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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Husband angry about lack of sex

103 replies

CatzAndDogs · 05/10/2018 13:13

My DD is nearly a year old and we literally haven’t done it since I was pregnant. Also have 2 other older children. The problem is I don’t want to do it, at all. I have no desire whatsoever – not for DH or for anyone else for that matter! Just feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed most of the time. The last thing I want to think about is sex. Even before DD3 we didn’t do it much, although at the start of the relationship we had it all the time (sounds familiar I know!!)

Well, DH has been getting annoyed about it. Keeps saying stuff like - we’re obviously never going to have sex ever again.... I’m too young never to have sex.... He keeps saying how frustrated he is. I understand where he is coming from and I told him I wanted us to sit down and talk about it. I told him I wanted to explain what I’m feeling and maybe we can figure out how we can make things better. But he gets really annoyed about this and doesn’t want to talk – he says nothing is going to change and it’s pointless. He basically wants me to say OK let’s do it, or to say that I don’t want to do it. He basically says if we do not do it soon then we will have to make other arrangements – in the past he has said we will have to see other people (meaning, he will see other people).

I don’t know what to do next. I do understand that being frustrated from lack of sex is really difficult. But I can’t separate sex from the rest of our relationship and I feel like I am being bullied (with this topic and in other ways too). In the past I have given in to his needs but felt horrible about it. I want sex to be part of a respectful and mutual pleasure and I try to explain this to him but he says I am making excuses and if I really wanted it I would just do it. I don’t know how to explain to him that his demands and bad feeling are pushing me further away from wanting it. But then I start to feel guilty and like I am somehow abnormal.

OP posts:
YeTalkShiteHen · 05/10/2018 13:15

God OP he’s horrible, selfish, demanding, and horrible.

You are not abnormal, at all, I wouldn’t want to have sex with someone who behaved the way he does either!

Musti · 05/10/2018 13:24

Yeah, I wasn't keen on having sex with my ex because of the way he treated me.

MaverickSnoopy · 05/10/2018 13:25

I'm in two minds about it, because a year is a long time for two people in a relationship to go without that closeness. Do you have closeness in other ways?

In some respects I think he's not really making things emotionally easy for you. I mean with an additutue like that who would want to. On the other hand he probably misses the closeness but to suggest seeing other people is somewhat cruel in the context I have interpreted it. From what you've said he sounds stroppy and cross, rather than frustrated and upset. Is that a fair comment?

I have been where you are. Took me about 2 months to feel heeled after my second and then I was just too exhausted and frankly didn't want to. Sex was massively on the back burner for me for about 5 or 6 months. In the end I could see it was really bothering DH and I knew he felt unattractive and lonely from my withdrawal. We talked a lot but ultimately I needed to jump back on the saddle (not saying this is the same for you). I actually ended up getting a bit merry one night to relax and not notice my exhaustion - it worked wonders and from then onwards we built on it. I'm not suggesting alcohol is the answer - it's just what I tried on that occasion.

I think you need to talk to him again and really speak to each other.

zippey · 05/10/2018 13:30

Well you can’t have sex just to appease him. And he can’t go without sex forever. You’ll need to find a compromise.

I don’t think he is neccesarily being horrible. Sounds like he is frustrated and wants to work things out with you but wants practical solutions rather than talk about things and go round in circles.

Fatted · 05/10/2018 13:32

There was a post very similar to this yesterday.

snowone · 05/10/2018 13:40

If my husband gave me that ultimatum I would pack his bags for him and show him the door. After DD1 it took a couple of months to build up the courage to 'do it' and I am currently pg with DD2. We aren't having masses of sex and it is declining as I get bigger but I think that's because my DH is scared of hurting me or the baby.

I think if I were to put the shoe on the other foot and my DH didn't want to have sex with me for an extended period then I would be worried that something was wrong with our marriage - but you have had a discussion and explained your feelings and I would hope that if it were me I would at least try to understand.

His ultimatum is truly disgusting and selfish.

swingofthings · 05/10/2018 13:43

A year is a long time and he must be running out of patience and believing that it will never happen again. Worse he must be starting to wonder if you only agree to have sex with him to get pregnant.

Have you ever see. A gp or a counsellor about it? It sounds like you want him to understand you but what are you doing to understand him if it was a few months I could understand expecting him to be patient but over a year not doing anything about it is selfish.

Are you just wanting for the desire to come back by itself or are you hoping that like you, your OH stops to want to have sex so you can be compatible again?

adoggymama · 05/10/2018 13:44

I hate to be blunt as he sounds like he's being as ass with how he talks to you, but maybe if you can't see yourself interested in having sex with him again you should talk about splitting? Or put an arrangement in place if you're okay with that... (open relationship kind of thing).

I personally couldn't stay in a sexless relationship, then again I don't have children so I imagine it's harder with them around!

X

greendale17 · 05/10/2018 13:48

DD is nearly a year old and we literally haven’t done it since I was pregnant.

^So it way more than a year. You say you don’t want to have sex again with anyone.

Sorry but that would be a deal breaker for me.

CatzAndDogs · 05/10/2018 13:54

Thank you for all your replies. Some have really hit home. I think part of me does wish he would stop wanting sex so we could be compatible again which I know is really selfish. But also I wish I could want it again so we could be compatible. I guess I have been wishing something would resolve itself but that is clearly not going to happen and it’s a bit stupid to think that it will.

