WHEN Matt Coyne wrote an internet post about his first three months of fatherhood, little did he know it would end up being seen by 15 million people, be shared by Hollywood celebrities, and that he’d be a bestselling author.

In addition, his parenting blog, Man vs Baby, is one of the most popular parenting blogs in the world and has almost 200,000 followers.

A former graphic designer, Matt, 43, of Dodworth, is now a stay-at-home dad who looks after his two-year-old son Charlie while his partner Lyndsay goes to work as a academic manager.

His brutally honest and hilarious posts about being a new father and all that comes with it have captured the attention of the masses. He even appeared on Australian television.

His book, Dummy, has won praise from Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, who said it was one of the best descriptions of fatherhood he’d ever read, and from telly favourite Phillip Schofield who described it as ‘brilliantly funny.’

Despite his huge success, Matt is the first to admit he’s not entirely sure why it is so popular.

He said: “That first post was written for family mainly, it was just about how I was getting on. I didn’t sit down and write it in a way where I thought I’d end up with a book deal. It was a complete accident.

“But it’s funny, or at least I hope it is funny, and it is brutally honest which is a new thing in parenting. It’s quite new to be honest about how difficult it can be at times. I try to keep it honest and heartwarming as I can.”

But he joked: “Whether it’s the book, or the blog, or the original post, I’ve no idea what I’m doing. I’ve had no idea since I started, it’s just a happy accident that it seems to be working.”

Dummy was released in paperback yesterday, following its original release last year. It focusses on the first 12 months of Charlie’s life and Matt’s first year as a father.

Matt joked: “Originally we were going to write it as a manual, but we found out pretty quickly that I don’t know anything, so we decided not to do that. It ended up being more of a memoir and a description of my life during that year. It’s broken off into chapters such as ‘Arrivals,’ ‘Feeding’ and ‘Maintenance.’

“It’s done really well and was a best-seller. It’s done so well they are letting me write another one which has to be completed by June and will be out later this year. I’m going to cover as much of the toddler years as I can.”

The book, which also covers topics such as breastfeeding and vaccinations, is being released in America, Europe and China.

But not everyone has taken kindly to Matt sharing his experiences.

“I get a lot of internet trolls and they form part of the book too. I wrote about vaccinations, and I got some stick for that. I get stick from people saying I’m too old to be a parent. I get stick for swearing too much. I get stick about everything really. The advice I get is to not respond, but I do all the time.”

Since he’s had chance to sit back and think about the last year or so, Matt says he’s probably more excited now than he was then.

“It was crazy, but with Charlie only being three months old, everything was crazy in our house anyway with a little baby. I was totally unprepared for how it was going to change things. I was probably more excited about Charlie being here. I’m probably more excited by what’s happened now than I was then, because I was knackered and barely functioning. It was all a bit dreamlike. Now I’ve had a bit of sleep I can take it in.

“I was a graphic designer before, but I’ve been given this opportunity and I get to spend more time with Charlie. It’s a lot better in terms of being able to be a dad and have that time.”