Northwestern University researchers followed a large group of men in their 20s and discovered that their testosterone levels fell after they found partners and became fathers. The men studied were 22 when the study began, 26 when it was completed. While testosterone declined in all the men studied — normal, with aging — the largest declines were in married or partnered men with children, compared to men who remained single.

Among men who became fathers during the study, the drop in testosterone levels was about twice as much as among men who remained single. Men with newborns had even lower testosterone levels than those who had slightly older children. And fathers who reported caring for their children 3 or more hours a day had lower testosterone levels than fathers who were not involved in child care.

The conclusion? “It really suggests men are hard-wired to be directly caring for their kids,” said Christopher Kuzawa, study co-author. Lower testosterone levels could help dads better manage the demands of parenting and enable them to become more nurturing.

Ohio State researchers studied 112 Midwestern families with 4-year-olds, then looked at the families again a year later. The study found that when dad took responsibility for certain tasks, spouses often undermined each other’s parenting skills and techniques. According to Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, co-author of the study, “it’s hard to break out of more traditional  gender roles…when you have two parents highly invested in care giving, there’s an opportunity to step on each other’s toes.”

Moms, what’s your take on this? Are you guilty of criticizing how the man of the house does his fathering? And how do you  solve your disagreements?

In a recent  Advertising Age article entitled “Time to Rethink Your Message: Now the Cart Belongs to Daddy,” the magazine takes a look at how the expanding role of today’s American father is shifting the way companies are marketing the consumer goods and services formerly considered “for mom only.”  Jack Neff writes:

“Through decades of media fragmentation, marketers of packaged goods and many other brands could take solace in one thing – at least they could count on their core consumers being moms and reach them through often narrowly targeted cable TV, print and digital media.  But a study by Yahoo finds that… dads in particular are taking up the shopping cart, with about six in 10 identifying themselves as their household’s decision maker on packaged goods, health, pet and clothing purchases.”

While the men’s perception is a tad off – the article goes on to state that “actual behavioral research of these shoppers shows a number more like 35%” – it does raise the question: what about dad?   With more men embracing additional responsibilities at home, not to mention the recent surge in the number of “stay-at-home-dads” pushing strollers around the city,  it’s no surprise that savvy companies are interested in reaching the new “modern day” dad. 

According to the article, brands such as Head & Shoulders and Huggies have already started running ads targeted specifically to men.  And online, marketing giant P&G has recently launched manofthehouse.com, an online destination for dads where they can find articles, blog posts and product news on topics ranging from “family & parenting” to “looking good” – subjects traditionally reserved for women’s magazines and mommy blogs.

At Child’s Play Communications, we’re dedicated to reaching moms with influence over the family’s purse strings.  We also have a longstanding Digital Dads program, for some of the very reasons outlined here.  

Moms, when it comes to purchasing everyday household goods, who wears the pants in your family these days?  Do you think it’s time for marketers to start paying more attention to dad?

Marketers, have you shifted your focus to include dads in your outreach?

For men, meanwhile, while more is expected of them at home,  expectations have not changed on the job. As a result, the percentage of fathers in dual-income households who say they suffer work- family conflict has leaped from 35% in 1977  to  59% today. Yet even when there are flexible work policies, American men don’t use them as much as American women do.

To quote Belkin: “Can we make it ‘manly’ (or even better, ‘gender neutral’ ) to spend a day with a child, or earn less money but have more family time, or be the only parent at a parent-teacher conference because our wife has a meeting?”

She continued: “Empowering American women can no longer focus only on women…All those efforts must continue, yes. But none will succeed if we don’t change our expectations for men, or more accurately, men’ s expectations for themselves.” 

Readers, your thoughts?

Much as moms might like to think that they’ve cornered the market on blogging, especially when it comes to their kids, the fact is that dad bloggers are out in force — so much so that, more than a year ago, Child’s Play Communications launched a Digital Dads program to complement our Team Mom and Web Mom blogger networks.

As an extension of that focus, from today through Saturday Child’s Play is participating in the Modern Media Man (M3) Summit in Atlanta, a new conference designed specifically for men — especially dads — who blog.

