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What's with all the dad's that don't care for the baby??

61 replies

Razpoot · 31/01/2021 06:43

I'm not with my own partner anymore, multiple reasons, domestic assault being the main one. But he also wasn't taking part in looking after our daughter.

He would rather play video games or chill out 90% of the time. And it's really sad to see, because 4 of my friends with babies at the moment are having this same problem. The dad gaming in all cases strangely, all day, leaves all the work and responsibility to the mums. I used to be a heavy gamer too actually before my daughter arrived, but I dropped these leisures I used to enjoy so much to spend time with her, I only do it now when she's away with family. Why is this so common, at least from what I'm seeing? It upsetting to see my friends get frustrated over the dad refusing to drop some hobbies a bit to spend time with their children. If you have a baby, shouldn't you expect that you're going to lose time for what you enjoyed? It's a sacrifice that it seems some arent willing to make

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PlinkPlink · 31/01/2021 11:48

I dont know many men who are like that. Gaming can be a form of escapism (I've used it for escapism purposes myself when I was younger).

I think it comes from their own personal attitude and unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations aren't uncommon. Hell, I had my own. I thought we were going to be able to manage a date night every 2 weeks 🤣 but the attitude is main problem.

If you can't adapt to parenthood, then people tend to fight it... and that's where the issue comes. Fighting those changes results in abandoning responsibilities and allowing your partner to struggle with it all.

Lack of maturity
Piss poor attitude
Lack of adaptability
Unrealistic expectations

UseOfWeapons · 31/01/2021 11:49

[quote Razpoot]@UseOfWeapons as I said in my first post I'm not with him anymore, he was very abusive[/quote]
Apologies, I read it as current OH, but DD from previous partner.💐

NeurologicallySpeaking · 31/01/2021 12:03

I feel like the gaming is a red herring tbh. I mean I do get the addictiveness but my DH and most of his friends play on the PlayStation but they do it after putting the children to bed instead of watching TV. Or DH was a pro at putting the baby for a nap in his arms when she was a newborn and then playing on the PS4 while she snoozed contentedly for an hour!

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nokia3210567 · 31/01/2021 12:13

All the men I know share baby/toddler/child duties willingly and happily. They want to be as involved in the childs life as the mother. I'm 30 x

BertieBotts · 31/01/2021 19:36

It's because before you have kids, things are often quite separate anyway in a relationship. You can rub along quite happily doing your own thing. The problem is that women often have this expectation that when children arrive, both parents will pull together and approach the situation as a team. Whereas men often have the expectation that life will continue just as before, but there'll be a baby around, a bit like they've got a pet hamster or something. These expectations aren't compatible and so you end up with friction. But each person thinks it's so obvious that it doesn't have to be discussed, and therefore it comes as a big surprise. The woman feels hard done by because she's doing everything with no support. The man feels hard done by because he's being asked to do more than he thinks is reasonable, especially if he has already offered some help with what he doesn't really consider to be "his job". I don't know where this male expectation comes from, BTW - bringing a child into the world is a serious responsibility/decision, so nobody should ever just be thinking oh I'll carry on like I always have. But probably patriarchy (hence my single word response earlier!) or a sexist belief that women look after children, possibly total naivety (although let's be honest, it's monumentally stupid to assume a completely dependent, immobile, infant child that needs to progress through at least 18 years of development before being considered independent, is not going to be any work to look after).

What can help is well before you get pregnant, have the discussion about expectations, and really get into nitty gritty details. Undertake some kind of project together, just to see what it's like - planning a wedding is a conveniently traditional one - and observe whether he's participating and approaching everything as a team, or just letting it passively happen around him or having to be cajoled into everything or nagged to make a decision ("I'll just turn up on the day" - not really a joke, is it?) - unfortunately, since the wedding industry is just as sexist and there are cultural tropes galore, it can be common for the bride to be organising and deciding everything, and nobody questions this because women supposedly care more about weddings. So unless you already have this idea to see the wedding planning as a kind of trial run for any joint project including parenthood, you might miss this red flag. (Planning a holiday, decorating a house, or some other DIY project are some less-expensive and less-drastic ones than a wedding, BTW.)

