33 ideas for how partners/parents and friends can help a breastfeeding mum during a growth spurt:

We talk a lot on the Lactivist Facebook Page and these top ideas were taken from quite a few threads on the page. Huge thanks to all the Lactivists who came up with ideas for how partners/parents and friends can help a breastfeeding mum during a growth spurt:

1. Supply tea and biscuits on a constant loop
2. Keep reminding you it will pass.
3. Let you watch whatever you want on the tv.
4. Breastfeed can really drain you.. lots of protein and fresh fruit and veg is needed.
5. Make dinner
6. Do the dishes
7. Do the laundry
8. Get the shopping
9. Look after older kids
10. Giving the mum an extra fifteen minutes sleep-in in the mornings
11. Sending mum off to bed early while you tidy up.
12. Just support you, when it all gets too much and you’re having an “I can’t do this” moment make sure to tell you that you can and they’ll help you through it.
13. When baby finally stops feeding take him for an hour so mum can have some rest!
14. yeap, supply food, drink and morale support and taking the baby for cuddles, hugs and short walks whenever they arent attached!
15. Keep the mum company during night feeds.
16. Tell the mum what a great job she is doing.
17. get food for mum tell her she’s wonderful and say nice things
18. Run the mum a bath and hold the baby so she can have one.
19. Hold the mum close and kiss her ask if she needs anything
20. Dont suggest a bottle!
21. Do the housework etc so you can concentrate on a nursing holiday in bed with babe. X
22. Cook (or order takeaway), make drinks, ask if they need a break, praise, let her drive the tv remote, be nice! Don’t ask whats for dinner, complain about housework or grump in general or make any infrerence that they are not making enough milk or should supplement move over to ff or say in my day we made them wait for 3hrs etc
23. take care of big kids, let you stay in bed, bring food
24. Partners:- take care of the older children without being asked/told, ask if you need anything, put a wash load on/ hang some out, load/unload the dishwasher and give you a hug and say you are doing fab!
    Friends:- Don’t get annoyed at you for being late, visit you at home rather than out.
    Family:- Offer to do the shopping, take older children to the park and don’t get annoyed if we turn down a visit as we’d rather stay in our pj’s!
25. Let you focus on the baby. Growth spurt will pass, then things will get back to normal
26. FOOD!! I remember not eating all day for weeks after my husband went back to work because my baby fed all day long. And take the baby if they unlatch and let mama sleep (or at least rest!) if they are home then tidy up, cook, bring you water and food and generally tell mama how amazing she is for keeping your child alive!
27. A great one is when I’m waking up for my second or third feed of the night – he goes and picks up the bub, brings him to me, takes him and changes his nappy and burps him and puts him back to sleep, so I just have to do the boob stuff.
28. Support with non essential eg non baby feeding tasks, constant supply of food and drinks, taking baby out for a walk or similar so mum can shower and reminding what a good job your doing and it really is something to be proud of
29. Don’t ever say “it’s only 24-48 hours”!!!!! Longest 2 days of my life were when my little IUGR girl decided she’d like to catch up please. She doubled her birth weight by 12 weeks and I was 7 stone
30. my DD’s last one lasted 5 days, man was i tired the biggest thing that would have helped me would have been to have someone to help with my toddler during the work week so i could just lay in bed with the new baby and actually sleep through the day cause i was so often at night…DD has slept 4 hours a stretch since 2 days old and at 2 months was up to 6 hour stretches so going down to every 1-2 hours was killing me
31. Feed me chocolate!
32. well… pretty much everything else, thank you!
33. take care of the household chores, cook healthy snacks, support, support, support!

This post is part of the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt 2012.

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