We don't really have a lot of closeness at all. Things are very stressful at home and we haven't been connecting. I want to talk to him but I am worried about it because talking always ends up with him telling me I am in the wrong/ need to change/ am being unreasonable. I don't feel able to express myself to him. I want to tell him I understand his frustration but I also want him to listen to me which on this topic he doesn't because he feels that it is my problem to fix and that talking won't do anything about it. I also feel like I just don't trust him - not like I think he is cheating or anything, more like I don't trust him to respect me and I suspect he uses this also as a way of controlling me. In the past when we have had the same discussion he ends up persuading me to accept his view about how often we do it - but then he turns around and says, when I initiate it, that he doesn't want to do it anymore because he is turned off by me not wanting it, and he doesn't believe me when I say I do want it. This has happened a few times. It gets really confusing. Or when we are discussing it he has said how he can’t stop looking at other women and that I should be doing something about that, as that is the way that affairs start. There are also other issues that are not resolved in the relationship surrounding his past controlling behaviour and his anger issues. I think that really what I want to say to him is, I only want to think about sex if I can be sure that he respects me, that he wants to work at making our whole relationship better and not just the sex, and that he wants the best for us both and not just for him. But that’ll make him annoyed.

OP posts:
desperatesux · 05/10/2018 13:55

Its a year and a half at least, I don't blame him to be honest. I get that it is a vicious circle, hes frustrated and stops being nice to be around and you don't want to have sex with him as he isn't nice to be around.

I don't think it is realistic not to have sex for that length of time and it not massively impact your relationship and how you are with each other.

Fightthebear · 05/10/2018 13:56

I think you need to separate out the relationship issues from the sex.

If you don’t want to have sex with him because you dislike him then that needs working through or maybe the relationship has run it’s course.

If it’s because you’re exhausted & drained then looking for practical solutions to help you feel less exhausted and more in the mood may help.

If he’s basically a decent partner I have sympathy with his position. Over a year without sex would be a deal breaker for lots of people.

hodgeheg92 · 05/10/2018 14:00

I think there's way more to this than sex. We didn't properly get back to things until DD was about 5 months old, this coincided with her sleeping better and us getting more time for ourselves. When someone puts thought and effort into you, you feel inclined to show them affection back. I'd start with date nights (at home, just a film and some popcorn or a bath together, nothing big) and get the sensual side of things and closeness back.

Deadringer · 05/10/2018 14:02

It's always difficult for outsiders to read these situations, he could be a lovely man who is understandably frustrated, or a total arse who is using sex as a way to get at you. After reading your update he sounds like the latter. Sorry I have no advice op but I don't think this is just about sex, or the lack of it.

mynamechangemyrules · 05/10/2018 14:11

It's so frustrating to read posts saying 'yeah I'd be fed up with no sex for a year', like OP is just withholding sex to be annoying. How idiotic. It's clearly deeper than that.
I got accused of withholding sex, I pointed out that, for me at least, a pre-requisite of sexual relations is that the other party is at least fucking NICE to me. Someone demanding sex of you whilst also being a total arsehole is not a recipe for jiggy in my books.
I rediscovered that I had a sex drive once the bullying shitbag was out of my life.
If you don't want to have sex, you probably don't like him.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 05/10/2018 14:18

He's threatening an affair, trying to bamboozle you into sex. This is called coercion and it's illegal.

Honestly? He sounds awful. I'm guessing you do all the housework too.

He is a bully. No wonder you don't want to sleep with him.

Are there any positives to this relationship at all? Maybe you'd be better off splitting up.

MaryandMichael · 05/10/2018 14:18

Time to split up, OP.
You don't want him. Having sex with him - you'd have to force yourself, you wouldn't feel good afterwards.
You don't have a right to condemn him to a sexless life, any more than he has the right to insist you have sex you don't want.
Let him go.

QueenOfMyWorld · 05/10/2018 14:19

Could you go to and see a sex counsellor together? I tried this and felt it helped

Bluntness100 · 05/10/2018 14:20

Yes there is two sides to this. I'm sure his view would be slightly different, about how he can't do right, how he tries etc, either way you're in a stale mate. And yes it's a long time without sex.

Either way you can't expect him to remain chaste in a sexless marriage, and he can't expect you to simply want to have sex again or to have sex to appease him. So yes you need to talk and find a solution.

He's clearly frustrated so he's behaving in that manner when it's discussed, and it's pushing uou further away, it's a vicious circle.

If you can't sit down and discuss it reasonably, for whatever reason, and find a way forward then I think you probably have to accept your marriage is in its death throes.

Grandmasterflush · 05/10/2018 14:20

Is this not quite common?
We went 18 months after my daughter was born and nothing from the moment she was conceived so well over 2 years in total.

I think this is more the norm than you might think.

Backstabbath · 05/10/2018 14:22

You haven't had sex for at least 18 months and your your DH is getting called horrible, selfish and demanding....

You're the one with the issue, either leave him or see someone about it.

I would leave if I was him

ItWentDownMyHeartHole · 05/10/2018 14:23

myname has got it. OP he’s behaving horribly. I think the worst bit is you initiating and him then saying no because it’s a turn off when you don’t really want it - you can’t win. It’s not about sex. It’s control and I couldn’t live with that. Do you want your marriage to continue?

SpeckledDot · 05/10/2018 14:27

God he sounds like a prick.

Chocolala · 05/10/2018 14:35

he turns around and says, when I initiate it, that he doesn't want to do it anymore because he is turned off by me not wanting it, and he doesn't believe me when I say I do want it

He a prick. He can’t have it both ways and given how he treats you it’s no surprise you don’t want to have sex! I wouldn’t want to either in your shoes.

fantasmasgoria1 · 05/10/2018 14:41

I agree you should not just give in to his demands but I’m also in two minds about this. My ex didn’t want sex and we went 4 years without and amongst other things we split up. He needs to be patient and talk about this and his behaviour doesn’t help matter. Perhaps a visit to the gp would be a starting point.

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