It's not always obvious, not until you're in the middle of the situation and then it's too late. You can't un-have the baby, and you probably don't want to anyway! But it's very very hard to change someone's mindset and expectations from where they were originally. He's always going to feel hard done by, he's always going to feel it wasn't what he signed up for.

blackcat86 · 31/01/2021 19:37

I just want to jump back on this thread and echo those who say don't be smug about conversation because I had so many of those. We did all the nct stuff, we talked before TTC and had all planned out. We even talked to both set of parents about support and childcare. The stage was set! Then of course I had a difficult pregnancy and a poorly special care baby after a traumatic birth. Everyone found that hard (of course no one gave a shiny shit how hard i found it as I slowly fell apart whilst they clucked about their pain). I had to hold it together. I moved into the special care baby unit, in a tiny room with no windows for weeks. That was my life. Me and my baby. It wasn't what DH imagined and he bitched and moaned about how tired he was (going home to a full night's sleep whilst I cared for baby alone). Even my mum who had retired because she was so excited about her first DGC went back to work because it wasn't what she had imagined and my traumatised baby clung to me and screamed when she held her. Dh was pants and I did every night feed for months. He was egged on by virtually everyone telling him how hard the experienced had been on him. Unfortunately no one cares about mothers who are just expected to deal with it. Around the 6 month park I had a breakdown and threatened to kick him out because I told him I literally didn't need him and nor did his baby. We had couples counselling and has slowly realised that he needs to step up (and without expecting a reward or praise). Yet we had all the conversations and had been together 7 years.

BertieBotts · 31/01/2021 19:38

Hopefully/aka the best case scenario, is that you both have the expectation of pulling together as a team. Therefore you both do so, and it tends to work out. There will still be rocky patches because newborn hormones, intensity and lack of sleep is really hard. Actually all of parenting is hard. But in general if you're both of the belief that you're on the same team you'll want to support each other and it will give you that motivation to discuss or forgive or whatever you need to do.

johnd2 · 01/02/2021 13:15

To be honest it's a problem with attitudes in general, and it means everyone misses out.
"If you have a baby, shouldn't you expect that you're going to lose time for what you enjoyed? It's a sacrifice that it seems some arent willing to make"
Even that sentence suggests having a baby is a chore not a great thing for everyone to involve in.
Lack of role models and clear routes to becoming a model father. Microaggressions and feeling like you don't belong. Feeling ignored, every appointment or checkup. Eg even i went with my wife to get our baby weighed, we were delayed so she rushed in with him while i finished parking, then when i got in 2 mins after the person running the clinic said "oh that's ok, i thought it was a mum" meaning the implication they only expected mums to be bringing babies in for weighing.

fonxey · 02/02/2021 10:33

I think it's expectation.

Men do not expect to be equal in childcare.

And some women perpetuate this belief sadly. They probably complain about glass ceilings at the same time.

Men are brought up to be MEN that aren't encouraged to be caring, to look after dolls. So it is upbringing.

And then I've seen women, be so many women, making excuses. Oh they are just been. You can't expect them to know that the baby needs to be given breakfast in the morning. Don't blame him. And i can't believe it. I see posts on fb groups I'm on, some poor mum exasperated at their husband, and other women's response is... He's a man.

What? I expect better off my other half. It isn't any doing truly 50/50 as it may not be as easy as that. But they should be just as capable as the mum.

I was told after one such idiotic argument that it's down to genetics. That it's impossible for a man to be as good as a woman.

Now, the only headstart i had over my partner... Is expectation. In People expect me to be a good mother. That expect some magical instinct to suddenly work better for me.

Which is another bugbear for me. That's no such thing as natural instinct and i reckon that many women just feel insecure because they feel lost and unhappy when they thought instinct would just tell them exactly what to do.

Women need to expect better. And we need to bring our boys up to be better. Hopefully men will realise then... Oh i have to do better.

Mamasaurus123 · 02/02/2021 13:55

I don't know any dads like this 🤷‍♀️all the dads I know love spending time with their kids and definitely do their fair share with them

Justriseaboveitkiddo · 03/02/2021 01:01

I also think there has been a change in attitudes over the past few years with men and babies. Our baby is 8 months old and my dp has a 12 yo from previous marriage. He watches our baby like he's the first baby ever to be born. He dotes on him, can't do enough for him and you can see how much he enjoys being with him.
I was making some baby food a few weeks back and my dp was asking what I was doing and why and said he'd never seen all this before. Apparently he was never really allowed to do much with first born as his one and olny job was to go earn money.
He said he felt pushed out a little bit but that he could never question it because he was just the dad.
I'm so glad we live in a world where dad's are finally seen as being important too. My baby adores his papa and doesn't favour one of us over the other for naps or settling down or whatever. I think this had a lot to do with lock down, it was such a special gift of time for us both.
I did see someone mention that sometimes guys feel like they are being belittled and getting it wrong... I can totally believe this!!!
It was incredibly hard in the beginning to let baby go, I loved having him on me and I had to really really make a huge effort to give him to his dad and not say anything about how he was holding him. This really did pay off for all of us. But boy was it hard!!!

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