Ways Dads Can Help With Breastfeeding
Nursing can often feeling lonely, especially when you are awake at night in the dark feeding your little newborn, while your husband is sound asleep next to you snoring. I would say we have all been there. But, what if dads helped carry the stress of breastfeeding? Breastfeeding is one of the most important ways you can help support the development and growth of your baby. It is extremely important for us mamas to feel supported through our breastfeeding journey and dad's can help make sure of it. I know for me, I probably would have given up on breastfeeding if it wasn't for my amazing husband.
Maybe you are longing for your hubby to take a more active support approach or maybe you are hoping to get on the same page before giving birth. I put together easy actions that your baby daddy can do to help with breastfeeding.
Dads can learn about breastfeeding. It will help so so much more if daddy knows all about how nursing works. This will allow for both of you to be on the same page. Having a dad learn more about it can help with setting the right expectations for him. This also might be a great time to talk to him about how he can help you with breastfeeding too.
Dads can help with positioning the baby. My husband would help with putting all the pillows just right or helping my nursing pillow. He would help to make sure our babies body was at a good angle to latch correctly. Sometimes, he could get her to latch before I could, but this is because he knew what to look for how saw at a better angle. This made me feel like we were a real team.
Dads can bring you all the water you need. This is a major one. You should be drinking lots and lots of water when breastfeeding, but us tired mamas forget. Also, as soon as we would start breastfeeding I would always become super thirsty. Dad's can make sure you cup is always filled with nice refreshingly cold water. My husband would even hold the cup and straw for me while I drank huge gulps while nursing.
Dads can be the baby transporter. When your little newborn baby cries out for some milk in the middle of the night, have dad go get her and bring her to you. When she is done eating, have him bring the baby back to the crib.
Dad's can help keep track of how often baby is eating. Guys are very analytical and sometimes need to see some data and numbers. My husband was in charge of writing down what time feedings started and for how long our sessions were. He was very jazzed about seeing how well she was eating and helped us to stay on track and not go too longer in between feedings.
Dads can make sure you are okay. Since you are tied to sitting or lying down while nursing, it can make it difficult if you need to get something, like your phone, your book, the TV remote. Tell him to get things you need. I would always forget my phone and as soon as he saw me heading into nurse our daughter he would grab my phone for me. He should be catering to your needs and how to best make you feel most comfortable.
Dads can change the diapers. One thing that my husband I established right away is that because I was breastfeeding he would change diapers, especially in the middle of the night. This made it seem fair to both of us because we would both wake up and help out with the baby, instead of one person doing all the work.
Dads can be encouraging. Breastfeeding is hard and there will be times that you want to quit because you are so tired or cry because it hurts. This is a good place for dads to step in and encourage, support, and help be a good sounding board for us mamas. My husband would always tell me how appreciative he was which kept me in high spirits.
I am sure if dad's did all these things and then some then they would score extra brownie points from moms. Breastfeeding is such an important journey and can often times feel like a roller coaster, but having your spouse carry the load with you can make all the difference.
Kelsey Glynn is a blogger and owner of Social Graces, a business to support others in their social media needs. She is a contributing blog writer for East Valley Moms Blog, a social media content creator, and an avid photo taker. You can catch her adventuring around AZ and living the mom life on Instagram.