My post on this issue was to bring a point of view that may need to be
considered, please don't think that every time a mom complains to me
about dad's lack of involvement, I automatically assume abuse. Really,
it takes a lot before I consider it.

My (present) husband was completely different as a father and yes, I
have to admit that he did want to be involved in 'feeding' but allowed
breastfeeding to become well established before becoming involved. Also
since he was gone frequently while our two were babies, it was sort of a
non-issue.

I agree with Phillip that fathers and children have a different
relationship to develop (that's one reason men and women are different).
And I, too, love his quote, I will also add it to my file of great
quotes. But back to father's wanting to feed baby - here are two of my
favorite quotes on that topic that I use:

"#5 Daddy's job (insert other relative here also) is to teach baby that
LOVE doesn't have to go hand in hand with food." [Kathy Rubin, here on
LactNet]

"Implicit in the notion that breastfeeding prevents father-child
closeness is acceptance of the assumption that the most (perhaps the
only) signigicant way in which a father can interact with his child is
by feeding him." [Riordan & Auerbach, Breastfeeding & Human Lactation]

Leslie Ward
Vine Grove, KY

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html