NEW PAPITOS
New to this? Start here.
Maybe your first baby just arrived. Maybe you’re just new to planning time with your kids. Either way, you don’t need a big plan. You need one easy thing to do today. PAPITO was started by a dad in Miami, and everything here is ready to explore.
TEN MINUTES
Start with something at home
Pick a short activity that uses what you already have. Ten minutes counts.
ONE DAY A WEEK
Make room for one plan
Choose one day, add one activity and leave yourself a reminder. Your plan stays in your browser.
GET OUTSIDE
Find a park that works
Shade, restrooms and parking details for Miami parks, plus games to play once you arrive.
Every family starts differently
Your path to papito
Adoption and foster care
Adopting? You’re a new papito too.
Whether you’re adopting a newborn, welcoming a child from foster care or bringing a child home from another country, your first weeks will look different from a birth story, and that’s normal. What matters most is the same: showing up, again and again.
Before they come home
- Ask HR about leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act covers bonding with an adopted or foster child for eligible employees, and many employers offer paid adoption leave.
- Look into the federal adoption tax credit and any adoption assistance your employer offers.
- Ask your pediatrician about a pre-adoption visit or a review of your child’s medical records.
- Keep their space simple. A few familiar things from where your child is coming from help more than a room full of new toys.
The first weeks
- Keep the world small: fewer visitors, the same caregivers and predictable routines.
- With babies, do the feeding, rocking and holding yourself. Bottle feeds and skin-to-skin time with dad build attachment.
- Older kids may test limits, grieve or act younger than their age. It’s often their way of finding out whether you’ll stay. Stay.
- Ask friends for meals and errands, not turns holding the baby.
Talking about adoption
- Tell your child their adoption story early and often, in words that fit their age. It should never be a secret they discover.
- Speak about birth family with respect, even when the story is hard.
- Say “birth parent” and “placed for adoption” rather than “real parent” or “given up.”
- If your child’s race or culture differs from yours, bring it into everyday life: food, books, music, hair care, and people and places that reflect them.
Dad move: Start a lifebook together: photos, mementos and the story of how your family came together, in a book that belongs to your child.
Official and trusted sources
For educational purposes only. This is general information, not investment, financial, tax, legal or medical advice, and it isn’t a recommendation to buy, sell or open any product or account. Programs, amounts and rules change and vary by state, so check the official sources linked here and talk to a licensed professional about your situation. PAPITO isn’t paid for any link in this section.
You’re not the only dad figuring this out.
PAPITO started with dads in mind, but it’s for any parent or caregiver. Showing up is most of the job. Read why we started, or email info@papitoco.com with whatever you’re stuck on.