The Best Breastfeeding Books for Dads Stepping Up Early
Your job as a dad doesn’t start the day your baby is born. It starts the day you know that a baby is on the way. Perhaps it’s the women who must deal with the morning sickness, weight gain, swollen feet, and even more swollen breasts. But you play a critical role in giving that growing fetus the best chance of a strong, healthy start to life.
It’s all about support, encouragement, and appreciation. If you can master those three things, you can have a powerful impact on an expectant mother’s mental and physical health as well as the health and wellbeing of the baby soon to come.
Understanding breastfeeding and the many obstacles that often come with it is critical. Reading a few breastfeeding books for dads is the only way to help your partner solve the many problems that may arise. Instead of standing helplessly to the side and looking puzzled, you can serve as a strong support giving her strength and knowledge to make it through.
Plus, you can never fully appreciate the beauty and hardship of breastfeeding without reading at least one breastfeeding book. That’s why we rounded up some of the best dad breastfeeding books on the market today.
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Breastfeeding for Dads- The Guide for Truly Hands-On Fathers- Our favorite breastfeeding book for dads
Breastfeeding for Dads (available on Amazon) is the ultimate breastfeeding book for dads for several reasons:
- It’s lighthearted and humorous. All the way down to the cheeky dad jokes you won’t want to laugh at—but will anyway.
- It turns a heavy topic into a quick, easy-to-understand read.
- It provides valuable information in a short book that doesn’t require a medical degree to understand.
If you just want a good idea of what your role is in this breastfeeding thing, this is a great book to read. If you’re a bit shy about the topic but want to know all the technical details, this is a great starting point to break the ice.
Related post: If you need more dad jokes beyond this book, check out Breastfeeding Memes and Jokes!
What to Expect the First Year
If there’s a Bible for all things parenting, the What to Expect books are it. The first book, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, was published in the early 1990s and has been updated into modern times. What to Expect the First Year is a spinoff that covers breastfeeding in a very detailed, technical manner.
The language is still easy to understand even if you have no clue about breastfeeding at this point. By the time you reach the end of the breastfeeding chapter, you will know how it all works. You’re also likely to have a much deeper appreciation of what your partner will go through to nourish your baby. If problems with breastfeeding arise, this book will serve as a detailed troubleshooting guide as well.
These books are written for all parents, dads included. It’s a great one to read along with your partner. We also highly recommend the What to Expect: The Congratulations, You’re Expecting! Gift Set, which includes both books.
We’re Parents!
This is another lighthearted book written just for dads, but it focuses on a lot more than just breastfeeding. We’re Parents! goes through a variety of topics that are critical to the first year of parenting, but it doesn’t require as much reading as many other breastfeeding books for dads.
This book contains short, to-the-point tips on stepping up as a dad in the first year. Then it goes through checklists of things you should do or think about for each month of that year. You won’t get much detailed information on how breastfeeding works or what to do if problems arise, but you will have actionable suggestions that guide you to a successful first year as a father.
How to Support Your Partner Through Birth, Breastfeeding, and Beyond
Is there anyone better to deliver a lesson on breastfeeding for dads than a male certified lactation counselor? You get just that when you pick up this breastfeeding book for dads (available on Amazon) plus some insight from a mental health and relationship expert.
Rather than focusing on the technical details of how breastfeeding works, this book sticks to your role as a breastfeeding support partner. It will give you a great overview of what you can do to actively support your partner during labor and beyond, including your role as she breastfeeds.
Related post: Everything you need to know about baby behavior while breastfeeding
Self-Care for New Moms
Before you write this book off because it’s clearly directed at the ladies, note that it’s probably one of the most important breastfeeding books for dads to read. Many of the most amazing mothers sacrifice their own self-care because they don’t have time to take care of everyone. Some women feel guilty for craving time alone or even using the bathroom if the baby is crying.
That gives great dads a golden opportunity to step up and make a difference. Reading about Self-Care for New Moms (click to view on Amazon) should give herself after having a baby will do two things for your relationship with the woman giving you an amazing family:
- Spark amazing ideas for gifts, special treats, and random surprises that will put a smile on her face and make one of the most challenging phases of her life less stressful. Giving her opportunities to care for herself is above and beyond the typical “push gift” and other fatherly tokens of love.
