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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU? Or just scared?

67 replies

MinesADecaff · 07/06/2013 11:08

DP and I are expecting our first baby. He has a DD who's 5 and who lives with us about 60% of the time.

Three days a week it's his responsibility to arrange childcare for her after school. At the moment a childminder picks her up and then DP collects her on his way back from work. I work FT too.

But now he's started talking about how, when I'm on maternity leave, I can start picking up DSD from school. But I really don't want to. Especially not in the first few months when I'm still getting to grips with being a new mum and feeling knackered.

I don't have any family or friends where we live - everyone is at least an hour away. So I'd be on my own with new babe plus DSD until DP got home.

I'm not completely averse to the idea once I've got a routine established with the new baby and I've found my feet a bit. But I've got a feeling that DP is going to be expecting me to be doing the school run the first Monday after he goes back from paternity leave.

AIBU to say that for the first six months or so I just want to be able to bond with my baby and find my feet as a mum without having to provide childcare for his DD too?

OP posts:
WaitingForMe · 07/06/2013 15:37

As a stepmum I found my DSSs quite useful. The school run (Thur eve, Fri morn and alternate Fri eve's) helped me structure my week. My DSSs LOVED their brother coming to pick them up and DS loved the little kids cooing over him (DSSs wouldn't let any if them touch him - he was theirs!). All this made them feel important Grin

Finally, and I'm a bit Smile at this... babies are demanding and small kids will sit in front of a bouncer reciting all the songs they know while you sit on the sofa and drink tea. I've had my step kids read DS their homework cough

Jengnr · 07/06/2013 15:49

Six months is a long time so you should probably play it by ear.I don't think you'll need that long.

I think a lot of people are forgetting the uncertainty and terror that comes along with having your first baby though and are being unnecessarily harsh.

All the 'what if it was your child' questions are daft because she isn't your child, you've never had to care for a baby before and until you do you won't have a fucking clue how. Or that's how it feels.

Give it a could of weeks and reassess. Is your baby due in the holidays? :hopeful:

crashdoll · 07/06/2013 15:57

YABVU for this sentence "without having to provide childcare for his DD too?" I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this. Perhaps it was poor wording but I do wonder if that's how you see the situation - his DD therefore his responsibility. When you had a child with a man who already had a child, you knew the score. DSD is there 60% of the time, so she is an integral part of your family, not some random child who comes over once a fortnight. This is your unborn child's sibling.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 07/06/2013 16:09

Are you planning on going back to work OP?

#I kept DS at the childminders when I had DD, it was easier all round, he kept his routine and his place with the childminder.

bluebell8782 · 07/06/2013 16:29

Well you are her step-mum - you can't pick and choose. You aren't just child-minding - she lives with you 60% of the time.

I think you are being a little precious about it. And I don't really like the attitude that the step-daughter will be in the way until you find your feet. It's her home too, her dad and her sister. I'm a step-mum, I know what's it's like - family dynamics are never going to be the same as a 'regular' family. But it can be very good and you just have to get on with it.

foreverondiet · 07/06/2013 16:34

I think need to find a compromise. Unreasonable of him to expect you to pick her up from school from when he goes back to work after paternity leave but equally unreasonable of you to say you can't do it until baby is 6 months old - you'll have all day to bond with the baby when she is at school. I would suggest compromise of you do once a week from when the baby is 6 weeks old and all the afternoons by the time the baby is 12 weeks old...

SmiteYouWithThunderbolts · 07/06/2013 16:36
  1. You're not "providing childcare for his daughter" - she's your stepdaughter, sibling to your child. You are part of her care network.

  2. You do not need 6 months to get used to having a baby around. A few weeks, fine, but you are being very precious if you think you'll need months and months to get to grips with doing normal day to day stuff.

SomebodyBrokeThat · 07/06/2013 16:36

Has anyone asked the ex if she minds if you pick up her daughter from school? Just a thought as she may not be ok with it.

Wishiwasanheiress · 07/06/2013 16:45

Ok op I don't think you are unreasonable in so much as its your first ever child. It took me a year to feel 'at one' with motherhood. I don't know I could have coped with a dsd too. As we do not know if pnd will develop or not I'm on your side. We also do not know what sort of birth you will have.

Keep the cm. pick dsd up bit earlier. Include her a bit. It's compromise you need here not ultimatums. Everything is about to get very different. Best of luck and congrats!

zipzap · 07/06/2013 17:26

The thing that struck me in the OP's post was that 'now he's started talking about how, when I'm on maternity leave, I can start picking up dsd from school'.

Her dp hasn't asked her if she would so they can have a proper conversation and work through they whys and wherefores of this. He has just assumed that maternity leave = not having anything else to do and that therefore he can dictate something for her to do in that time.

There's another thread running at the moment about a dad assuming that his partner - currently on maternity leave - will look after his 9yr old dd while she is on half term as neither he nor his ex can look after her - he just said she would without checking with his partner that she didn't have any plans but assumed it would be ok (it was when the ex was supposed to be looking after her). The consensus on that thread was very much that the dad was being unreasonable in expecting his dp to provide the childcare without asking - if nothing else it's just plain rude to make plans for another adult without checking with them first - step-parent or not.

