To have expected him to meet her sooner

[summerbreeze15]

My 30 year old brother has never met his niece. She's 7 months now. He never sent so much as a congratulations when she was born. I've invited him out I meet her and to her baptism and he didn't respond to any of my messages. With Christmas coming my mum keeps going on about how she can't wait for us to pop over so that my brother can meet the baby. AIBU to think that if he was really that bothered he would have made the 30 minute journey over himself at some point in the last 7 months? He drives and owns a car.

I think he's really, really rude and probably babied quite a bit by the sounds of it. Don't bother with him anymore OP.

littlebird77 - I love it with my children. From about the age of 2 up, when they can understand the magic and they can get excited and enchanted by what has been created for them.

Under 2 they are babies there isn't really much comprehension of the magic and so its more like a really good Sunday!

Agree on the brother but I would not punish the mother/grandmother figure in the process. We are all rendered slightly crazy and blind by our kids.

I didn't meet my sisters' kids for months. I didn't have kids of my own and whilst i was like 'oh thats nice for them' I wasn't at all interested and it never occurred to me to go and meet them. I saw them when i naturally would at my dads house at christmas.
When i had my kids, some of my siblings met them fairly early on, some didn't. again, those without kids didn't really have much interest. its just how it is. i woudln't be offended by it.

I shall undoubtedly be told differently, with many anecdotal stories, but I've yet to meet a bloke who was remotely interested in any child but the fruit of his own loins, irrespective if it is his sisters, cousins or best mates.

No doubt you will dismiss this as anecdotal but: my two BILs and I were all heavily involved in bringing up the six now-adult children we have between us, and I regularly babysit and take to the Park the GD of oen of them how was three in August and adores me and vice versa.

Both BILs learn the basics of baby-care with my (ff) DS and I have vivid memories of one BIL nervously bathing his big sister's PFB!

Don't most people visit their siblings though primarily not their nephews and nieces? There have been threads on here before where women have complained about siblings and SILs wanting to fuss over their kids but ignoring them. To me that is strange. When I go to visit my brother and his family I am still mainly visiting my brother and SIL, he just happens to have kids. I'm fond of the kids but i don't visit any more frequently because he has kids than I would if he didn't.
The OP says they aren't close. he sounds like he still lives with mummy and daddy and is a bit babied himself.
If the OP wants him to be a good uncle she maybe needs to work on building a relationship with her brother so they want to visit each other.
For most people other people's kids aren't that exciting, if they were there wouldn't be such a lack of scout and brownie leaders.