Help a Mama Out Topic of the Week: How does your partner bond with your baby besides giving a bottle?
So many partners who take my prenatal breastfeeding class want to know how they can start bonding with their babies besides giving bottles. Here are a few articles about partner support, as well as YOUR fantastic tips about how your partner and baby bond together.
Lactation Matters: Fathers, Breastfeeding, and Bonding
Nancy Mohrbacher: The Mother’s Partner and the Breastfed Baby
Best for Babes: 14 Ways for Dads (and Partners) to be Engaged with their Breastfed Babes
Chelsea – He wears him in the baby carrier a lot and they like to read books together.
Shelly – When they were small, the only way we could get them to sleep was to put them in jammies on Daddy’s chest. It still works like a charm, almost at 13 months!
Erin – Babywearing and skin to skin! Too cute!
Cassandra – Every night he gives our son a coconut oil rub down…. It’s become such a bonding experience for them that when I even try to do this, my son whines and arches his back and crawls away.
Tiffany – He takes care of him in the morning while I sleep in. Change his diaper, play with him, and incorporate him into his ‘before-work’ exercise routine: calf raises with baby on shoulder, squats with baby in arms.
Ashley – Ours are bigger now, but when they were newbies and crying, he’d turn on Bunny Wailer and dance around the house with them. I still get teary when I hear Blackheart Man.
Lisa – Babywearing, bath time together, snuggles, walks, playing on the floor together.
Stephanie – Cuddles and babywearing. I heard a good quite recently about fathers. “It’s a father’s job to show his child that love doesn’t just come from food.”
Valerie – My wife spends lots of snuggle time with our daughter. Between babywearing, rocking, singing, and cuddling, she has quite the knack for soothing our baby.
Liz – My son hasn’t met daddy yet, as he is in Afghanistan, but when our daughter was a baby my husband would pretend fight with her. He would go all out…. Have her in the air, ‘slow mo’ kick her little baby feet into his face making some dramatic noises and rolling all over the bed with her. She wasn’t even a year old so it looked hilarious! Thank goodness I got a video of it! My hubby will also do diapers, carry, and co-sleep… the whole nine, but it’s his playtime bonding I love the most!
Mallory - My daughter has never had a bottle, so aside from helping with all of the other baby duties, he always reads her a bedtime story before I nurse her to sleep.
Tasha - Dad is a master burper and swaddler with our little one. He's also a pro at getting him to sleep because milk just doesn't do it some nights.
Jessica - By letting mommy sleep when he gets home in the mornings. My son love to fall asleep on his chest.
Thanks to everyone who responded to our questions on our San Diego Breastfeeding Center and The Boob Group Facebook pages. Check back every week for a new Help a Mama Out tip!
Here are a few more articles on our website, specifically dealing with partner support:
Advice for a Newly Breastfeeding Mama's Partner
Partner Support: Can it make or break your breastfeeding experience?