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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask partner to move out 5 weeks postpartum

189 replies

Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 08:12

My little boy is 5 weeks old and is my first child. My partner and I currently live in a flat that is owned by myself and my mother.

When I was pregnant he had his bouts of being unsupportive, he still went out drinking regularly, even close to my due date. He always gave me a time he would return but never stuck to it. Sometimes he would get so drunk he would come home and vomit.

I thought things would maybe be different when the baby got here. I had an emergency cesarian and on the way to go pick my mother up to see me post delivery he stopped at the pub. He also went to the pub when my son was 6 days old.

Since Friday he has been out after work every day except Monday. Granted not all of these occasions were to the pub, he also went to his siblings home, but he knew I was at home struggling with an ill baby and had no respite. He is leaving at 6am and returning home no earlier than 8pm. Two nights ago he asked if he could go watch Chelsea in the pub. Trying to encourage him to be respectful and ask if I need anything before making plans I happily said yes.

The next day he messaged me at 4pm saying he would be home in an hour, 9pm rolls around and no word, no answer on the phone either. Eventually he gets in touch at 10pm and says he’s out drinking with his dad. I went berserk because it was the 6th day bar one he had been out and I had genuinely thought he had been in an accident. I asked him not to come home.

Yesterday morning he asked if he could return and I let him, he spent the entire day in bed, vomiting and shivering due to his hangover. I told him I needed space but left it as he was in no fit state to go anywhere.

I desperately don’t want to be a single mum but I’m at my wits end. Am I being unreasonable wanting him to spend his spare time at home?

OP posts:
Fishface77 · 27/04/2018 09:42

Probably booked into a hotel to go out on a bender.
Don’t worry about pissing of this twat or his family. Look after yourself and your child. You say your giving your child his name, remember the implications in later life.
Eg, travelling, him being a dead beat dad etc.

GinIsIn · 27/04/2018 09:42

If you work in substance misuse you already know deep down how this will go and that leaving him off the BC is the best thing you could do for your son.

Branleuse · 27/04/2018 09:43

you need to at least double barrel his name, but tbh id just give my name if i had to do it all over again, as its such a pain when travelling and going on holiday to have a different name to my child.
Plus hes done fuck all to deserve the status it seems, except ejaculating

lardymclardy · 27/04/2018 09:44

Be strong Misswhitman, take this time to relax with the baby, get your own routine, switch your phone off and know that it is just the two of you with no drama.

I know it's heartbreaking, but you might find it will be your happiest week ever since having DS.

Stay strong! Much love.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 27/04/2018 09:44

He won’t hear of my son having my name

Tough. He's not acting like a father. Register son in YOUR name. And you are not being unreasonable at all. He sounds like a nightmare.

Passingwords · 27/04/2018 09:45

Cross post OP, fair enough ref his name on bcert, but yes you must have yours on there too. stick to facts, keep a diary should you need to look back on it, good luck,

aaarrrggghhhh · 27/04/2018 09:46

He won’t hear of my son having my name.

Well its not for him to hear or not hear of! It is totally and utterly up to you to give him your name and you should not feel that by doing so you are being unfair, or not nice or whatever emotion you have been conditioned to feel! Be strong!

tidiot · 27/04/2018 09:46

I can empathise OP. My ex was very similar, he took a 'get the partying out of his system' stance whilst I was pregnant and it didn't stop once our son was here. He would go out every weekend, tell me he would be back in an hour or two and then turn off his phone and not roll in till the next day - in the meantime I had been waiting up for him so he could help with DS, I couldn't shower or sort myself out without him there and I was utterly miserable. I would spend my Friday's working myself up, crying, calling around the police/hospitals or his friends and he made me feel like a psycho when all I wanted was support with a new baby (I ended up with PND which this definitely made worse). On the night's he did come back he would be so drunk he would sleepwalk-piss over everything including one attempt in the Moses basket, would be up vomiting and generally being vile to me. I left after one month, immediately changed his behavior but at this point it was too late...I won't go into specifics, he's a great dad but has been an awful ex.
You need to put your foot down and kick him out. You're already acting like a single parent, so why add on the stress of looking after him and working yourself up over expectations of him helping when he has no intentions. It's disrespectful to you and completely unfair.

Mary1935 · 27/04/2018 09:46

Hi Op you are doing the right thing. Time for him to grow up. Let him stay in the hotel for a week. Let him make contact to see his son. Don't let him "pop in" when he feels like it. Well done for being strong. Mother in law sounds over involved. They may live the "pub life" - but it's not for you. Good luck.

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 27/04/2018 09:47

You can still get maintenance even if he’s not on birth certificate. It’s just there might need to be a DNA test if he denies he’s the father.

www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/disagreements-about-parentage

flubdub · 27/04/2018 09:47

He definitely sounds like an alcoholic.

Have you asked him? Or told him how you are feeling?

