Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is my partner doing more than his fair share?

63 replies

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 18:56

OH got a bit snappy with me earlier & I sense he feels his doing more than his fair share when it comes to our 1 year old daughter. So is he?
He works 9-5.30 Monday-Friday. I'm a SAHM but have just started looking for a part time job. I'm obviously with DD when his at work, I cook dinner & do the shopping & cleaning. When he gets home about 6, either one of us will give her dinner (but I cook it) then primarily he will bath her. Then at bed time, I will try to get her to sleep first with breast/bottle but if that doesn't work (it often doesn't) he rocks her on his knees (don't ask but it works) am I asking him to do to much in the evening? She's normally asleep by 8 at the latest (normally!) so we both have a few hours to chill out. Genuinely not sure if I'm taking the piss or if his being unreasonable. What do you think?

OP posts:
kaytee87 · 28/07/2018 19:37

Sorry he's not a good dad if he grudges bathing his daughter and occasionally rocking her to sleep. Tell him to get a grip.

Thanks for you op.

GnotherGnu · 28/07/2018 19:43

Controlled crying isn't the only alternative to what you're doing now. Try the Supernanny method of having a darkened room, and just calmly putting her back to bed without comment if she tries to run off when she's being read to. Keep your reading voice calm and soothing. She should learn that playing isn't an option and with any luck will grow to like being read to as the final bit of her bedtime routine.

Tiredspice2 · 28/07/2018 19:45

He signed up for fatherhood, what did he expect- he should be doing a lot more. Or is he one of those blokes that think having and raising kids is solely a woman’s job?

WittyFuck · 28/07/2018 19:45

Reorganise her bedroom, so it is obviously time for sleep. Put low light on, turn sheet down. Establish a loving, calm routine and be firm this is about sleep time now. If toys are in the room, you may need to remove them or put them away so it is clear that there is no point getting up to play.
You sound like a lovely couple, but may need to sort out who does what when you are working. One of you gets food ready, other gets baby ready for bed.

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 28/07/2018 19:51

The supernanny “back to bed” routine is very good.

AprilShowers16 · 28/07/2018 19:51

My DH used to rock my son to sleep most nights when I couldn’t get him to sleep with a bottle. After a while he found it very difficult and exhausting so started to transition to getting him to fall asleep without the rocking. Maybe it’s time to try and tackle the rocking if it’s not working for him any more?

Aridane · 28/07/2018 19:52

Being a SAHM is much more stressful than a generic 9-5.

He should be doing EVERYTHING when he is not at work.

Oh right

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 19:53

He really is a good dad - & definitely not one of those men who thinks raising a baby is a woman's job. I do think it's the knee rocking that's driving him mad, the actual act of it.. I don't think he resents doing anything else at all (only realised that after starting this thread tbh) she just woke up after being rocked for 20 mins, so his at it again.. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We only have a 1 bed at the moment we're due to move to a 2 bed soon so maybe having her own room will help because she will probably rarely go in there except at bed time. Our bedroom currently has black out blinds & is nice & cool there's really no reason for her to fight it. but being awake is more fun!

OP posts:
LeroyJenkins · 28/07/2018 19:54

Being a SAHM is much more stressful than a generic 9-5.

He should be doing EVERYTHING when he is not at work.

bollocks!

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 19:55

The super nanny back to bed routine... wouldn't it be better suited to older children? She can't physically get out of her cot to go any where so it would just be controlled crying wouldn't it??

OP posts:
AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 28/07/2018 19:57

There might be a better routine for a one year old, supernanny might have one if you check her website.

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 19:58

Ok @awoman, thanks I will have a google.

OP posts:
QuinnElle · 28/07/2018 19:59

Being a SAHM is much more stressful than a generic 9-5.

He should be doing EVERYTHING when he is not at work.

I've done both. No it is not and no he shouldn't. Don't be ridiculous.

NapQueen · 28/07/2018 20:00

What is he doing weekends?

I think that is a fair distribution on his working days. I would expect him to do 50/50 weekends in terms of dd and housework.

QuinnElle · 28/07/2018 20:04

After seeing the guys who work in my warehouse, how much they do, the heat at the moment... I'd cut him some slack.

I wouldn't have realised how tough it is until we went to help one day last week (stock move to new place last minute), I don't think people realise what warehouse work is like. I certainly didn't I thought they had it easy!! They do not. Its shit and I'd take my 45 hours a week in the office over it, I'd take being a SAHM over that. Regret the day I went back to work.

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 20:09

www.madeformums.com/baby/jo-frost-shares-her-10-steps-for-blissful-baby-bedtimes/2943.html
Just had a look at this, it is great but I don't know where to start now! She does wake up lots of times at night & I think this is nothing more than separation anxiety, which is quite possibly the worst reason for them waking up! Because your options are literally let them cry it out, or get them into bed with you. & neither are ideal 🤦🏼‍♀️ Will be giving the massage a good go though, I do think we could make the hour before bed more chilled & less rushed than it currently is so maybe that will help. Thanks for that @awoman Smile

OP posts:
AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 28/07/2018 20:13

Hope you get sorted. Babies not sleeping is fucking horrendous. I caved and just let my baby sleep in bed with me, he is now 9 (years) and still in my bed 50% of the time. I just did what I could to get a night’s sleep. I wish I had tried harder when he was smaller to keep him in his own bed.

