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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect my husband to do what I say when looking after our child?

45 replies

Nurse15 · 22/07/2017 07:17

So the title makes me seem a bit controlling I realise, but hear me out!!

We have a 12 week old with severe reflux. For 10 weeks I breastfed until she started to feed refuse. We then switched her over to nutramigen milk, had 4 hospital admissions with baby not eating and eventually we are now on neocate milk with a combination of omeprazole and carobel which seems to be working for her so far (somewhat!)

She still screams for periods throughout the day and during these periods you can hear the reflux coming up her throat and her swallowing it down again, during these times nothing soothes her you just have to hold her until it passes. She hadn't slept last night from 12.30 - 4.45 when I asked my husband (who sleeps in a separate room) to come in and look after her for a bit to allow me to get some sleep. She hadn't had a bottle from 1.30 so I told him to feed her as she was awake and restless. 6.15 came and she is screaming, I go in to see what the fuss is about and he was only giving her a bottle then. He was stressed out the the max because she was screaming and he was jiggling her up and down and trying to wind her so hard it can't have been comfortable for her. I've told him at least 1000 times not to jiggle her or wins her vigorously because it makes her reflux worse. He then proceeds to say that she never settles with him. At this point I told him it was because he never does anything I tell him, he ignores all the advice I give him about caring for her and he doesn't spend enough time with her. I've been wanting to say this for weeks but knew it would annoy him and so haven't. He was off on a weeks holidays last week and spent more time polishing his car than with the baby.

I'm sick of him walking about the house in a mood over the baby and being told what to do with her, he always feels like he knows best but just annoys her more so she screams more. Was I unreasonable to say that to him this morning? He's very annoyed now but I feel like it had to be said. After 12 weeks of her being here he refuses to acknowledge that I might know how to look after her as I do it 24hours a day mon - fri when he's at work. I'm sick being nice to him when clearly it doesn't get us anywhere

OP posts:
mummmy2017 · 22/07/2017 09:47

Write him a crib sheet and stick it too her door, tell him just so you don;t forget.

Does her nappy need changing.
Feed her at....
Don't bounce her , baby sick isn't nice.

WomblingThree · 22/07/2017 09:49

From your title, I was prepared to say you were very unreasonable! Wink. Having read your post, it sounds like you have got yourselves into a vicious circle. He is crap and doesn't listen, so you hover and take over, so he is justified (in his mind) that he does it all wrong anyway so why bother.

You need to sit down and have a "big talk" and try and reset. Try and put aside the last 12 weeks (I know it's hard) and start fresh. Explain to him exactly what to do, write a list of what the baby needs when, what goes in her bottles, how she needs to be held after, anything else relating to her care. Make it clinical, not emotional. Try and put aside your resentment over what he "should" be able to do, and take it from there.

As the main career, there is a tendency to assume the other parent takes in all the minutiae by osmosis. Do you both go to her doctor's appointments? Being charitable, it's possible that he is feeling slightly left out of decisions by virtue of not being there. I'm not doing a "poor menz" thing - my daughter had some medical issues that my husband took her to all her appointments for, as they were when I was at work, and sometimes I did feel totally out of the loop regarding what was going on.

Give it say a week, and then have another discussion to re-evaluate. If nothing is changing, and he really is just being a knob, then I guess you have to decide if you can carry on like that, but I would give him a chance to get it right first.

It's very easy to say "oh I shouldn't have to do this and that" but the alternative is to leave I guess. Do you want that?

tenpoletudor · 22/07/2017 10:49

Both mine had severe reflux, the first was borderline for an operation for pylorric stenosis.
It IS very stressful.

But jiggling a baby with reflux is plain stupid. My elder one was so bad if you even moved him slightly it all came up again.

What you need is a partner who reads the relevant stuff and acts on it, without it being some sort of 'nagging issue'. His Dd needs him to act appropriately for her current needs and you need not to be the sole carer, 24/7.

You have all my sympathy Flowers

NameChange30 · 22/07/2017 11:17

"Explain to him exactly what to do, write a list of what the baby needs when, what goes in her bottles, how she needs to be held after, anything else relating to her care."

Why the hell should the OP write it all down for him, like he's some kind of child? If he's too careless and stupid to remember, he can write himself a list.

WomblingThree · 22/07/2017 11:21

Because AnotherEmma just sometimes it's better to put aside the screeching and do what's best for you as a family. Not everything is a war to be won.

ittakes2 · 22/07/2017 17:04

Have you tried cranial oestopathy? Benefits are immediate. Even insurance companies like BUPA recognise new borns can have nerve compression in their necks affecting digestion and will pay for it. My son was on nutragen for years. He had cranial oestro (I prefer to go to ones with specific cranial training) and he also had health kinesiology.

