The paternal experience of parents for the first time in baby care in the first three months of life

Abstract

Fatherhood is a theme that has being suffering modifications in its concept, being now legitimized differently if compared with past decades. This progress has allowed us to observe that the paternal figure no longer only represents the role of breadwinner and provide for their families but to encompass attitudes of more involvement and affective contact with the children, which consequently changes the concept in relationships within the family. If before the man-father was the head of the family and a householder while his wife and children were his subordinates; now the model has been experiencing changes especially in the way of taking care of the children. The education, the care, the love and the care for the welfare of the child becomes part of the man-father routine, being added to the activities that used to be already performed. But how must be the experiences in the first three months of the baby's life, especially being a father for the first time, in a time when the care is traditionally exercised by mothers? This study aims to understand the parental experience of parents for the first time in baby care in the first three months of life. The collecting and analysis of data will be directed by the theoretical-methodological framework of Critical Communicative Methodology. It is also expected that by using a dialogical method, there might be a recognition of him as a father as well as of his own limits, surpassing the exclusive figure of breadwinner and casting light in new paternity.