- Increase the likelihood of you noticing when she isn’t caring for herself properly. Many women drop self-care when going through postpartum depression, struggling to bond with their new babies, or just trying to make it through each day due to other difficulties. Many women are slow to ask for help, but you can recognize the lack of self-care and pick up on the silent cries for help. You just need to know what self-care for new mothers is really all about.
This book discusses self-care in relation to breastfeeding, including tips on maintaining healthy milk production. It goes beyond the basic breastfeeding positions and other technical knowledge to highlight what new mothers need to do for themselves to maximize milk production and nourish their babies.
Related post: Learn what to expect when your significant other goes back to work- Breastfeeding and pumping schedules for working moms
Pregnancy for Dads-to-Be: The Essential Pocket Handbook
This is a comprehensive pregnancy book (click to check the price on Amazon) for dads who want a more sweeping view of what life as a new father may look like. Instead of just including one chapter on breastfeeding, it goes through each stage of a pregnancy and provides insightful information on the father’s role. It starts with preparing for pregnancy and then ventures through each trimester, ending with a chapter on your life with a newborn.
Information on feeding your new baby comes in that last chapter, but every chapter before it is packed with information that will help you thrive as a new father. It even details what you can expect from sex, exercise, and travel in every trimester of the pregnancy. You’ll learn about changes your partner’s body will endure during and after the pregnancy as well, which will help you support her through one of the most difficult transitions of her life.
The Sh!t No One Tells you: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year- The funniest breastfeeding book for dads
We consider A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year to be a great breastfeeding book for dads even though it wasn’t written just for men. It goes beyond the technical details of how breastfeeding works and what problems you may encounter to tell you the nitty-gritty reality of surviving the first year of your baby’s life.
The title of chapter four is, “Breastfeeding is Really F’n Hard,” so that’s your starting point if you want to learn the truth about breastfeeding specifically. You will take interest in many other chapters with just as creative titles, including, “You Just Pooped Out a Baby” and “Your Life is Officially Over.”
While the book has some negative sounding titles, it isn’t a depressing or downer view on parenthood. The goal is to give you some deeper details that are often lacking in parenting guides. It’s a great book if you want to read something entertaining but educational with your partner.
There are many amazing moments to come in your first year of fatherhood. It still doesn’t hurt to acknowledge the not-so-amazing moments that are destined to come along as well. Knowledge allows you to prepare and avoid!
Related post: 15 things your significant other can do while breastfeeding or pumping
The New Dad’s Survival Guide: What to Expect in the First Year and Beyond
There’s a lot of great information for new fathers in this book, including a detailed look at what it means to support your partner through breastfeeding. It may not tell you exactly how those breasts pump out that nourishing milk or how to unclog a nipple duct, but it will make sure you understand what your partner will go through and how you can help smoothen out the ride.
The New Dad’s Survival Guide also touches on some powerful topics that are often missed in books for new dads. For instance, how can you build your self-confidence as a new dad? What changes and challenges will you experience in the financial realm?
There’s one last thing to mention about this book: It will tell you some small details that you may not want to ask anyone else. For example, how do you properly clean baby private parts? Do you need to change a baby’s diaper if they only urinated? What should you do if your partner doesn’t want to breastfeed or encounters problems?
This is one of our favorite breastfeeding books for dads. It specifically caters to dads, right down to the quotes from other “dads on breasts.” You may want to keep this one just to yourself and pick a different breastfeeding book for dads to share with your partner.
Selecting the Perfect Breastfeeding Book for Dads
You may not have the fun type of breasts, but you do have a valuable part to play when it comes to nourishing your new baby. Your partner has to do the physical work, but you can serve as an amazing pillar of support and strength. It all starts with the very first decision: Do you want to breastfeed? You know it’s the healthiest option for your baby, but is it right for your partner and your family overall?
The breastfeeding books for dads presented on this list will help you make that decision plus many more. We recommend all expecting or new dads read at least one book that provides technical details on how it all works and the potential obstacles plus one book that gives the larger view of fatherhood in that first critical year of life.