breastfeeding for dads

jamilah ellis: we saw a lot of cases where dad kind of felt left out of the breastfeeding relationship. a good way to bring them into the relationship is to have them be there with mom while she’s breastfeeding the baby. he can do something simple like read the baby a story while the baby is nursing. another great thing that helps babies in the really early stages is skin-to-skin contact. the baby is there in just their diaper and the dad without his

shirt, and he can hold the baby like that. that’s very comforting and soothing for a new baby. shaune: my husband, the best support system that i have. he was always kind of, like, on me in terms of, “have you pumped? how many times have you pumped today?” he kind of armed himself with the knowledge in terms of what i should be doing as well. patrice: i’m a single mother in that i’m not married, but i do

have my son’s dad’s help. he’s really supportive, like, emotionally. he’s supportive financially. he’s there. you know, we share responsibilities. we do daycare drop-off and pick-up together. we, you know, he comes over to do bath time and bedtime. dr. sahira long: my husband did everything that he could to make

sure that my breastfeeding experience was what i wanted it to be. he would, you know, without fail, get up, change my son, have him ready and in position and all i had to do was get him from him, nurse him, and then lay him back down. so, you know, it was the knowledge that, you know, you’re not just saying, “because you’re breastfeeding, this is your thing. you get up all night.” he would actually do the stuff that would wake the baby up the most beforehand so that after i nursed he

would fall back asleep right away and i didn’t have to worry about doing the other stuff.