For new dads: Paternity leave is more than changing diapers. It can change your brain.

Dalton Hessel, 28, sat on the couch with his wife, watching their daughter lie on the garden-themed playmat during tummy time. The baby’s eyes darted back and forth between the shapes and colors before her attention was finally caught by a carrot dangling in her face. As she reached for the soft toy, Mia paused and skillfully rolled over onto her back. Hessel was in awe. He had  just witnessed one of her first milestones.

If it hadn’t been for his eight-week paternity leave, the teacher from Hayward, Wisconsin, would have been going over simple math problems with his second graders at this hour.

“It was such a cool moment,” Hessel said. “Those memories you make and the bond you form during that time is going to be foundational to how you raise your child.”

What happened in that moment struck him at his core, as such moments do for many parents, and it turns out something may have also been happening for Hessel on a neurological level.
New fathers who spend large chunks of time with their infants experience brain changes (akin to what mothers experience) that better prepare them for fatherhood, according to a growing body of research. The research provides compelling evidence that taking paternity leave could give fathers time to trigger those changes.

“That caregiving experience is what makes the brain changes come online,” said Darby Saxbe, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California. “That’s where the argument
of family leaves comes in – if you give (fathers) more opportunities to interact with their infants, you’ll see more ofthese changes.”

There’s a long-held belief that women have an innate, maternal instinct that helps them better adapt to motherhood. It turns out that fathers may be able to develop this ability by simply spending time with their infant. The hours a father logged with an infant made the difference,
she said: “It seems that time with baby is an important part of remodeling the brain.”

Some fathers say they’ve experienced this surge of joy the researchers tapped into in brain studies.  Kasean Kitson doesn’t think his bond with his daughter, Eleanor, would have been the same were it not for the eight weeks of paternity leave he took last year. “I don’t think I would have had the same relationship with her. … All the little things, I would have missed so much,” said Kitson. “It’s the happiest I’ve ever been my whole life, not having to worry about anything else except for Eleanor.”

In addition to brain changes, research shows paternity leave can improve relationships between men and their partners, lead to better health and developmental outcomes for children,
increase fathers’ engagement and bonding, and narrow the gender wage gap by increasing employment and pay opportunities for mothers.