Some time ago our companion of Babies and More, Armando, wrote a post about his experience as a father in breastfeeding, where he says that until his son was born he was not aware of the important role the couple has in feeding babies .
It is quite revealing, since he is a nurse and as a health professional he is more in touch with motherhood. So, if he was not aware of his role, what happens to the rest of the future parents? Do you know that they are also essential in establishing breastfeeding and its subsequent development?
Hence we want to write these words to claim the father, because as Armando says: “They become breastfeeding protectors, a support figure and on that shoulder where a mother takes shelter when someone looks at her for breastfeeding in public… ”and much more.
The role of the father in feeding the baby
In its recommendations on breastfeeding, the Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics The father's work already stands out:
- During the first days many women have doubts about their ability to breastfeed. The unconditional support of the father right now is essential for give confidence and reassure the mother. The two together will be better able to overcome difficulties.
For this, it is convenient that they go together to prenatal visits and childbirth preparation courses, where both will have all the information about their child's needs.
You can make skin with skin with the newborn, fundamental in case the mother cannot. This contact helps the baby to adapt better to extrauterine conditions.
He takes care of housework, caring for other children, changing diapers, bathing the baby, holding it, reassuring or enjoying skin-to-skin contact with the baby while the mother rests.
Play a filter role of harmful comments that, without bad intention, they usually make other people to the woman and that sometimes undermine their confidence. He will always support the mother's decisions about feeding her baby: "You never have too little milk, or a bad amount, or doing anything wrong."
Can take care of visits that sometimes tire the mother during the first days, ensuring the tranquility, intimacy and comfort that she and her baby need to establish breastfeeding well.
What if the baby is bottle fed?
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age, and accompanied by appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or older.
But sometimes it is not possible. This is explained by the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) in its Guide for Parents:
"The suffering of some diseases in the mother or the child requires an individual assessment, considering the great benefits of breastfeeding against the possible risks. In practice there are very few situations that contraindicate breastfeeding."
And in other cases, parents freely choose to feed their baby with a bottle. But feeding the baby implies much more than food: it is love, establishing a bond, security ...
Therefore, it is recommended that it is always the same person who gives the bottle to the baby (usually mom) and similar to breastfeeding: skin to skin, talking to him, looking at him, smiling and even changing his arm when taking a break.
But the usual thing is that dad also wants to enjoy this very intimate and unique moment with his son. As long as they are only two, the establishment of the bond that the baby needs to grow safe and happy is guaranteed.
In fact, the AEP recognizes the help with the shots in its 'Practical Guide for Parents'.
The bottle is an aid that can benefit the mother and help her rest, especially during the first days after birth.
Our partner Armando, father and nurse, says that the father must allow the mother to feed his son:
"It is not necessary to divide the baby by time, half an hour you and half an hour. It is more a question of what you need at each moment and, for our part, of knowing how to take advantage of the moments in which we can create the link with them, and moments of those there are many, many, without needing to take a bottle ".
But everyone can have their own opinion. Just one more tip for perfect breastfeeding: remember that the bottle also has to be given on demand, without looking at the clock and without trying to finish the baby.
In addition, with a bottle whose flow depends on the sucking of the baby, it is he who decides at any time whether to suck more or less, and therefore who decides whether to eat more or less, and when to stop.
Exceptional cases
Breastfeeding is a personal reality in the case of Maximilliam. As Lucy told us, she fed Rosalia, her newborn daughter, while her wife was recovering from childbirth, with a teat cup connected to a tube. This is a method used to resume breastfeeding when it has been abandoned.
It is a very clear example of the active role of the father in breastfeeding. But we know that it is not necessary to be as palpable as in this exceptional case, that it can serve as an example to other men who go through similar situations.
The image of the absent father, who does not participate in the raising of his children, is obsolete and completely false. Today men are fully involved in all the tasks that have to do with caring for the baby since birth and are able to do the same as mom. They even feed him skin with skin, if he takes a bottle, or supports the mother in breastfeeding, when she breastfeeds her breast.
Photos iStock and Maximilliam (publication authorization)
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