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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Have i overreacted?

171 replies

Quiinkong · 07/01/2025 22:18

I have a 5 month old DS. At 3.5mths old, i had to tell DP that he needs to start helping with night feeds because the exhaustion was unreal. So, he does night shift 2 days a week depending on work schedule, so days aren't fixed. Last week saturday night rolls around and he goes to go to sleep as normal until i tell him he's on night shift (he already knew this because he does night shifts when he doesn't have to get up for work the next day). He tried it with "i thought you were doing it" but i knew he was partly joking and we just laughed. I fed DS around 11.

Now, this boy's feeding habit is erratic. Sometimes he wants to feed again 2hrs later, 1.5hrs later, 3hrs later etc and DP knows this too. In fact, just last week Wednesday, he ate 3x within 3hrs (90ml each time, max he will feed is 120ml at a time). Around 12:20am, he started fussing in bed which is his feeding cue when he's sleeping, so i nudged DP to feed him (we were still awake in bed). DS only eats 60ml and DP is like "he wasn't really hungry" but 5mins later DS starts fussing again. DS has moments where he will eat a little bit and 5-10mins later, wants the rest. So, i said to DP "i think he wants the rest now" and DP said "no, he's not hungry", i left it and said nothing. About 20mins later, i got up myself because DS was still fussing in bed (fussing just means he's restless while his eyes are still closed), i take him and fed him the rest of the 60ml and he ate it. I say nothing to DP because he already started sleeping.

Just before 2am, DS is fussing again and i once again nudge DP because he's a deeper sleeper than i am, so, i usually have to wake DP to feed our son. I nudge him and he's like "omg he's not hungry, what time is it? What time did he last eat" and I'm like "that's what you said earlier but i got up and he ate" and DP said "yeah, so how long ago was that" and I'm like "that doesn't matter, he's hungry" and DP begrudgingly gets up and starts feeding our son (our convo was in whisper mode as we didn't want to wake DS). Once again, DS eats 60ml and DP comes out of whisper mode and starts going "see, he only ate 60ml, he wasn't really hungry, let him get proper hungry" and our son pops his eyes open from obviously the not so quiet voice and i was like "really? Did you have to bring this up right now?" and DP reiterates himself again and i was just like "ok, you know what, I'll do the night shift" and i scoot near the crib , essentially taking over where DP was sleeping which is usually my place to sleep.

DP starts going off "move back to your place, I'll do the shift" and I'm obviously over his complaining at 2am over having to wake up to feed our son and i tell him no, I'll do the shift and stay on that side of the bed. DP angrily (i could see his expression) puts DS in his crib and starts to power shove me to the other side of the bed, no bra on and he's just angrily trying to roll me like tissue paper to the other side. After he was done, i was so pissed off that i took my foot to his body and started pushing him back as well and he starts telling me again to move back to the other side "i know what you're trying to get me to do" he says. I'm there like wtf does that mean? I've never been violent in my relationships, never a shove or a slap or even cussing, me shovinv him was the first time ever for me in a relationship. So, i was there like is he implying I'm trying to make him be violent? What an effin laugh! Told him if he can't control himself, he shouldn't try to put that on me by gaslighting me. Mind you, our DS is fully awake in his crib. DP yanks my pillows and throws them on the floor, so i laughed, got up with the duvet, grabbed my pillows and went to sleep in the living room.

He goes to the kitchen while mumbling "i know what you're trying to get me to do and it won't work", i didn't say anything in response. Let's just say i had a difficult time sleeping. Sunday night, he goes to work. Monday morning, DS wakes up early and I'm obviously exhausted from night shift (waking up every 1.5-2hrs to feed him and then change him once) and sometimes when i wake up around 4/5am to feed him, i find it difficult to go back to sleep right away and by the time i want to go back to sleep, DS wakes up right then. So, i grabbed DS from his crib and put him beside me in bed and i start to doze off but fear of him falling out of bed (he's now crawling) if i actually sleep off made me get up and move to the sofa bed in the living room. This way, i can secure him against the back of the chair while i doze in and out of sleep. I finally get DS to go back to sleep an hour later and start to sleep too only to be woken up less than an hour later by DP semi shouting why i have our son sleeping in the living room. Honestly, i could have thrown him out the window. Our son was sleeping, i was effin finally able to get some sleep and he wakes us up. I told him to stop shouting and that we only moved to the living room in the morning, so not like i had our son sleep there all night.

