Feeding baby together

Feeding your newborn will be one of your main activities as parents in the weeks after the birth. You can get involved by teaming up with your partner in a variety of ways.

Breastfeeding requires a lot of time and energy from the mother. It can be very rewarding, but also very demanding. If your partner is nursing, you may sometimes feel left out and not very useful. However, there are a number of ways you can help share in the responsibilities around breastfeeding, for example:

  • Bring baby to mom to breastfeed
  • Burp her after she has fed
  • Change her diaper
  • Hold her after she has fed
  • Rock her to calm her or help her to sleep (see Skin‑to‑skin contact).

See also The role of the partner.

If your baby is bottle-fed, these are all equally useful ways of contributing to her care and feeding.

You can also get involved when it’s time to introduce solid foods. Sharing in your baby’s discovery of new foods can be another special moment you enjoy together.