what Dad should know about supporting a breastfeeding wife...
I am making a document for my husband with everything that is important to me...
I want to tell dh what he can do to support me as a soon to be breastfeeding mother...
What was the MOST HELPFUL thing your husband did while you were breastfeeding?
For me, it was to let me do what I want lol. I think one of the helpful things is for him to focus on the house, cleaning and cooking during that first six weeks so you can focus on breastfeeding and recovering.
Take orders.
lol
Seriously. While I'm sitting there, nursing a baby, stuff needs to get done. Whether it's laundry or cooking or helping the oldest wipe her poopy butt. :) I LOVE it when he stands there and says "What do you need?" Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Quoting kblpooh:
My husband would get up in the night to change diapers then bring my son to me to nurse. He also changes diapers during day too. This gives him some quality time with our son and gives me a few mins to run to bathroom or get a few mins extra of sleep. He also helps make dinner, clean up from dinner, brings me drinks or snacks. A few times when I have at to nurse at dinner table he has had to cut my food.
My hubby couldn't help with night feedings bc he had to get upp at 4:30 am, and I would't let him, lol :) He needed his sleep too, he's the kind of person that can't exist on little sleep, and he works in a machine shop where he could lose a limb if he is sleepy on the job, so I let him sleep!
The best thing he did for me was to protect me from the breastfeeding nay-sayers. My sister and SIL both bottle fed, and thought I was being high and mighty by breastfeeding. In a time where I was very unsure of myself, scared, and lonely for other moms to talk to and share baby nursing stories with, he backed me up, explained the benefits of nursing, and was "in my corner" every time anyone made a snide comment when I left the room to nurse.
Once, when we were visiting my parents, I was in the master bedroom nursing my son (it was August and about 102 degrees and he refused to nurse under cover, so I was bare-boobing it in private, lol ) and I hear my sister ask my hubby "So, how long is she going to do THAT?" with THAT said in a tone that I would use to describe vomit or poop or something else really nasty. She must have been under the impression that he was somehow not happy with me nursing, because his answer took her by surprise and made me tear up. "When did you stop feeding your kids? He's only 4 months old. So-and-so (my SIL ) is still giving her baby formula, and she is over a year old. Our baby will stop nursing when he is ready to wean and eat baby food, just like any other baby." Maybe not word-for-word, but he got her to shut up :) I loved him (LOVE him!) so much for that!!
Hubby makes sure that whe baby is brand new he doesnt question how much/how often baby nurses. He never asks to give baby a bottle, he makes sure to bring me water and tell me I need to drink. He entertains the other kids while i am nursing. When baby is napping I nap and he understands that. He will also bring baby to me to nurse and then take baby to play/change/etc so that I can get more rest if needed.
When my son refused to latch, DH did the suck training using his thumb and pushinbg baby's tongue down. He also kept my pumping schedule, and challenged me not to quit when I really wanted to.
In ER with baby
- potgieter
on Feb. 16, 2012 at 8:52 AM