LifeBeginsAtGin · 27/04/2018 09:53

He was perfect up until the point I got pregnant and he desperately wanted a baby

I never believe this. People do not change 'just like that'.

How does he manage to work if he reeks of alcohol all the time? Is he driving whilst over the limit too?

Alwayslumpyporridge · 27/04/2018 09:54

When I went back after maternity leave I had a similar issue, DH going out all of the time, leaving everything to me and I have a FT job. I had enough, threatened to kick him out and dragged him to relate meeting. He has changed, we are still together, he has been out once this week.

Maybe your DH needs to made aware of what is at stake with his behaviour? You are not banning him going from out, the football night evidences that but his priorities need to change. Give him a chance, if he doesn’t take it onboard then kick him out. You have my sympathy, it’s very lonely

Ruffian · 27/04/2018 09:54

Sounds like a sensible idea OP, it's just possible he'll take the time to come to his senses about the importance of his child and his relationship. On the other hand he might go completely off the rails but you're not going to be able to stop that.

Any chance he would go to counselling? Losing his Father figure has obviously messed him up and now being a father himself might be unleashing all kinds of mental issues.

Do you actually want his Mother coming in every day? Sounds pretty overbearing.

Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 09:55

I told him he is alcohol dependent. I told his mum I was worried about it and she rang him and laughed about how dramatic I am. He doesn’t drink to have a good time in my opinion because every time he drinks he cries. He does love his son very much and I have no doubt he would ever put our son in danger or let him down, just me.

He has a massive family and he puts them all first, partly because he knows I manage ok without his help (doesn’t make it right) but he’s the white knight for the rest of the family and is there at a phone call sorting things out for them, it just doesn’t extend to me!

I left a good job when I got pregnant because he wanted to support me financially. I own half of the flat I live in with my mum but she has physical health issues so can’t help all that much, consequently I’m not entitled to benefits and paying the bills and service charge will be a struggle on my maternity allowance (£500 a month).

Before anyone comments on that, we had been trying for a long long time and if I had resisted moving employers because we were trying for a baby I would have had the same job potentially forever. Just Sod’s law I got pregnant during my security checks for a new role.

OP posts:
LanaorAna2 · 27/04/2018 09:55

He won't hear of my son not having his name

Baby, bad fathers never do. They won't pay, they won't care, but somehow they're always bothered enough to 'insist' on this. Not great for the child down the line.

Don't remind him of the appt. Don't put him on when you go yourself (I don't think you can, as it happens). Think of your son.

Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 09:57

He promised he would go to therapy then took it back a few weeks later when I mentioned it. You can believe what you want to but he did change when I got pregnant and I believe grief was the catalyst. There is NO WAY I would have tried for a baby with him if he was behaving like this at the time.

OP posts:
Lemontart25 · 27/04/2018 09:58

Well that was quite the drip feed OP! So all this is actually very likely to be grief if as you say he was completely fine up to the point you found out you were expecting the very SAME moment his father figure passed away.

I think you have painted the picture completely differently in your OP & it's unfair to label him lazy & an alcoholic if he is struggling with a very close personal loss on top of being a parent for the first time & trying to find his way without his own father figure to guide him.

Just my view & I hope as a MH worker yourself you can see my point.

Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 09:58

Financially if I need anything I can just ask him. He owns his own business so as long as he’s capable of answering a phone he’s fine, all of his jobs are subcontracted to his employees

OP posts:
Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 09:59

I totally understand your point but I have tried everything to be supportive and I’m sure you understand that there is only so much you can try to help someone who refuses to seek help themselves. He’s over the grief apparently and doesn’t need counselling.

OP posts:
Ruffian · 27/04/2018 10:01

He was perfect up until the point I got pregnant and he desperately wanted a baby

I never believe this. People do not change 'just like that'

You missed off the bit where OP says her dp's father figure died at that time

OP maybe he would go to therapy now? Obviously he's got to engage with it properly. Does he see therapy as something embarrassing or 'weak'?

Sarahjconnor · 27/04/2018 10:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 27/04/2018 10:02

YANBU at all. What a lovely man. Hmm

Lemontart25 · 27/04/2018 10:05

I do very much understand believe me & in that part I fully support any decision you make for yourself & baby. I just felt if you had mentioned the loss at the start the advice you would have been given would have been different. Because a lad about town not wanting to help with new baby & putting himself & mates first, is very different to a man who losses his father the moment he becomes one himself.

Misswhitman · 27/04/2018 10:05

He sees threapy as weak and unhelpful and he hasn’t got a problem (despite experiencing a lot of loss in his life and being the go-to person for all family issues). He flits between admitting he isn’t coping and is unhappy and saying he doesn’t have issues. He’s still in complete denial about how things have affected him and how much stress he takes on (financially supporting his siblings and mother, resolving arguments etc). He’s a good man it’s just when it comes to me and the baby we’re last on the list but that’s probably because he knows I’m doing well.

OP posts:
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