Gileswithachainsaw · 22/07/2017 17:14

Does he think we instinctively know what to do with our babies? We know as much about them as they do when they first arrive.

You learn through time yes but more importantly you also learn through giving a shit and trying to find out things you don't know and of course by following medical advice where necessary. Wouldn't matter if he had met her for the first time today if he had asked a few questions or followed the instructions given and basically stopped being am arsehole he'd know enough to not cause her more pain as far as possible.

He clearly can't be bothered and doesn't care

wheresthel1ght · 22/07/2017 17:37

He sounds like an arse.

Any idea why he is so reluctant? Do you think he is scared of it or just doesn't believe it?

Just as an aside, ask your GP to ckeeo a check on her phosphate levels if she is on Neocate. I know 3 people who have had issues and one of those, her little girl had 4 broken robs, fractured vertebrae and was seconds from having her child taken away til they realised the link was the milk.

It can cause phosphate ricketts

Allthewaves · 22/07/2017 18:22

Write crib sheet and go out for the day. Until he's left alone he won't step up as your his saftey net.

If your using disposable nappies they don't need changed every 3 hours unless skin issues. Some babies sleep through at 12 weeks and wear nappy for 10 hours plus

Nurse15 · 22/07/2017 20:19

I'm content with changing her nappy at each feed - it's one less thing she could be screaming the house down about so I'm not going to change that.

Have had a massive falling out tonight over everything. Can't look at him never mind speak to him. Will have to consider things overnight.

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 22/07/2017 20:33

Oh dear, sorry to hear that OP Sad
I hope that when the dust settles he'll see your POV. If he doesn't, he's an arsehole.

Gileswithachainsaw · 22/07/2017 21:03
Flowers
prettywhiteguitar · 22/07/2017 21:14

It's not normal behaviour to ignore what medical advice tells you to do to a baby, if my husband had heard me say don't jiggle the baby it upsets them, he wouldn't do it. He would understand, he would listen to me, I think there are deep issues between you two and unfortunately when you have a baby it really reveals them.

A normal couple bickers from tiredness and doesn't necessarily get on all the time but what you are describing does not sound like a good relationship.

I'm sorry it must be so hard coping alone with an upset baby, I hope posting here might make you feel less alone. Lots of mothers go through it Flowers

Elephant17 · 22/07/2017 21:30

Yanbu.

My partner can be like this and it does my head in. You're not trying to patronise, you simply know better what to do through experience. He should listen and make everyone's lives easier! Your poor little babe, that sounds terribly uncomfortable Sad hope the reflux settles soon.

Jedimum1 · 22/07/2017 21:48

It's hard. Very hard.

I remember being very much like that and finding wrong everything that DH did to look after my first. In hindsight, I think the father also needs to try it his way. There's not one single solution and your baby might settle with you one way and with him another ONCE she gets used to it. In the same way that they do with nannies, childminders and nurseries. I didn't give my DH a chance to look after my first, I was always there saying what was wrong, do it as I do, why are you doing this, she doesn't like that... Not nice and to be honest, unnecessary. I know it was an instinctive reaction but you might be making difficult that they bond. And they need to bond. And your child might cry for a bit too long, but your DH is trying and he will get the knack of it if you just let him. Or find his own way. I'd write together a list of things that you know work when your baby cries. Put it on the wall. Let him go to it and read when he's trying, instead of you saying do this for that. Learn to identify the different cries. I had no clue with my first but amazingly both my DH and I could easily identify my second's cries. Write common cues and solutions, such as rubbing eyes or ear means tiredness, wetting lips or showing tip of tongue means hungry, "cough" cry (eh eh eeeeeh) usually is hungry, etc. There are a few cries that apparently are common to all children. Get it all down. And visible. Let him fail, let him reach the paper, let him ask you if needed be, step back a little. I know it took me a good while to let go, to let him try, but it actually worked. My children would go to sleep in different ways with me or him, not massively different, but small differences that I had been stubbornly saying "s/he won't do that". They also were winded differently and worked anyway. Make two lists if necessary, one for feeding / reflux, one for general advice. Times for feeds too. It's hard and many of us tend to go into overprotective mode and want to be there and micromanage everything... But it doesn't help anyone: your child will benefit from different approaches as long as there's a routine, your DH will bond and feel involved in bringing up his children (they already feel usually quite left out), you will be able to relax later on when / if you need to leave your baby with DH for any reason (hairdresser, hobby, go appointment, meeting people, returning to work, whatever), as you will have realised that it's ok , he looks after baby and they are both happy. I know at the moment is about reflux / colic but at the same time that's something for which there's not a single solution, my first had it and it was horrible. But she would cry no matter what sometimes, my way, his way, it didn't matter. Don't make him feel guilty because maybe, just maybe, if he had done what you said he might have had the same result. All I remember from those days was: keep baby straight up fir 20 min after a feed (I bought a carrier for that), try to feed baby as upright as it can be whilst still comfortable / safe for the head, warm milk instead of cold (if not breastfeeding), "bicycle" legs slowly and bring their knees to the tummy together to encourage passing wind, keep tummies warm, smaller feeds (an issue with evening cluster feeding, though) and a change of milk if it didn't work. We tried the usual stuff like infacol, but it only worked to prevent wind and only once established. Gripe water was too much for my little one. It just disappeared one day but between 2 and 5 months old, it made our life quite difficult!

