Anyone else's DH have to book their paternity leave?

[cakesonatrain]

DH has just forwarded me an email confirming the annual leave and paternity leave he has booked for next year.
My due date for dc2 is 5th March. His paternity leave will start on 18th April :(

He has a week's annual leave booked in mid-March, and a few days late Feb/1st March.

He assures me he'll be able to come to the hospital with me when the baby is born, but that's about it. So I'm highly likely to be on my own with a newborn and a toddler. And DH won't be any fecking use in the evenings/nights as he is out of the house for at least 12 hours when he's at work and is permenantly exhausted at the best of times.

I am really not looking forward to this baby arriving any more.

No, there is a box on the paternity leave form that says you will take paternity leave for two weeks from the day the baby is born so hubby has done that.

Seems a bit odd - he does need to inform his employers via the SC3 form of his intention to take leave but as sundae says he can indicate either from the date baby arrives or from a specific date afterwards.

Has he perhaps misunderstood and thought he had to give a specific date? Alternatively, he may have been told by other parents that babies never arrive on time and therefore thought to book later?

There is an overview on the Gov site (along with a link to the SC3 form) at: www.gov.uk/paternityleave/overview but you probably need to discuss it with him.

Last time he took his leave from the day DS turned up, but he has a more senior role now (nhs).
He's running a course the week dc2 is due (I didn't know the dates of the course til tonight), and the week after, so don't think he'd be able to be off those weeks unless something quite serious happened :(