Having a new baby is very different from caring for a dsd. You don't know how your own body is going to react - you might spring back and be fine after a couple of days (don't we all wish!) or you might end up with a c section that has a really painful scar, problems walking and driving, a baby that needs to stay in hospital, PND that means you just want to hide all day, a baby that screams all night and happens to sleep for a couple of hours mid afternoon so that's the only time you manage to catch up on your sleep etc at the other end of the extreme. And most of us fall into the middle somewhere.

The only thing that you can say for definite is that you shouldn't be making any definite plans for after your new baby's birth.

Have a long conversation with your dp - need to crack on the head anything that makes him think that he can dictate anything that you do with your time!

Once that's done, chat through the picking up dsd situation. Point out that if it was your own child, you would probably be leaving her at the childminder - at least until you were more settled and knew how you were coping. And that once you know how you are coping you will then be in a position to make better decisions about how and when you can help out...

I know when I had ds1 I found it very difficult to do things at a specific time because there would always be something that cropped up to thwart it - a mega poo explosion or a screaming baby that wouldn't eat but had just started and you wanted them to eat more, or we'd both be so tired we'd oversleep or whatever. I was lucky that I didn't have many things that i HAD to do at specific times - just a few doctor's appointments - and getting to them on time was hell, despite always starting out with the best of intentions. Knowing that I had to be out of the house on time to do a school pick up 3 days a week would have been a nightmare. (and yes, I know plenty of people manage to do this day in, day out. I'm just saying that for me, at that time, with lots of other horrible stuff going on at the same time, it would have been a nightmare. Other people would have been fine with it but might have had problems coping with stuff that was managing to cope with, you just don't know until you are there).

It is scary when you are looking into the future and you try to imagine how it will be but you don't actually know. But try to take some comfort from the fact there are lots of others out there that have been there before you, and lots of them are on MN and more than happy to hide from their own dc share their experiences and say how they managed to cope, which hopefully will be able to provide you with some support!

TigOldBitties · 07/06/2013 17:42

You probably are just scared and not coming across well as a result.

Honestly, babies are not that hard, every person on this planet was once a baby and had to be looked after, I'd say after a week you will be in the swing of things.

There is often talk on mn of people having babies and not dressing or leaving the house for 8 weeks or something, rading things like this can cloud your view, I've never known people to do this in real life, most are climbing the walls by day 3.

It's not unreasonable to want some time but 6 months is far too long and I guarantee your step-daughter may present a few of her own challenges but will help you a lot too. She can do things like watch the baby while you nip to the loo, entertain the baby while you make tea, fetch and carry things for you and involving her will foster a good relationship between her and the baby.

I think I'd review it after 2 weeks and then once its been a month and keep reviewing until you feel comfortable. It will be a bit scary having ll that new responsibility but getting out and doing the school run will b e good for you and its good to get the baby out. Your DH is probably just a lot more objective about it has he's had a baby before and has some experience.

ukatlast · 07/06/2013 17:51

Not meaning to sound harsh but YABU - How hard would it be to pop baby in pram and pick up SD? If a car is involved then it's a bit more of a pain with car seats but why pay someone if you are at home?
I am sure a 5 year old SD would be very interested in the new baby and your doing this would be a way of including her.

Obviously you might want to stay inside for the first month after childbirth but thereafter I think it would be unreasonable not to oblige. Babies are not difficult, they are cute and you are likely unnecessarily scared.
The thing is a 5 year old can be reasoned with. A newborn with a toddler is totally different but a newborn with a 5 year old after school is totally doable in normal circumstances.

Tanith · 07/06/2013 18:24

I agree with Horatia and, in fact, most of my parents on maternity leave keep the children with me for continuity.
Those children have no problem with Baby being with mum while they have a great time with me and their friends, and they're very proud to introduce their new brother or sister when the time comes.

Forgetfulmog · 07/06/2013 18:51

Mrsjay - I agreed in my post that 6 months was a little too long

Balloon - no of course I'm not suggesting that you would be loved any less than your siblings. I did stipulate that I had no experience of having DSCs. What I meant was that a lot of posters are saying "what if it was your own child" & I was trying to make a point that DSD is not her "own" child & furthermore she has never had any experience of caring for a baby. I don't think I worded it very well & I apologise if I caused offence to you or anyone else (that wasn't my intention).

Forgetfulmog · 07/06/2013 18:55

Wow & all those posters saying babies are not hard. Well I must be a crap mum then - nearly 9 months in & I'm still finding my feet & finding things hard Hmm

Who's to say the OP won't feel the same?

K8Middleton · 07/06/2013 18:57

Second baby was a breeze. Older sibling was a total nightmare when new baby arrived. His routine became essential and going to nursery as normal really helped him.

JackieTheFart · 07/06/2013 18:58

I think you're being a bit unreasonable, but I kept my twins in nursery when DS3 was born Confused and DH did all the collecting and dropping off.

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