EC is also a great opportunity for dad to bond with baby particularly if mom is breastfeeding exclusively as this video clearly shows. Changing diapers is yucky and many dads will shy away from the task but who doesn’t want to spend time cuddling and singing to their cooing baby? Yes, it takes time, but time with babies is fleeting and EC gives you a chance to maximize it .

“Many fathers fear that they won’t be able to bond with the baby without feeding bottles. This is very far from the truth. Bonding doesn’t occur through the ingestion of food through plastic. Bonding occurs through a physically, loving relationship. There are many ways for a father to connect to his new infant. Bringing the baby to the mother to breastfeed is a great way to demonstrate to the baby that the father can, in fact, meet his baby’s needs. His baby will be well aware of the fact that daddy is the transportation to the food.” lactivist.com

Author: Carrie Lauth
As a new or prospective father, you are probably somewhat familiar with the benefits of breastfeeding for mom and baby, but did you ever stop to think about what is in it for you? Aren’t you going to miss out by not getting to share in the joy of feeding your baby? Let’s see how Dads benefit when a Mom chooses to breastfeed their child.

Cost Savings
This is a big one for a lot of dads! Whether you are the sole income provider or not, adding a new member to the family can often be a source of worry. It may help to know that that one year of breastfeeding can save over $1,000 vs the cost of artificial infant food. That’s just for bottles and formula, and doesn’t include the extra Doctor visits and prescriptions that happen when baby is formula fed.

More Sleep
Let’s face it. You don’t have the equipment to handle the job of night feedings. While some Moms choose to pump and let Dad offer a bottle at night, for many Moms, snuggling up with baby at night to nurse is the norm. In a lot of families, this means Dad can head off to work with a full night’s rest.

Seven great ideas to help do your part to make breastfeeding a success:

1. Support Natural Childbirth
2. Support rooming in if mom delivers in a hospital
3. Help out with the older kids
4. Take care of nighttime diapers since mom does the feeding
5. Be 100% supportive of nursing in public
6. Don’t question breastfeeding purchases
7. Brag about breastfeeding to anyone who will listen

Taken from Keep Abreast

Benefits of Being Breastfed

• Breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants. A mother’s milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is needed for a baby’s growth and development. Most babies find it easier to digest breast milk than they do formula.

• As a result, breastfed infants grow exactly the way they should. They tend to gain less unnecessary weight and to be leaner. This may result in being less overweight later in life.

• Premature babies do better when breastfed compared to premature babies who are fed formula.

• Breastfed babies score slightly higher on IQ tests, especially babies who were born pre-maturely. 4women.gov

Proud Papa
When you see how your baby’s cheeks and thighs are filling out on Mom’s milk alone, you might tend to view mom as some kind of Dairy Queen. What an amazing capacity she has to help your child grow and thrive! Many Dads become huge proponents of breastfeeding when they see how healthy their babies are.

Health and IQ Benefits
Dads are especially impressed by the fact that breastfed babies gain an average of 8 IQ points over their formula fed counterparts. Breastfeeding also means that Mom is less likely to get ovarian or breast cancer. The natural extended birth control that many nursing Moms experience is also a plus in Dads book.

Focus on Mom
Since Mom is breastfeeding, you can find other ways to bond with your baby and be a support to Mom. Some ideas: take your baby for walks, burp and bathe her, sing lullabies at night, practice infant massage and of course read to your baby. You can also be in charge of helping Mom stay fed and hydrated in the early weeks while she recovers from the birth. And since Mom is handling the “input”, Dad can be in charge of “output”. Dads are far more likely to be willing to change diapers since a breastfed baby’s poop doesn’t have an unpleasant odor (until solid food is added!).

Buy the Book: The Milk Memos

About the author: Motherhood is too short to wear an ugly nursing bra! Find one that even Dad will love at: http://www.SexyNursingBra.com

Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/enigmaphotos/490363805/

“Helping men understand what an invaluable and irreplaceable role they play in the development and lives of their children can lead them to make a greater commitment and investment in their family. ..too many fathers become convinced that they are simply an extra set of hands to help around the house, rather than irreplaceable to their children.”- Childwelfare.gov

Author: Joy Cagil

It must be very emotional for a man to become a father, especially for the first time. So many questions must revolve around a future father’s head. “How will I manage my life? Will I be a good father? Will we be able to provide for our child through his growing years? Will my partner’s treatment of me change once the baby comes? Will the baby like me?”

Every day on earth, millions of men become fathers. Possibly, only a few of them ever think of baby rearing as a job and most babies grow into adulthood looking healthy enough. The emotionally healthy children often possess fathers who take their child-rearing job seriously.