DP goes off like "go to the bedroom and put him in his crib" and i told him to take DS there himself then, he doesn't but keeps repeating himself and i just ignored him and he just kept going on and on saying how petty i get over a small disagreement, as a mother I'm not acting mature and i just continued to ignore him. On his way to sleep, he says "don't bring that boy in to disturb my sleep or else we'll have an issue". Oh, so his sleep is precious and mine wasn't? When DS took a nap, i just left him on the sofa bed because i didn't want to have any sort of conversation with DP. In the evening, he had the audacity to ask if i was going to be cooking dinner and i just continued to ignore him. As I'm typing this, i still haven't spoken to him.

AIBU? Was it really not as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be because tbh I'm questioning my relationship with this man.

OP posts:
jolies1 · 08/01/2025 14:26

I moved to bottle feeding when LO was 6 months old so I wasn’t super up to speed with things like teat sizes etc. I tried lots of different types of bottle and actually DS’s favourites are still the super cheap ones from boots! Arguments when you’re sleep deprived are really common, I just lost my rag with my husband this morning after being up all night with a poorly baby and he was pestering me about booking our holiday 🤦‍♀️ it sounds like he could be a bit more supportive but he has some valid points that would be good for you to listen to also, he is right about baby snacking rather than actually being hungry, and sleeping on the sofa bed was not safe.

Tia86 · 08/01/2025 14:37

A lot of people have given advice but seems like you do want to try it your way. This could be where your partner is struggling too as any suggestion he makes you think you know better.

Do you go to any parent and baby groups? There will be lots of other new parents to share advice with and some groups are run by trained staff or volunteers. There is also no shame in asking your GP surgery for any contact details of extra support groups where they are invitation only and often run by the HV.

The other suggestion is you mention doing all the jobs during the day. Stop doing that. If your baby is asleep then take a nap too! I recall some lovely naps with my first child. Second child was not so great at day time naps though plus second was dropping them, I look back fondly and wish I had made more effort to sleep when the first child did!

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:41

I am definitely reading through all the replies and i have heard what everyone is saying, which is why i went on to buy the new teat to be delivered today by amazon so that the changes can start sooner rather than later. I also fed him some cerelac this morning making sure he ate everything i made, though not much but i made sure to not stop at the first sign of resistance and persisted on, which helped because he ate it all. It's been almost 3hrs since then and hopefully, we will start to see some changes soon. I really do appreciate the advice because i had no idea about a lot of things that people mentioned. We're also seeing the GP on friday.

OP posts:
Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:44

Tia86 · 08/01/2025 14:37

A lot of people have given advice but seems like you do want to try it your way. This could be where your partner is struggling too as any suggestion he makes you think you know better.

Do you go to any parent and baby groups? There will be lots of other new parents to share advice with and some groups are run by trained staff or volunteers. There is also no shame in asking your GP surgery for any contact details of extra support groups where they are invitation only and often run by the HV.

The other suggestion is you mention doing all the jobs during the day. Stop doing that. If your baby is asleep then take a nap too! I recall some lovely naps with my first child. Second child was not so great at day time naps though plus second was dropping them, I look back fondly and wish I had made more effort to sleep when the first child did!

No, too tired in the morning to even think about leaving the house before 12pm. And no, suggestions from DP aren't shut down, let's not fly off with assumptions and stick only to this incident i have mentioned. A lot of people have done that actually, flown off with assumptions but that's ok, i realise that people are sometimes quick to assume more based on little information given.

OP posts:
MissDoubleU · 08/01/2025 14:47

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:41

I am definitely reading through all the replies and i have heard what everyone is saying, which is why i went on to buy the new teat to be delivered today by amazon so that the changes can start sooner rather than later. I also fed him some cerelac this morning making sure he ate everything i made, though not much but i made sure to not stop at the first sign of resistance and persisted on, which helped because he ate it all. It's been almost 3hrs since then and hopefully, we will start to see some changes soon. I really do appreciate the advice because i had no idea about a lot of things that people mentioned. We're also seeing the GP on friday.

This all sounds incredibly positive and I hope by Friday you start to see longer sleeping times with a fuller tummy, meaning you get some longer sleeps too! It may start gradual though because baby has been used to waking up so frequently. Just stay with it, you’re doing amazing.

I also second what PP have said about when it’s DP’s shift, let him figure it out his way. Sleep elsewhere. If he deep sleeps through it, that’s his problem. Men often act a lot more useless than they are. It boils down to he shouldn’t have to do night feeds, because you end up waking/doing them anyway. Poor baby sleeps through the crying. Believe me, he won’t. Let him parent and let yourself get some uninterrupted Z’s on the sofa! You deserve this and he certainly won’t be waking to assist you when you’re on night shift.

