First time dad here. My wife wants to exclusively breastfeed but I feel like I'm missing out on feeding time since she's doing it all. Is it reasonable to ask her to pump sometimes so I can do bottles? I want to help and feel like I'm contributing but I don't want to make her feel bad. What did other families do?
3am feedings are hitting different for me right now, but honestly the bottle thing could be your golden ticket to actually sleeping through one shift. Worth asking about.
I totally get this. When my wife was exclusively breastfeeding I felt kind of left out too. But honestly those middle of the night bottle feeds when I could finally take a shift and let her sleep were some of my favorite bonding moments with my kid. Maybe ask if you can do expressed milk in a bottle for one feeding?
Been in the working dad trenches with screen time issues so I get the feelings of missing moments. But the feeding thing - you're going to get plenty of bonding time with your kid in other ways. Focus on being the dad who changes diapers without complaining or handles bath time. That's just as important.
This was a big thing for me and my wife too. We compromised - she does most of the breastfeeding but I give bottles of pumped milk. I still get feeding time with my son and she gets breaks. Win-win. Worth having that conversation with your wife about what actually works for your family.
The bottle thing worked great for us. Once my wife pumped enough I could do bedtime bottle feeds and honestly some of my best dad moments happened in the quiet of those late night feedings. Don't feel like you're missing out - you'll find your parenting moments.
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Totally valid feeling, man. With my first I felt the same way. Talk to your wife about pumping so you can do some bottles - gives her a break and lets you bond during feeds too.