I was in the fortunate position that when my wife fell pregnant with our first child she owned a company specialising in the manufacturing of baby furniture and decor, yes my wife owns Baby Belle. The reason I say fortunate is that for a soon-to-be-dad the experience can be overwhelming, you know your life is about to change in so many ways and you feel completely out of your depth; cots, compactums, feeding chairs, linen, bottle warmers, changing stations the list is endless, but for me these things were all taken care of by the staff at Baby Belle that knew just what we should get.
This post is three and a half years in the making during which time I got blessed with another daughter to complete my family.
Here is my advice to dads: invest in a great feeding chair! My reason is two-fold:
Firstly your wife will be spending a lot of time on it! Late night feeds are more manageable when the chair she is sitting in is comfortable enough that you don't get up needing to make a chiropractor appointment. (One with a wing back is non-negotiable, it saves you from falling asleep like you are in an aeroplane with your head rolling around.) I also believe, and this is not based on any scientific proof, that feeding is easier on mommy and baby when mommy is relaxed and comfortable.
And the second reason? For me, it was the time I bonded most with my newborn baby. Us dads didn't experience the feeling of our baby growing inside of us so the bonding experience only really started when you first lay your eyes on your baby (that is the moment your stomach turns upside down, your heart grows to twice its size and you just know you will love this little person forever ) and for me that bonding experience grew infinitely stronger sitting with them in my arms just staring at the perfection you get to hold. The quiet moments spent with your newborn when their eyelids grow heavy and they fall asleep and you sit a little longer, even though all you want is to catch up on sleep, holding them before putting them in their cot. The time when they smile at you for the first time or you get to tickle them till they giggle, all these moments happened in the embrace of our feeding chair.
Three years later and our old faithful Sebastian Feeding Chair is still part of our lives, proudly standing in our lounge and whenever I sit in it and watch my kids run around the house I get to close my eyes and remember those moments when I kissed their foreheads, fed them, burped them and watch them fall asleep.
So soon-to-be-dads your world is a rollercoaster right now that has scary moments and exhilarating ones but do yourself a favour don't make do with any old chair because a great feeding chair will give you place where the noise of the world and anxiety fade away and you can just love your newborn baby.