Get up close with your baby
If your partner is breastfeeding, it can feel a little like you’re on the outside looking in during those first few days and weeks with a new baby. One way to feel more like an insider is to practice Kangaroo Care (or skin-to-skin contact) with your little one.
It couldn’t be easier: Take off your shirt, dress your baby in nothing but a diaper, and lie down together (with the baby’s chest against yours) with a blanket to cover the baby’s back. If you can, stay like that for an hour at a time, as often as you want. You may even catch a nap this way; just make sure you’re lying somewhere the baby isn’t at risk of falling off!
Skin-to-skin contact helps newborns adjust to life in the world and can help regulate their temperature, breathing and heart rate. It’s also known to help calm fussy babies, which is an added bonus if your little one has trouble settling.