8 Ways for Dad to Bond with The Baby Bump

When I was pregnant, I felt like I already had such a natural bond with my baby. I loved to sing and talk to my baby. I loved feeling kicks and hiccups and I LOVED talking about my pregnancy with my husband. I knew he was excited about having a baby too, but I also knew that he didn’t have the same excitement about the baby as I did. I wanted him to feel close to the baby like I did, even though we hadn’t even met the baby yet. I started coming up with some ideas to help him feel closer to the baby, so I’ll share them with you! Here are 8 ways for dad to bond with that cute baby bump!

1. Read and Talk to the Baby Bump

Almost every night, my husband would read a book to my belly. It is so good for the baby to hear his dad’s voice, so I made sure that my baby heard his daddy’s voice often! My husband would pick out one of the many Dr. Seuss books that we had for the baby and read it. To be honest, we have discovered that all the rhyming and tongue twisters in those books are hard to read out loud, so reading to the baby bump was good practice! 🙂 It doesn’t matter what you read to the baby bump, but as long as dad’s voice is heard, the baby will learn who he is!

2. Feel the Baby Kick

This is probably one of the most important things that dad can do to really feel connected to the baby. Seeing that positive pregnancy test can seem so surreal, and even at the first doctor appointment you are both still saying, “Is this for real??” Dad doesn’t experience all the physical parts of pregnancy that obviously allows mom to KNOW that there is a baby in there, so feeling those first tiny kicks can help dad KNOW that there is a baby in there as well. Once the baby started kicking (for me, it was at 16 weeks), my husband would sit with his hand on my belly while we were watching movies until he would feel something. During the third trimester, he would fall asleep with his hand on my belly so he could feel our baby wiggle around (notice I said HE would fall asleep… mom, the little wiggle monster inside of you will prevent you from falling asleep). Feeling that baby (and watching the baby move when it gets to that point) is so important for dad! Don’t stop him from getting to feel his baby in the womb!

3. Attend the Doctor Appointments

Attending the doctors appointments are just as important for dad as they are for you! Dad should be informed on everything that is going on with the baby too. My husband didn’t get to come to my 20 week anatomy scan because of COVID-19, and it was the saddest thing! That was the first time that I got to see my baby on the 3D Ultrasound and to me, that was one of the most special times during my pregnancy. I was SO sad that my sweet husband had to miss out on that appointment. On the other hand, at my 37 week appointment, I found out that my blood pressure was high and that I was going to have to go to the hospital THAT NIGHT to get induced. I knew that baby time was close, but I wasn’t prepared for my doctor to tell me that on that day. I am SO glad that my husband was there to not only support me, but get to hear the doctor tell us everything about the baby’s health that day too. If dad can, make sure he comes to those maternity appointments!!

4. Help Shop and Get Everything Ready for Baby

This is usually what mom does with grandma or aunts, but let dad join in on the fun too! After we found out our baby’s gender, we went shopping to get a few baby boy clothes, and it was fun! My husband got to pick a few things out and when the baby wears them, he knows that it came from him! My husband also helped me set up several parts of the nursery. This always made it seem more real for him. We actually had a full room ready for a mini “us.” How crazy was that!? It was crazy. Definitely let dad be a part of the preparation for the baby. It will help the realness set in, haha.

5. Talk About Your Future Baby Often/Look at Photos of You as a Baby

Right after we announced our pregnancy to our families, we were able to get baby pictures of us, which was SO FUN. My husband and I compared our baby photos and talked about who the baby would look like more, or which features we hoped the baby would have. My husband even found an app that meshes faces, so we were able to “create” what our baby would look like (that’s when I really knew that he was into it, haha). We had fun talking all about our baby too. We would talk about names, of course, and how we wanted to raise our little baby. We talked about the nearer future together like the birth plan too. Lots of talking is important when it comes to that little bundle of joy waiting to arrive!

6. Try Making Something for Baby

Does dad have some kind of hobby that he could use to make something sentimental for the baby? If dad is good with wood, he can make something small like a toy truck, or even something as large as a crib. Is dad good at art? He can paint or draw something sentimental for his baby. Maybe dad is a musician. Write a song for the baby! Whatever the hobby is, try to create a sweet gift for the baby!

7. Take Maternity Photos with Mom

Even though most of the maternity session is spent taking individual pictures of mom with the baby bump, dad should definitely go for the few golden ones of the soon-to-be family. Looking back at my maternity photos, my favorite ones are the ones that include my husband! Maternity photos are a special memory and dad should definitely be a part of that! If you can’t afford to have someone professionally take pictures of you, at least have a friend take a few shots of mom and the belly with dad! You won’t regret it!

8. Watch Birth Prep/Breastfeeding Videos with Mom

This one might seem totally crazy to some, but I think it was one of the best things that my husband and I did together. I was clueless about birth, and my husband wasn’t any better, so we became educated together. He listened to all of my videos about how to breastfeed and how to deal with labor pain, even though it had nothing to do with him. It definitely helped him understand what would (and could) happen during delivery and within those first couple of days after giving birth. This allowed him to be more interested at the doctors appointments as well because he actually knew most of the vocabulary and phrases that the doctors were using.

I am SO grateful that my husband was able to bond with the baby in his own special way. I would often notice the baby kick more when he would hear dad’s voice. I also feel like my husband has a stronger bond with his son now because he started working on that bond BEFORE the baby was born rather than after. It is important for dad to be just as excited about the pregnancy as mom, so for any execting moms reading this, have dad join in on the fun with these ideas! for any soon-to-be dads reading this, do these ideas! You won’t regret it! If you have any other ideas for how dad can bond with the baby bump, feel free to share them in the comments!