What? How dad can help with breastfeeding? As Meat Loaf (almost) said, “dads can do anything for their kids, but they can’t do that”. Old Meaty’s only half right though, because although you’re never going to start lactating (seriously, get over it), we will be able to show you how dad can help with breastfeeding their child.
No no no, put that milking stool and bucket away. These are just some very easy tips to make your partner’s breastfeeding endeavours just that little bit easier.
How Dad can Help with Breastfeeding
1. Stress
The big one.
You may not have realised that stress can seriously inhibit your partner’s ability to breastfeed. It’s kind of taken for granted that once the baby latches, the nipples will flow with a bountiful supply of milk. If mum is stressed though, the milk can be a bit more shy in showing itself.
Let’s cut to the chase here. Your partner’s been carrying around a human inside her for months, pushed it out of a space that you wouldn’t bank on a kiwi fruit to be able to pass through, and wasn’t even allowed to have a drink the whole time. If someone deserves to have a stress-free couple of months now, it’s her.
Take care of any other kids you have, pick up the vacuum cleaner, and sort out that leaky tap that you’ve been promising to do since 2017. A stress-free mother will find it much easier to provide that nutritious milk that your baby will thank you for.
2. Limit Distractions
If you’ve got kids or are somewhat gobby yourself, don’t forget to turn your volume dials right down for when baby is feeding.
Unfortunately, you may need to shelve big entrances and shouting from other rooms until you know that you’re not going to be disturbing a potentially breastfeeding baby.
3. Sleep
Those mums need to have plenty of sleep. An overly tired mother may struggle to breastfeed as much as she’d like to. With a baby in the house though, sleeping throughout the night can be a bit of a rarity. If this is the case for you, then try to arrange time in the day that she can catch up on forty winks while you look after the nipper. Failing this, encourage her to get a little sleep in the day at the same times that baby sleeps.
4. Take the Pressure Off
There’s a HUGE amount of pressure on women to breastfeed at the moment. Friends, family members, and social media all bombard women with the message of ‘breast is best’.
While I’m not disputing that at all, it can make those women who struggle to breastfeed feel a bit of a failure.
Make sure that you’re not adding any undue pressure on her yourself, and try to alleviate it a little by reminding her that while breastmilk is great, bottle feeding is perfectly safe too if breastfeeding becomes too much of a struggle.
5. Keeping your Partner Hydrated
With the stress of looking after a newborn baby all too real, it can be surprisingly easy for both of you to stop looking after yourselves as well as you would normally.
Ensure that your partner has a constant supply of her favourite drink close to hand (as long as that favourite drink isn’t gin). It makes sense that a dehydrated mum will find it trickier to produce breast milk than a fully hydrated mum.
6. Making Sure You’re Both Eating Right
Ditto goes for eating. It can be way too easy to reach for the takeaway menu, or head for the nearest drive-through fast food joint when you’re so frazzled. Nutritious home-cooked meals will help to keep you both healthy, and hopefully help your partner’s body to produce milk a little easier. I’m no dietician though, so better to take a look at what the NHS have to say when it comes to a suitable diet to have when breastfeeding.
As a bonus, doing all that cooking for your partner will mean that you’re helping to relieve stress for her too. Win, win!
7. Take Her Mind off it if She’s Struggling
Breastfeeding is seen as one of the most basic aspects of being a new mother. If your partner is struggling, she may feel as if she is failing in some way and feel dejected.
Of course, while it’s understandable for her to feel down, it’s crazy to think that the woman who carried, delivered and is now raising a child thinks of herself as anything other than an absolute marvel!
If you sense that this may be the case with your partner, it’s sometimes best to just change the subject completely. Have a drink, watch a movie, and order that takeaway in. Sometimes we all just need to reset a little so that we can approach things in a different mindset later.
Hopefully these few pointers have given you a couple of ideas how dad can help with breastfeeding. There’s no outlandish secret techniques here, it’s basically trying to ensure that your partner maintains her physical and mental health during a busy time. Don’t go forgetting about yourself though. Ensure that you’re getting the rest and nutrition you need too. A frazzled and sick dad will only add to the stress for your partner!
Looking for more ideas on how to help out? Here’s 5 things that new dads can do to help out their partners.
Some of this baby stuff can be a little baffling. Check out this advice for new dads on looking after newborns. It will at least get you through the first couple of weeks!
Here’s how to read a baby’s mind, which makes everything a whole lot easier. Maybe.