Early interaction between father and baby

Shared parenting has a number of benefits. It provides the baby both security and support for his or her development. The mother gets time for taking care of herself and the father a new opportunity to realise his potential. Also the parents’ relationship is often more satisfying if the parents share child care responsibilities.

• Start to learn about your baby by attending a child health clinic visit. Also fathers are welcome to the child health clinic!
• Take care of and bathe the baby and change diapers.
• Cuddle and spoil the mother and baby, they both long to be close to you. Hold the baby in your arms, also in close skin contact.
• Baby needs stimuli – caregiver’s lap is the best.
• Give the mother positive feedback of the way she cares for the baby.
• Support the mother in nursing.
• Encourage the mother to rest and help her to do housework with the chores and errands which come naturally to you.
• Early interaction is a bond between the baby and parents; created by day-to-day care.

Early interaction is father and baby time and all those things that the father does with the baby.

• Interaction includes touching, caring, smoothing down, lap time, watching and talking to the baby. Through these contacts the father and baby learn to know one another and one another’s ways of expressing things.
• Thus the father and baby start to share a language and things.
• A child receives support and protection from two parents.
• A child’s interaction skills are enhanced and diversified.
• The parents’ resources improve when they share their baby’s care.
• Their partnership is enhanced, expanded and intensified
• The family is more prepared to face a situation where one of the parents is unable to take care of the baby.