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 28/07/2018 20:14

Btw I used the back to bed routine for my eldest, it worked brilliantly for him, a couple of nights and he was sorted. By baby number 2 I had lost all staying power so just caved Grin

Queenofthestress · 28/07/2018 20:15

Lavender bath stuff, and baby massage before bed used to get my two straight off to sleep

OneStepSideways · 28/07/2018 20:17

He should be doing EVERYTHING when he is not at work

If he were a SAHD and OP was working 9-5, would you still say the working parent should do everything at home? So you work a full day, then get home and cook, feed, bath and settle baby then clean up?

Chores need to be shared. OP I don't think he's doing too much. But do you give him any choice over which jobs he does in the evening? Eg give him the option of bathing baby or cooking. Bedtime or dishwasher. Can you bath baby earlier so he can play with her or read stories or just spend some quality time with her instead of having tasks to complete?

Beautifulblue · 28/07/2018 20:19

I hear that so often @awoman! 'I wished I'd done it when she/he was a baby' but you literally do what ever works for sanitys sake at the time don't you?!

OP posts:
AnnieAnoniMoose · 28/07/2018 20:25

You do ALL the cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry and look after your DD.

It’s definitely not you taking the piss.

He’s massively taking the piss and you need to get that sorted because you will come to resent it.

He’s choosing to rock her, he either finds another way to settle her or does it with good grace. He’s making it worse the longer it goes on because the older & bigger they get the harder it is to rock them to sleep and the harder it is to teach them to self settle.

Don’t look upon controlled crying as ‘mean’, look at it as teaching her a life lesson. Being able to self soothe & sleep well is a life skill that will benefit her all of her life. There’s a reason the eldest child is usually the worst sleeper in a family.

Go away for a weekend, let him see it’s not as easy as all that. Do NOT pre-prepare food etc & make sure he also has some jobs that need doing. Cleaning/laundry etc. STOP doing EVERYTHING, he’s a grown man that should be doing his share of cooking and cleaning. You’re a SAHM, MUM - not domestic skivvy.

Jeippinghmip · 28/07/2018 20:31

He’s not doing too much at all. I hope he steps up once you’re at work.

BertieBotts · 28/07/2018 20:33

There are two separate issues.

He sounds fed up with the knee rocking thing so I think as a couple you should make a plan going forwards to wean her off that and/or find an alternative which works better for him. Or he could make the plan and ask you to support him with it - either would be totally fair.

Whether it's a fair share... I'd try this thought experiment and see what comes out of it. Preferably together - I think if you do it and simply present him with the results, he may feel attacked, which would be fair.

There are 168 hours in a week.

Subtract the amount of hours he's usually at work per day, plus his commute times to and from work, x5.

Subtract the amount of hours your DD reliably sleeps through the night, x7.

If she doesn't reliably sleep through, count her usual night time sleeping hours x7, and halve that. (Because someone has to be alert/on duty, but can mainly sleep/relax during this time).

Ignore things like lunch breaks, naps, leisure or social activities where one of you is out of the house.

The number you're left with is the amount of hours during which both parents are available for childcare. Round it to the nearest even number, it just needs to be a rough guide. Say you end up with a figure of 40 - that means there are in theory 20 hours each that could be allocated during the week if you were going to split things totally 50/50 - so as your experiment start to divide this up into bedtimes, dinnertimes, chunks of weekend, morning supervision, "night duty", etc.

Then - housework - work out how much you're each home, potentially making mess. Take your 168 hours per week again. Take off 8x7 sleeping hours, so 112 for you. Then for him subtract that work/commute time again.

Your figure is 112 and his will be lower. Say it's about 62 - roughly work that out as a ratio. So for 112:62, you're home close enough to twice as much as he is.

List the jobs which need doing in the house on a weekly basis to keep it running. This doesn't include childcare or meals for yourself/child only but does include family meals for everyone, grocery shopping, meal planning, laundry etc as well as more obvious things like filling the dishwasher, changing sheets, cleaning toilets. If something needs doing more than once a week just add a x7 or x3 or whatever. Just list/count the tasks up, no need to estimate time or effort, it's just a very rough reckoner here. Now your experiment is to split this list according to your ratio, so 2:1 by my earlier calculation which means you "take" 2 jobs off the list for every 1 he "takes".

Now you've done your experiment of what 50/50 childcare and housework looks like - compare it with what each of you actually tend to do.

EllaNB · 28/07/2018 20:33

Definitely not to much! My DP and I share everything 50:50 though