In the Baby Zone with Matthew Settle

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Spotted: Matthew Settle as a devoted dad to daughter Aven (born March 2009). Between being a father in real life as well as playing one on the hit show Gossip Girl, Settle knows a bit about parenting. Here he shares with us the best advice he's ever received, what he can't live without, and how he knows when he's in the Baby Zone.

What's your golden rule of parenting?

Do unto your children as you'd have done to you. Treat them they way you would want to be treated when having your diaper changed … you have to quote me on that one [laughs].

Describe the best moment of parenting so far.

There's so many. Now that she's talking, we had a really fun moment where we were talking about living on the planet earth and she understood what the moon was. We just finished watching a Dora video, or something like that, and she was like, "Space?" And I showed her what an astronaut was and I showed her Google Earth and where we live in our apartment. After that she was showing everybody on the street, "Space!"

And the worst?

Whenever she gets injured. There's that moment where you wonder if they are going to be OK. One time she fell. You know when their body stops for a second and they have to catch their breath … you have that moment where you wonder, "How bad is it?" That's a tough moment.

Best advice you ever got?

To guide and not to push.

What's the one thing you can't live without?

Right now, the pacifier. We've got to start weaning her off. It's her friend—she loves it. But [weaning her] is definitely coming.

Finish this sentence: You know you're in the Baby Zone when...

... you reach into your jacket pocket and pull out a baby wipe or a pacifier.