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:48

MartinCrieffsLemon · 08/01/2025 11:21

Well OP is stropping off because people are trying to help

So I don't think that this incident with her DP is isolated

You are very much entitled to that opinion of yours. You're very much vocal with it and when I'm vocal with mine, it's stropping? Assumptions aren't always a good sign.

OP posts:
ditzzy · 08/01/2025 14:49

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:41

I am definitely reading through all the replies and i have heard what everyone is saying, which is why i went on to buy the new teat to be delivered today by amazon so that the changes can start sooner rather than later. I also fed him some cerelac this morning making sure he ate everything i made, though not much but i made sure to not stop at the first sign of resistance and persisted on, which helped because he ate it all. It's been almost 3hrs since then and hopefully, we will start to see some changes soon. I really do appreciate the advice because i had no idea about a lot of things that people mentioned. We're also seeing the GP on friday.

You sound more in control already!

Good luck with everything

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:51

MissDoubleU · 08/01/2025 14:47

This all sounds incredibly positive and I hope by Friday you start to see longer sleeping times with a fuller tummy, meaning you get some longer sleeps too! It may start gradual though because baby has been used to waking up so frequently. Just stay with it, you’re doing amazing.

I also second what PP have said about when it’s DP’s shift, let him figure it out his way. Sleep elsewhere. If he deep sleeps through it, that’s his problem. Men often act a lot more useless than they are. It boils down to he shouldn’t have to do night feeds, because you end up waking/doing them anyway. Poor baby sleeps through the crying. Believe me, he won’t. Let him parent and let yourself get some uninterrupted Z’s on the sofa! You deserve this and he certainly won’t be waking to assist you when you’re on night shift.

I've had past incidents when DS was younger and cried at night and this man DID NOT flinch for a second, he sleeps that deeply. So, I'm always worried he won't wake up plus I'm a semi light sleeper.

OP posts:
Tia86 · 08/01/2025 15:03

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:44

No, too tired in the morning to even think about leaving the house before 12pm. And no, suggestions from DP aren't shut down, let's not fly off with assumptions and stick only to this incident i have mentioned. A lot of people have done that actually, flown off with assumptions but that's ok, i realise that people are sometimes quick to assume more based on little information given.

You might feel tired but it might be good for you and your child to socially see someone else?
Do you meet up with others? Else if my husband was the only person I saw all day I would be pretty grumpy too! If you socialise with other mums you can sometimes offload a bit and moan in real life.

My other suggestion was stop your husband doing night duty. You sound like your waking up too and worry he won't wake, so rather than this getting you annoyed just don't do it. I know others might be outraged than a man might not be pulling his weight, but maybe choose your battles and if you know he won't wake/settle the baby how you want and you will wake anyway, just do the job yourself.

rainbowstardrops · 08/01/2025 15:12

I've had past incidents when DS was younger and cried at night and this man DID NOT flinch for a second, he sleeps that deeply. So, I'm always worried he won't wake up plus I'm a semi light sleeper.

So maybe consider my suggestion that I also repeated, that your partner does the 10pm feed (you get some sleep in) you do the night shift and then partner wakes up and does the 6am feed.

rainbowstardrops · 08/01/2025 15:14

And hopefully, with the faster flow teat etc, your baby will be settled for longer after the 10pm feed. Just don't jump to feeding as soon as your baby snuffles and frets a little bit!

MartinCrieffsLemon · 08/01/2025 15:40

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 14:48

You are very much entitled to that opinion of yours. You're very much vocal with it and when I'm vocal with mine, it's stropping? Assumptions aren't always a good sign.

You literally said you weren't taking any more advice...

Khanga27 · 09/01/2025 16:47

Probably early days @Quiinkong but I hope the bigger teats have helped a little

Quiinkong · 09/01/2025 17:54

Khanga27 · 09/01/2025 16:47

Probably early days @Quiinkong but I hope the bigger teats have helped a little

He is finding it weird but I'm hanging in there

OP posts:
Quiinkong · 09/01/2025 17:55

rainbowstardrops · 08/01/2025 15:12

I've had past incidents when DS was younger and cried at night and this man DID NOT flinch for a second, he sleeps that deeply. So, I'm always worried he won't wake up plus I'm a semi light sleeper.

So maybe consider my suggestion that I also repeated, that your partner does the 10pm feed (you get some sleep in) you do the night shift and then partner wakes up and does the 6am feed.

