Anyone splitting maternity leave with their partner?

[Tintini]

Just wondered how many of you are planning to split maternity leave with your partner. I'm aiming to take 9 months then DP to take the remaining 3. Everyone I talk to about this makes lots of 'oh yes that sounds very good' noises (especially my employer!), but despite the huge number of pregnant ladies I seem to know, none of them are planning to split the leave at all (usually mum is taking the full year). Do you think it's financial pressures, the mother wanting the full year, or the father not wanting to take the time (or I guess could be a combination of course...)? The couple of men I know with pregnant partners have said they haven't even considered/discussed it. Are we that unusual?

That's a good point from whiteroses that I'm grateful for, around the parental leave, as it means that the few weeks that kind of fell in the middle re swapping over from me to DP are 'officially' covered.

I'm not surprised that there's a few early enthusiasts (early adopters I believe the term is, re. technological advances) and it's great to see people being positive about it. It's so much a win for both parents, getting to spend time with baby, and for the baby him/herself.

It'll be fascinating to see in a few years' time, if any of us have any more and this question gets asked, to see what the response is!

We're considering it as I earn more than my DH and he works part time. It would be me taking 9 months and him taking 3. It makes financial sense but I don't know if I will be ready for work again after 9 months. I took a year off for DS1.

I was hoping to go back after about 3-4 months (am a teacher so would depend on when exactly baby arrived and when the next school holiday ended as I'd go back after a holiday). Looking at the rules on direct.gov.uk that means DH would have to take some of the time off unpaid since I am taking less than six months which is annoying. Maybe I will take the full 6 months now! Very helpful thread, thanks everyone for your ideas.