👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Breastfeeding and the role of dads: how to involve your partner?

When we think of breastfeeding, we often think of an exclusive mother-baby relationship. Yet the second parent, often the father, has an essential role to play in this very special moment. Support, logistics, emotional cocooning: breastfeeding can (and should!) be a shared experience 🤝

Here are 6 simple and powerful ways to involve your partner during the breastfeeding period 💛

6 tips for a breastfeeding period with an involved dad!

💬 1. Listen (even if you don't understand the milk flow 😅)

Breastfeeding can be physical, emotional, sometimes painful or discouraging. The partner's first role is to listen, without judgment.

🎧 Just to be there, to hear the doubts, the fatigue, the joys too.

🙌 Encourage, without putting pressure.

💞 And remind me every day, "You're doing an amazing job."

☕ 2. Create a cocoon environment

When Mom settles down to breastfeed, Dad (or another parent) can:

• Bring a glass of water or herbal tea 🌿
• Adjust cushions or lighting
• Managing seniors or distractions

🎀 It's in these small gestures that a true emotional co-allaitance is born : one nourishes, the other surrounds.

🧺 3. Taking over the daily routine

If mom feeds, the partner can take care of :

• Dishes, laundry, meals
• Diapers, baby's bath 🛁
• Organizing appointments and outings

⚖️ This balances the load and allows mom to devote herself fully to breastfeeding, without exhausting herself.

📚 4. Training together (and not just "letting it happen").

Breastfeeding is a learning experience for everyone. The partner can :

• Read articles, follow support accounts
• Asking questions at the postnatal consultation
• Participate in breastfeeding workshops whenever possible

💬 O ne simple sentence changes everything: "Do you want us to look for a solution together?"

👶 5. Creating your own bond with baby

Breastfeeding doesn't mean that mom is the only one to bond. The partner can :

• Carrying baby in a sling 🧣
• Talk to it, massage it, cradle it
• Give him a bath or sing him a song

🎵 These moments are precious for baby... and for the other parent, who feels fully involved.

💞 6. Support too... if breastfeeding stops

Sometimes breastfeeding doesn't go as planned. It's important for your partner to be unconditionally supportive, whether breastfeeding lasts two weeks or two years.

❤️ The choice to breastfeed (or not) is not a failure or a success, it's an adventure. And it deserves to be lived together, whatever happens.

🧡 Breastfeeding is a team adventure that involves mom... and dad too!

Breastfeeding can be an intimate act... but it's also a matter for couples, families and teams.

When the partner is present, committed and supportive, mom feels stronger, more listened to, more confident. And baby feels it too 👶

At 23 Mai Paris, we believe in the power of the parental duo. In the bonds forged in the details of everyday life. And in love always 💫