Editorial: Changing times a true challenge

One miss-a-nappy, two miss-a-nappy, three miss-a-nappy...
This is a game I invented while on paternity leave.
The aim of miss-a-nappy is to see how many consecutive nappy changes you can miss. Only dads can play (I made up the rules) and you should be at home on leave for the greatest challenge. Blokes who say they never change a nappy are excluded. That's just neglect.
Miss-a-nappy is really an individual challenge. Because there is usually only one dad per baby (well that's how it is at our house), you are not playing against anyone as such, rather you are aiming for a personal best (PB) measured in 24-hour days.
My PB is four days, clocked up in baby Benjamin's first week at home. The first week is a good time to play miss-a-nappy as there is often a feeling abroad that dads will just make a mess of the job so they might as well not do it.
This belief wanes quickly so it is important to have strategies in place for that time. I run a daytime and a night-time strategy.
Daytime: Get out of bed quickly and promise to make breakfast. In fact, make every meal. Walk the dog. If you don't have a dog, get one. Do all supermarket shopping and some housework such as vacuuming. Have an extensive list of home-maintenance jobs that need doing and do them. Outdoor jobs are best.
Night-time: At the first whimper of trouble, leap out of the sheets and declare that you'll warm a bottle and feed baby if your wife will "get him ready". You'll have to do most of the night feeding but miss-a-nappy is all about endurance.
There's a lot of subtle psychology involved. Follow the correct strategies and your wife is likely to think things are going pretty well at home - meals are being cooked, jobs are being done and nasty night-time feeding is taken care of. It can be days before you are required to change a nappy, which, of course, is the aim of the game.
There's a couple around the corner from us who are about to become parents. I was thinking of suggesting a miss-a-nappy challenge against the dad. I'm just a bit concerned he might be the kind of guy who likes to get his hands dirty.Thanks to all the many people who have asked about the progress of Benjamin. He has now been out of the special care baby unit for five weeks and is thriving at home. His nappies are changed regularly.