A father’s touch–the way he holds his baby, the way he plays with him, cares for him, nurtures him–matters greatly for an infant’s optimal development. In reverse, the interaction with his baby aids a father’s personal growth by teaching him how to be protective and nurturing.

A father’s attention improves his baby’s understanding, emotional development, and even intelligence. The baby sees the differences between Mommy, Daddy, and other people through his interaction with his father.

His father’s support helps the baby develop self-confidence and guides him to explore the world around him more enthusiastically. Fathers usually encourage perseverance in their children, more so than other people around them. Fathers also more likely to persuade their children to take risks and overcome their initial fears of new projects. By becoming role models to their children, fathers promote the concepts of honesty, fairness, gentleness, and empathy.

Parenthood is a scary mission. When a man gets the first news of becoming a father he may feel a plethora of emotions: happiness, shock, worry, pride, panic, fear, excitement, anxiety and a whole lot of other things. These feelings are understandable and acceptable because they are normal. Addressing these feelings by talking about them with one’s mate, a friend, or one’s family is a very constructive approach.

Also, if the father-to-be has had his differences with his own father in the past, it would help his situation greatly to discuss these problems with a professional, if not for himself, then for the sake of his baby. Promising to oneself not to repeat other people’s mistakes and to be the best father ever may not always work perfectly.

Being a good father starts when the mother is still pregnant. It is hypothesized that the babies do understand plenty of things before birth. Talking to the baby while touching the mother’s belly will make the baby get acquainted with his father’s voice, his intonation, and his moods.

“The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that when fathers are involved in their children’s education, the kids were more likely to get ‘A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities.” Fathermag.com

At this stage, a baby care course would be a great idea for the expectant couple. Fathers who attend such courses take care of the babies better, and as a result, become closer to their children. Supposing the future father passed through the pregnancy and childbirth together with his wife in flying colors, what can the couple, as parents, do once the baby gets home?

* The father has to understand and put up with his partner’s moods. Childbirth is a physical process and a woman’s body goes through many changes as the result of it. Most women suffer from postpartum depression because of hormonal changes. In such a case, having a positive relationship with the father of her baby helps a woman tremendously.

* The father has to understand and accept that not only his wife but he too, will experience physical and psychological discomfort and sleep deprivation.

* The father has to participate and become an equal partner in the care and nurturing of the baby. When he does that, he will start creating an emotional connection between himself and his offspring.

* Changing, bathing, dressing, feeding, holding and playing with the baby are means to a good communication between a father and a child. While talking to an infant, using signs, or even using sign language, may help the bonding and the baby’s mental development.

* If the father and the mother are working and have found an alternative solution to their baby’s care, neither should feel guilty, but instead, they should turn the time they spend with the baby into quality time. If a situation can not be helped, it can be remedied.

* The parents have to stop expecting the continuation of their social life before the baby was born. On the other hand, they both should make an effort to take care of themselves, eat right, get some rest and exercise and have some adult time periodically.

* If the father has to be away for long periods of time because of work, laminating large photos of his face and hanging or placing or them around the baby’s crib can be considered an alternative. Also playing video and audio tapes of the father may help the baby to become familiar with the father.

The idea of “Practice makes perfect” works very well with fathers. The more a father pays attention to his baby, the more capable the father will become, and his baby will develop faster and better in his mental, physical, emotional, and social growth.

About the author:
This article has been submitted by Joy Cagil in affiliation with http://www.BabyNameVote.Com/ which is a site for Baby Names. Joy Cagil’s educational background is in foreign languages and linguistics. She also has experience in psychology, mental health, and visual arts. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/joycag

Sheryl’s comment:
Through a series of unfortunate circumstances (my ex-husband was an alcoholic wife-beater), my daughter does not have a father in her life. Obviously she has a biological father who she will most likely never know, but she does not have a daddy. While this is certainly not the ideal situation, I make sure she has access to her uncles and grandpa so she has plenty of positive male influence in her life.

The reason I mention this is because this article is not in any way designed to make single mothers or same sex mothers feel guilty or worse about their situation. There are lots of reasons babies may not have a father in the house. A single mom may adopt, the guy might run out, he might be a Scott Peterson and make mom leave, men die or they run off with the secretary. It is what it is and you make the best of it. Don’t stress about what you cannot change. Just make sure your baby does not grow up to be a man hater.

This article is intended for the men who have the fantastic opportunity to be a part of their child’s life. Men should never feel unnecessary or unwanted and hopefully you should realize just how important and influential you can be in your baby’s life.
Image Source:http://flickr.com/photos/lucianvenutian/781464517/