Just a generation ago – when my own child, CollegeBoy, was growing up — the stay-at-home dad (Mr. Mom as he was known then) was a true anomaly. Yet in 2009, a record 7.4% of fathers in married-couple families with children under 18 were home while their wives worked, according to unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article on this subject.

According to the story, stay-at-home dads “face a bigger stigma” among potential employers than stay-at-home moms. Dads who are attempting to return in the wake of the recession are feeling the impact big-time when competing for what positions exist, as it was primarily jobs held by men that were eliminated – leading to what some have labeled a “he –cession.”

How do you feel about dads leaving work to stay home with their kids? Do you feel that it’s only fair that dads take a turn – or do you feel it’s moms’ responsibility? When SHOULD it be the husband and not the wife who makes the move home? And do you think it’s acceptable for employers to think less of a man for taking time off to care for his kids – even if their logic is that as a result he is behind his peers on current industry knowledge, skills and contacts?

More than 1,000 young parents were chosen from a  group whose own parents had participated in a nationwide survey initiated in 1979. For the three behaviors researched — spanking children, giving physical affection/praise, and reading to children — women closely followed what their mother did, while men did not.

 The researchers also discovered significant changes in behaviors among this generation vs. the previous one, with parenting today involving much more reading and affection to children and less spanking.

What parenting approaches will today’s young boys pick up from their mothers — and what from their dads? And should companies be developing products and services that tie into these different choices?

Referring to the Parenting poll, Jeremy Adam Smith, author of “The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family,” said that anger arises when working parents compare themselves to others. “The mom is measuring the dad against other dads, and the dad is measuring himself against other dads, and that can create feelings of inadequacy and anger.”

Lisa Belkin, author of The New York Times Motherlode blog, added, “I think that women are measuring themselves against both their mothers and their fathers. They are doing their mom’s job and they’re doing dad’s job. If they are working outside the home and bringing in an income, they’re their fathers. And then they come home and they feel this obligation to be their old-fashioned mother…and then you’ve got dad who’s comparing himself to his dad, and he’s feeling pretty good about it. But mom’s looking over at him and saying, ‘yeah, but I’m still chasing two role models here,’ and there’s a lot of anger.”

Readers, what do you think?

The changes here are motivated by the same factors I’ve noted in previous posts: a greater focus on participation among this generation of fathers, and the economy that is sending many of them home.

The big questions: Once the recession recedes and many of these dads go back to work, will they also return to more traditional parenting roles? Or will they still make time for baby-and-me classes, blog posts about the trials and joys of fatherhood, and getting together with other dads and their kids for fun and bonding?

I hope so. Moms AND Dads – what do you think will happen?

For more, visit Who’s That with Baby at the Y? Why, It’s Daddy.

In some cases, these dad bloggers are married to established mom bloggers – and have noticed that their wives have been getting all the attention.  I recently had the opportunity to connect with Royal from A Few Fries Short , whose wife is Toni-Lynn of the Grocery Price Blog. He shared his thoughts on being a dad blogger.

Do you think we are going to see a rise in the number of dad bloggers?

My gut instinct tells me yes.  I see a blog as more than just a journal.  It is becoming more of a social interaction.  We have a few friends we do things with, but many more that we have met online.  In my case, I don’t really go out with the guys.  I come home and want to spend time with my family. Now it is 7:30 on a Friday night, our oldest is playing the Wii, the 2 year old is in his crib and my wife and I  are sitting at our laptops together.  Even though we are all not doing the same exact thing, we are together as a family.  I do believe that men will realize that they don’t have to sit at a bar to have their man time.  They can be home with their family and get ‘out with the boys’ at the same time.

How would you like to see marketers interact with Dad bloggers?

I think marketers could find a great way to interact with dads. Every dad is going to have or want the newest golf clubs, the best yard equipment and they will always be trying to one up each other.  I can see their Twitter parties getting out of control and being a riot.  I get really excited about what my wife considers to be the dumbest things.  The other day, I spent the longest time at a store, just looking over different in-ground sprinkler heads. I also got a free cedar wood privacy fence. With the help of my brother-in-law, we tore it apart and made a new, better fence of it.  I actually blogged about this one already on my website.