TenForward82 · 22/07/2017 21:56

I'm so angry on your behalf, OP. Why isn't he listening?

ScissorBow · 22/07/2017 22:10

Let me start by saying YANBU.

That said I've been there and this is things from my point of view. Dads feel quite pushed out (rightly or wrongly - there will be a few of these comments so just imagine I say this after all of them) because you care for the baby 24/7. They go back to their normal work, normal life and then come home to chaos (r or w). A 'difficult' baby means they often don't even want to bother coming home (wrongly) and will feign incompetence (w) so they can palm off the difficult stuff (w) onto you and make it your problem (w). He may think 'what's the point in learning? I'll only do it wrong' (r or w) and that leaves him feeling helpless, emasculated and pointless (r or w). Learning from each other is the way to go with parenting. I spent all day every day with DD1 and her CMPI and non sleeping yet DH could still teach me a thing or two about what worked with her. Right now it feels like a war (r or w) but you have to let him fail (r or w). Yes it might be awful to watch your baby screaming and struggling while he learns what to do, in which case make a plan that involves you not being in the house. But you never know, he might come up with a genuinely useful solution which works for him and his daughter.

Nappy changing - he'll learn it's easier to avoid nappy rash and bed/outfit changes if he changes her more often. Bepanthen works a treat with nappy rash and Napisan in the washing machine to make the sheets/clothes hygienic. He needs to learn like you've learnt or you will resent him (r or w) for being useless and he will feel useless so he'll never learn (r or w).

If it's any consolation it is not a unique situation you're in. My DH looked after our then 2 year old 3 mornings a week for 6 weeks when his new job started as afternoons only. After the end of the 2nd week he said 'now I understand why you don't always get everything done every day' It's bloody relentless! Your DH needs to walk a mile in your shoes before he really 'gets' it and most men don't get the chance. Good luck and remember whilst YANBU the only loser in this battle is you if you don't concede some ground.

OhOurBilly · 23/07/2017 12:20

Yanbu. At all. I remember shouting "JUST DO AS YOU'RE FUCKING TOLD!" at dh when ds was tiny. Because he hadn't listened to what I'd told him to do and ds was crying and I was trying to have five minutes to shower. He didn't understand how completely relentless new motherhood is. I tried explaining it to him that I was always thinking about what came next. So nappy, feed, wind, sit with baby upright for half an hour, change, sterilise a dummy so I've got one ready, nappy, feed, clean up sick etc. It's constant. (It gets easier, I promise! I felt like I'd been hit by a bus initially!)

Reflux is horrible, anecdonally, has she been checked (by a professional in infant feeding/lactation consultant) for a tongue tie? DS had a posterior tongue tie, nobody knew till he was 18 weeks, had it divided, the difference was immediate and I had a different baby.

tenpoletudor · 24/07/2017 10:30

How are you this morning, OP.

I second the advice to get all prof advice re baby.

We had a tongue tie too (3 diff profs gave 3 diff opinions) and proper Reflux is way diff to colic. It took over our lives for 2 years.

If your H is being arsey because he feels nagged by you, you will get through it somehow. If he is ignoring medical advice then it is more of a problem.

Jedimum1 · 24/07/2017 17:27

Seconding the tongue tie. I actually asked my health visitor (the one at the walk-in at the GP) when DD was 2-3 weeks and she said nah, that doesn't really exist... Wth? When DD was 6 months, another HV asked me if she had had problems feeding because she had a bit of tongue tie... Argh! At that age not only they couldn't cut it because it was more of a surgical cut than just a snip, as it would have been earlier on, and also because we were establishing solids so there was no point. I had to stop breastfeeding at 2 weeks because I had low production and my baby wasn't sucking, so I lost all the milk. Tried everything in the book but the tongue tie solution.

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