To change or not to change…that is the question.

I am just 10 months into my new role as the very proud Dad of a beautiful little baby girl. Now I won’t go on endlessly about how beautiful she is or how I have already banned her from dating because that is par for the course when a little girl becomes part of a Dad’s life and shouldn’t come as any great surprise.

I wanted to talk to you about something that can cause a grown man to squirm and find any excuse to put up those new shelves or change that light bulb that has been blown for the last 2 months. What could have such a powerful effect on a grown man? Changing a baby’s nappy.

I like to think of myself as a reasonably fair and open minded partner, sometimes if the mood takes me I even pride myself on this view. I am a man who is familiar with the location of the dishwasher and who on occasion uses the ironing board for ironing rather than as a set of stumps when playing indoor cricket inside the house.

So why does changing nappies strikes fear into the heart of even the manliest man?

Lets try to understand why this might be the case, why men who will happily subject themselves to cruel physical punishment such as contact sport or extreme drinking games turn to water when presented with changing a baby’s nappy.

The first issue is experience. For those who are experienced nappy changers, once you know what you are doing, changing a nappy while holding a phone conversation and directing or disciplining other children can be done without too much trouble. As a man facing his first nappy change the prospect is all too daunting.

The second obstacle to overcome is pride. For the same reason men don’t ask for directions, men are unlikely to ask their partner for instructions on how to change a nappy. The task by nature sounds so simple that it probably shouldn’t require directions, but it is better to avoid disaster by fixing those shelves to the wall.

The final hurdle is just the unknown. The contents of the nappy can range from the simple to the ridiculous. The problem arises when the fear of what might be in the nappy exceeds reality and that is when it becomes a phobia.

In my case, after dodging the first 2 months of nappies I decided I had no more shelves or light bulbs that needed attending to and I had to bite the bullet and learn how to change a nappy.

Happily I can say that after a couple of nappy changes, it is a phobia that I have conquered. While the contents of the nappy are never pleasant, it is rarely as bad as you imagine it to be. So to all the men out there, prove to your partners that changing your child’s nappies is not beyond you.

There is nothing that a man cannot do when they set their mind to it. Who knows you might get good enough to hold a phone conversation and direct or discipline your other children at the same time. And while we are on the topic of overcoming our demons, while you are there you might want to try introducing your partner to the lawn mower!