Over the past 50 years, fathers have tripled the time spent engaging in childrearing activities, and a new study, “Fathers, Breastfeeding, and Infant Sleep Practices: Findings from a State-Representative Survey,” in the July 2023 Pediatrics (published online June 16), found dads can make a huge difference in whether an infant is breastfed and placed to sleep safely. Researchers studied survey data of 250 fathers in Georgia, conducted 2-6 months after their infant’s birth, and fathers reported rates of infant breastfeeding and safe sleep practices that were lower than recommended. However, among fathers who wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed (67.8% of dads in this survey), 95% reported breastfeeding initiation and 78% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks. This is significantly higher than the rates reported by fathers who had no opinion or did not want their infant’s mother to breastfeed – 69% of these fathers reported breastfeeding initiation and 33% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for about the first 6 months of life and supports continued breastfeeding through 2 years or beyond. Nearly all fathers (99.4%) reported placing their child to sleep, but in the survey the dads reported less than perfect safe sleep practices: 81.1% reported placing their infant on their back to sleep, 31.9% using an approved sleep surface, and 44.1% reported using no soft bedding. Just 15.7% of the dads reported following all three safe sleep recommended practices. AAP recommendations for safe sleep include back sleep position; use of a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface; and avoidance of soft objects and loose bedding in the sleep environment. The researchers highlight health inequities in safe sleep practices. For example, fathers with more education—college degrees—were more likely to receive advice on safe sleep guidelines and were more likely to avoid soft bedding when placing their infants to sleep. Researchers concluded that the fathers surveyed in Georgia reported less than perfect infant breastfeeding rates and safe sleep practices overall, but these dads made essential contributions to these practices, supporting inclusion of fathers in conversations and promotion of breastfeeding and infant safe sleep practices.