grow and develop differently and will have their own sets of strengths. This is still a fantastic guide, and I think every new dad should pick up these series from day one!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. As with any of these kinds of books, it had a lot of parts I felt comfortable skimming over or skipping completely, as I already felt comfortable with certain areas of parenthood. But like his other books, it is so great to read about what kids should and shouldn't be doing and why and hearing pros and cons for decisions that are ultimately up to you, the parent. I highly recommend all parents get their hands on his books, or similar books.

[Ricky Mikeabono · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this New Father series. This book (no. 3?) was great for teaching about Toddler Years, from walking to 36 months. It covers all sorts of things related to parenting including developmental milestones, changing concepts in research, and struggles unique to fathers (but I'd recommend it to mothers too). The author is also amazingly unbiased. Every other parenting book I have read seems to have an agenda (I could not stand Emily Oster).

[Jose Jimenez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good practical guide to toddler years from fathers point of view.
Key Take-Away: As father's we need not only understand what is happening with our childs intellectual, physical, and emotional learning & development, we need to understand ours as well. We as Fathers need to learn and develop. Some of this comes naturally, and some of it need reflection, assessment & intervention.

[Rhonda Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandson has a daughter who is now 14 months old and this was the perfect thing for him, and all of us really, to know what to expect, what to look forward to and all the experiences a dad might go through with their toddler. It definitely gave him a bit of relief knowing some of the things he was worried about were experienced by someone else and it was normal.

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books have been a consistent and constructive voice from expecting through year three. It's been nice to track along with milestones and also be reminded of some of the age-appropriate activities we can take part in together. Dad jokes? Yes. A little goofy? Yes. A worthwhile companion on the fatherhood journey? Definitely.

[Dan Laubach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this book. Funny enough to be engaging, but not so much that the book felt like a comedy. It was chock full of good and applicable information. The book is like 30 years old and about 95% of it still felt super relevant. A great book for any engaged (or want to be more engaged) dad of a toddler.

[Mario Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. Didn’t learn as much as I did with the newborn book.

[Ismael Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute essential for the new dads, when the little one reaches that feared first adolescence. Brott offers that masculine vision of the matter, which is still so lacking these days.

[Bill Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this over 3 years and loved checking in to get ideas for how to engage my son. Whether it was book recs or ideas on how to roughhouse, I felt like it was on point and well geared for new dads.

[Thor R]

Amazing practical advice and always left with a desire to be a better dad and husband and some ideas about how to do that.

[Russell Howcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent advice for dealing with my daughter and seemed to go right along with her behavior as she grew up

[Becky Everhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this guy has written a series of parenting books just for fathers, which is nice, but this guy comes off as a hack. The research-backed suggestions were alright, the ideas for taking care of business beyond fathering was a bit novel yet disorganized. The real problem area were the suggestions the author made on his own, which ranged from silly (If it isn't too cold out, strip down to your underwear with your child and go out in the yard and paint each other head to toe; if it is too cold out, go puddle jumping or drive through puddles in the car. Seriously? ever thought about neighbors, hypothermia, or hydroplaning?) to what I consider to be dangerous (Teach your one-and-a-half-year-old to shave you without the razor on the handle, and when they get that down, let them shave you for real. This is dangerous for you, and it also draws unnecessary attention to razors. Even with razors hidden, a 4-year-old boy in my daughter's preschool managed to slip into the bathroom one night after he was presumed asleep and shave himself, drawing blood and scaring the daylights out of his parents, even when the razor was hidden.). Not what I like to see. The parts that told about what to expect at each age was sparse and overly colored with his own children's experiences instead of real research into what is normal. To top it all off, he ended the book with a section on how to get through a divorce and come out as much on top as possible. Not very encouraging, and not really appropriate. He also tried to champion being non-sexist, but then he was a bit sexist himself at times.

That said, I know there's a draw to having a book written just for dads, and I think it's nice to get something for a new dad, but this book is not it. Stick with the "What to Expect" series, which is very good, support the dad, and the rest should fall into place.

[Sheehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's to say, it's not ground-breaking, it was just a fine for the moment survey of dad-related aspects of toddlers growth.

I appreciated the quarterly breakdown of the psychology and learning capabilities, as they set the tone for engaging my daughter, but beyond that it was all stuff I have picked up piecemeal from other parents, magazines, the web etc. that abound in daily life...

This is one of the rare times I would say a whole text on the topic is a bit anachronistic and incongruent with the harried modern lifestyles of most working parents.

[Ian Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered The New Father simply by browsing the bookshelves at Hastings, that in itself is something I haven't done for years and years. It's a niche book, certainly, it isn't going to appeal to a wider audience, but if you happen to find yourself about to become a Dad for the first time in your life I cannot recommend it highly enough. I'm already working my way through the sequel, Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years, and it's just as invaluable. A really great gift idea, too.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be more helpful,more straightforward and less judgemental than most of the books written for moms.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have!!!