My resume: I’m a 4 time dad. My wife is an absolute beast. 4 natural births (including a home birth). 43 months of breast feeding + 12 more of stored milk. I usually take out the trash or sweep the floor while my wife feeds the baby. Make yourself useful!

Breast is best I’ll just say it, the healthiest thing for the baby and the mother and their relationship is: breast feeding. *disclaimer: I know a lot of babies and moms struggle and I support you. I know it doesn’t work out for everyone.

Breast feeding is hard You know the feeling when you work out hard and have to eat for a calorie deficit? Now do that with no sleep. It’s like that for mom. ALL DAY and at night. She is making complex nutrition to feed your child.

You need to encourage her First time moms will be inundated with advice and the loudest moms are those that go straight to formula feeding. Encourage her! Tell her how proud of her you are.

Provide protection Breast feeding requires feeding in public. Stand or sit next to your wife if she feels uncomfortable. Stare laser eyes at anyone who wants to judge or say something. Get her the mom feeding blankets if that helps.

Go and fetch When mom is feeding the baby, go and grab a diaper, some butt cream, a wet wipe. Whatever is needed, just go get it.

Buy the gear There are breast feeding bras, collection cups, pumps, bags, kits, and more. Whatever momma wants, she gets. You’re not paying for formula! You couldn’t build furniture without the right tools could you? Get her the tools.

I starts slow Initially the baby only gets a thick waxy milk (colostrum) until mom’s milk lets down. This can last up to 3 days. Don’t panic keep trying. When the milk comes… it comes! If you’re concerned about wet diapers or weight you can supplement with 2/3 liquid formula

Start bottle training Around 2 months you can try and feed the baby a bottle. Can be full breast milk or 1/2 and 1/2. Use powdered formula if you mix. This is key because if mom needs a night or afternoon off, you have to feed baby! Here’s what we use:

Get some sleep A benefit of breast feeding is that you, by definition, cannot feed the baby. So just get some sleep. Sorry, mom is gonna be a zombie those first two months anyways. Sleep training starts at 6-8 weeks.

Bassinet or co-sleep Get a bedside bassinet (we use fisher price) or a dock-a-tot and cosleep. 1000 pediatricians just freaked out, but hey, it worked for us. New babies don’t sleep in the nursery.

Hire a lactation consultant Most moms need a little pro help in the early days. There’s no shame or no ego. Just get one and let the two ladies work on it for a bit.

Clear the freezer Pumped milk goes into storage. Well organized storage bags placed in the freezer. Heck, you may need another freezer. This is your chance to get that powerwall, generator, or deep freezer you’ve always wanted. “It’s for the baby”.

Mom is not a pacifier Remind your wife she is not the babies pacifier. That means you need to get to where you can put then baby down to bed once sleep training starts. Pro tip: do the 1/2 formula bottle right before bed and the baby is more likely to get their “long” sleep

Buy a juicer I made 7 million gallons of juice for my wife to drink during her early days of breastfeeding. Celery, cucumbers, lemon, ginger, and mint is her favorite concoction. It’s for the baby! And yes, mom is ALWAYS thirsty. Protip: cook the placenta

Tell her when to stop Breast feeding kids that have a lot of teeth and can talk is just weird. Maybe little girls get an extra 2 months, but for boys, 12 months max.

Some is better than none If you can’t go the whole distance consider one of the following: 6 weeks 3 months 6 months 9 months 12 months The right answer is different for everyone.

Infant led weaning We use infant led weaning with all of our kids starting at 5 months. That doesn’t mean stopping breastmilk, it means starting food. This is the first sign that mom’s burden is decreasing. Warning: it’s messy! Also: buy a book

Get a sippy cup I’m not going to pick your cup for you, but find one that the baby likes. The baby can drink water and diluted juices around 6 months. Let them try to drink themselves. You can even use the bottle if that works. Again, lessening burden on mom

Slowly drop feedings Mom can drop a feeding per week. Just slowly ramp it down until there is just morning and comfort feedings (before sleep).

Agree on when to stop Decide on a day to stop… and just do it! There’s no right or wrong answer if you made it this far. Once breast feeding is complete, prepare for your child to LOVE DAD WAY MORE. Haha, that’s just the game, it’s biology. Remember, dads are fun.