dad's and breastfeeding

aschoppers · July 2015

I greatly edited this because I was getting answers to the examples with answers I posted.

This is my third pregnancy, husband's first. I failed at nursing the first two. Very excited to have a chance to try again.

Husband has his worries, I've answered the practical ones. Now he's more about finding other father's who have gone through this. He's not one to talk to his friends so online resources are where we are at.

Anyone have suggestions for resources? I'm looking online but perhaps someone had dealt with this and has a link to share. Video would be great.

NYMominCA · July 2015

1. ABSOLUTELY. With my DS we focused a lot on skin-to-skin bonding within the first week or two. I have so many cherished pics of DH with no shirt on holding a diaper-only DS. We made sure at least 3-4 times per day DH was sitting skin-to-skin with DS. DH also did A LOT of diaper changes initially, was the one to hold/shush/sway baby when he was fussy, etc. We didn't do all these things with DH and DD (was younger, didn't know much about these things, etc.) and I definitely saw a difference in how DS responded to DH vs. DD.

2. Wet diapers, steady weight gain, meeting developmental milestones. That's all the usual.

3. Well, I don't know how to respond to that besides nature existed long before science? And all the science put into designing formula uses breastmilk as the item to be "copied" or "mimicked" so therefore it must be better?

megmansell · July 2015

A. Have him go read the back of a can of Similac formula and ask him how he thinks high fructose corn syrup is a healthy alternative to breast milk.
B. After one month of EBF, pumping and giving a bottle is am option, as strong sucking has already need established and there are less likely to be nipple confusion issues. Breastfeeding Made Simple is a good book with a lot of novel ideas I hadn't come across in other breastfeeding research.
C. Immunities the baby gets from colostrum and breast milk cannot be replicated.
D. He will have plenty of opportunities to bond with the baby off the breast!! Eye gaze and skin-to-skin are wonderfully therapeutic times for daddy-baby bonding.

megmansell · July 2015

That got auto corrected in weird ways. Am=an, need=been

shannonota · July 2015

Breastmilk is an actual living substance, science hasn't even figured out its make up yet. I'm sure you know all that. We have been doing lots of skin to skin with dad and he will burp him after I feed him so he's still involved in the feeding.

wheresilenceismusic · July 2015

Science supports that breastfeeding is better than formula feeding, again and again.

If your husband needs to be informed, please read Amazon's preview of "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," produced by Le Leche League.

giselle1312 · July 2015

Fathers can also do skin to skin with baby just not breast feed .... And he will bond with him .. I breast feed my soon and a fill a couple of bottles of breast milk so my husband can do a couple thru out the day but it's still my milk and he gets to bond

kalyth76 · July 2015

My husband is a scientist and I don't think he was super convinced about breastfeeding when DS 1 was born. By the time DS1 was over a year old, he was super on the BF bandwagon. To answer your questions:

1) Feeding isn't the only way of bonding. However, one thing that was helpful for my DH was feeding the baby pumped milk at night. My DH was excited to get up in the middle of the night too, so I would make sure to pump at least 1 bottle a day to provide him with that opportunity. Also, like others have said, skin to skin contact, diaper changes, and dressing baby also provide bonding opportunities.

2) Breastmilk provides all the nutrients baby needs. And you're right, wet diapers and steady weight gain will tell you that she's getting what she needs and enough of it.

3) Why is it better? There are properties of breastmilk that science still hasn't yet discovered, making it impossible to recreate it 100%. Science has gotten as close as it possibly can, but is still discovering. I know this may seem anecdotal, but breastmilk has such awesome properties that placing just a dab of it on irritated baby skin is very healing. Formula hasn't quite gotten there yet with its ability to be a drink and a healing ointment.

All the best!!

Kate

Mjstine · July 2015

Nature is science

aschoppers · July 2015

I'm looking for resources for men from men. The stuff I'm finding isn't geared towards men very much.

shaley29 · July 2015

I'm confused on the science vs nature. Science has proven that breast is best..there are tons of educated articles out there...from science journals. Also as far as him bonding there are tons of other ways..and he can still get up at night with you, help change baby etc.

Eden+Jon · July 2015

The science vs nature is actually pretty easy. We still don't fully understand the human body. However breastmilk and babies evolved symbiotically in a sense, they've had a lot of time to evolve to be as efficient for each other as possible. A lot of man's greatest inventions are based on biomimicry. We can be as creative as we want, but makes had more time to perfect the process.