Thank you for the suggestion. Problem is, i find it difficult to sleep early

OP posts:
Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

OP posts:
BooAvenues · 11/01/2025 07:40

Why haven’t you addressed the unsafe sleep? You are aware that isn’t okay, right?

Ladyj84 · 11/01/2025 07:49

I find it a bit odd that your little one is not having much at feeding time and would absolutely agree baby isn't that hungry. It sounds like rather than having a good feed every few hours baby wants a top up almost non stop because that's what you've taught it to do. As for sleeping we have 3 under 3 and when they were tiny I was more than happy doing nights because on his days off and weekends hubby would do the days and off I would go upstairs to bed. I think the best thing is probably sleep somewhere else and just let hubby figure it out but a fussy baby doesn't always want fed. I learnt from our oldest if hubby took over let him do his thing and don't interfere and he did same when I did a shift as we called it lol. Now that the younger are all 3 and in there own rooms it's hard to remember how hard it was with zombie eyes for over a year haha. Anyway get on the same page, don't argue,don't interfere if you want help and try to feed your little one less with more

BrendaSmall · 11/01/2025 07:50

Quiinkong · 07/01/2025 23:03

He doesn't eat enough during the day for me to be like "oh, he just needs his hands to be held". At his age, he should be having 180ml 6x a day but he eats 90ml 4-6x during the day. We obviously cannot force him to eat more than he wants, which is why the night feeds are important because that's where he gets the rest of his necessary daily intake

Absolutely ridiculous!
every baby is different, they’re all not going to be drinking the same amount, just like anyone else, we’re all eating and drinking different quantities every mealtimes

DontCallMeKidDontCallMeBaby · 11/01/2025 07:54

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

Such a happy update op, I’m so pleased for you all!

edited to add, I had no idea about teat sizes until a friend was talking about changing the ones her little one uses.

Destiny123 · 11/01/2025 07:56

Echo all of the above. As a Dr do not ever wedge your child on a sofa to sleep, they can easily suffocate and doing unsuccessful cpr on tiny kids will forever haunt me

myplace · 11/01/2025 07:58

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

Brilliant! These stages really are gruelling. You get stuck down in the thick of it, exhausted and can’t see how to get out.
I’m so pleased you stuck with the thread, and found something that worked, despite the sometimes robust responses you got.

And this is why new mums should still be seeing the HV. Can you check if the HV is available when asked for? Mine said ‘see you at the 3yr check’, but was still available if needed. There were drop in weighing sessions, among other things.

Sjh15 · 11/01/2025 08:09

This is all because you’re both shattered.
me and DP have a 2 bed flat, 2 double beds, a 2 month old and a 3 yo. we currently have one adult and one child per room. I go to bed first and we swap on ‘baby duty’ at about 3am. This does mean we swap bedrooms but it works for us. We both get some sleep. When I’m asleep, him and baby are in a separate room to me. Of course I miss being in the bed with DP but it’s temporary for our sanity now.

it does sound like baby should be taking longer between feeds. If he’s gaining weight well I really wouldn’t stress about what you read on the Internet about what he should be having. My baby went to 5oz at like one month, he’s a smaller baby as well!

do you use tommee tippee? Get a Variflow teat. If he’s on a particular size it can mean he’s getting tired trying to get it out. Be careful upping sizes and pace feed because he will need to get used to it being faster

babies when they stir don’t always need feeding. Try a dummy, cuddle, I don’t feed unless it’s been 3-4 hours or baby is fully awake and asking for it. Last night my baby stirred (loudly, annoyingly) all he wanted was a dummy and a cuddle

Mumwho · 11/01/2025 08:17

Quiinkong · 08/01/2025 03:54

There are teat sizes? Thank you for the information!

I was here to say the same thing. This was my 3rd child, try going up a teat size and baby should take more milk.

Onlycoffee · 11/01/2025 08:23

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

I'm so glad you've found something that works.love how in this thread you stood your ground regarding knowing what your baby wants and recognising his signals to you. I had a baby similar that fussed, and if I didn't respond to the gentle fussing he would be inconsolable, even with feeding. Keep trusting your intuition!

If you haven't already, find a relaxed time to talk to your dp about his comments "I know what you're trying to do" amd get clarity on what he meant, and why he thinks it.
If he genuinely thinks you were inciting him to violence/abuse then that needs discussing and reassurance given from you.

But equally if he was saying it in a threatening gaslighting way, that also needs addressing.

You both deserve to feel safe and validated.