Thanks for hopping over from Visit from the Stork and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 1 The Start of My Journey. Sponsors today include Boobie Milk with a £50 voucher, Cherub Chews who are offering a breastfeeding necklace and Loveyush who are offering a breastfeeding scarf for our Grand Prize winner. Over £700 worth of goodies are up for grabs entries via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.
My wife and I decided, way before baby was here, that we were going to breastfeed our first born.
After this point, I would come to realise that my wife would end up doing way more preparation than me!
My thoughts were…
“Easy street! Not much for me to do!”
“Will the baby bond with me?”
When our first child was born, we had issues with feeding and the hospital.
And that’s when I was totally out of my depth. Only because my wife had done so much research, she was totally 100% armed, and she fought hard to establish a breastfeeding relationship, and succeeded.
This really blew my mind, especially considering the fact that in the early days when we were having issues, as a father, my gut reaction was to get some food in the baby to get the weight up. With this mindset, I found myself constantly battling this new mum to feed formula with a bottle, just to have an easier life.
What I learned in the end was that my role in breastfeeding was way more important than I thought. I wasn’t just a ‘hunter gatherer’. I was THE supporter for this new mum in breastfeeding this new baby.
Getting her food. Helping identify good latching. Stages of feeding, letdowns, milk coming in, cluster feeding. I had to learn all of these things on the go. But knowing them before would have reduced my own stress, but would also have enabled me to be a better supporter, whatever the situation we would’ve found ourselves in.
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Desmond Tutu
Don’t forget to enter the competition…
Following on from my journey, please do hop over to We are Team Walsh to see how her journey began and be in with more chances to enter the grand prize draw. Remember you need to earn 50 points to be eligible, full details can be found on the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Site.
Dad Thoughts 
Hi Chris! Have sent on to my other half, think he will agree.
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Dress to impress? All that fits is my maternity dress lol x
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I couldn’t have been as successful as I have been without the support of my incredible husband. From him googling “is this normal?!” and reporting back with the scariest stuff censored, to cooking me meals I could eat one handed (including cutting it up for me) – there is no way I would have been able to enjoy those first few weeks as much as I did.
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Dress to impress? Whhat’s the point? it’ll be puked on, sticky fingered, pulled at…
Haha.
Great post – so true that if the dad is a supporter it makes it much easier for a mum to breastfeed. This continues after those early days too
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It’s lovely to read it from a Dads point of view.
Glad your wife was armed with info to keep going.
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So lovely that you’re participating in the Hunt. I’ll be sharing this with my husband. He found it really hard to watch me soldiering on. It’s a big adjustment figuring out how best to help when you see your wife in pain and your baby crying their lungs out.
I’m sure your wife is pleased to have you as her breastfeeding supporter. 🙂 #PositiveAboutBF
By the way, feel free to join in with my #BreastfeedingandI linky if you’re ever fancy.
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I would have not been able to breastfeed without the support of my amazing husband, he really is my rock!
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Thank you for being my greatest supporter, and for learning everything you needed to know. 🙂 love xx
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