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Relationships

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Constant arguments

6 replies

Mamaspegg · 26/03/2024 02:00

I have been with my partner 8 years and we have a 7 month old son (first child). We used to communicate well and didn't really argue much as it just didn't get to that point often. Since DS was about 8 weeks old, we have argued so so much. I know that can be normal in the beginning with lack of sleep etc but things have just progressively got worse.

DS had colic for weeks in the beginning, it was the middle of a massive heat wave, I had preeclampsia and was on meds for that, I was just a bit of a hot mess. I was very snappy with my partner and he just annoyed me in general. I apologised for my snappiness within a few weeks as I realised I wasn't always being reasonable but I was overwhelmed as a FTM navigating the first few weeks of postpartum life. We were good for a bit, but then we started to disagree on absolutely everything.

We agreed when I was pregnant that DS would have 2 days in nursery and one with my mother (the Mondays with me and Fridays with him while the other works). Then he changed this and said 'oh I'll work from home the one day and can look after him while I work'. This wouldn't work as he's in meetings often and wouldn't be able to give DS the attention he needs, so that was an argument. He also said when was pregnant that he wouldn't take the baby to his dads house (his own decision) as his dad has 4 dogs, smokes indoors and it can be a bit of a mad house there. Then baby comes along and he's wanting to take him there often and also said he doesn't see a problem when the baby is crawling even though the house is not the cleanest and the dogs literally jump all over you when you walk through the door and hurt us let alone a baby. Then it was me 'being out of the house too much' with DS even though he was working anyway? He's way too relaxed around our 2 dogs to the point I get nervous leaving DS with him. I know he would not intentionally let him come to harm, but he's just so lax with everything (he fell asleep while holding the baby just yesterday). He's blaming the tiredness on the fact he's sleeping on the sofa but that's his choice 😂 got to laugh. These may seem like small things but he said one thing when I was pregnant, then did another when baby was born and it just took me by suprise. He's constantly napping after work (he works from home all week and has the occasional office day) and he's not helping me with the baby unless I ask him to do something, then I'm usually met with a sigh. When I tell him how I feel he tells me 'most of what comes out of your mouth is nonsense' and I was told to f off tonight when I told him I'm exhausted and would appreciate him not napping straight away after work when I need to shower and have five. I just don't feel respected at all anymore and I can be mid sentence and he cuts me off or speaks to someone else. I feel invisible to him. He then walks in the kitchen as I'm feeding the baby this evening and says 'When you're back in work we're going our seperate ways so you need to figure out what you wanna do house wise',then walks back out 🤯 I have tried with him these last few months and get nothing back, he just doesn't respect my feelings and it's exhausting. Would you say based on his behaviour that he just didn't want to try in the first place? He really wanted a baby so the way he has changed in a short space of time has suprised me.

Sorry for the long post, not entirely sure on the point of it. I am back in work in 5 weeks and as we own a house together, if this is officially the end of the relationship, he will buy me out of the house and me and DS will move out (he's mentioned in past argument he wants to stay here). He won't leave in the meantime and stay at his dads he's refusing, and I don't have any where to go myself as my mother has no room for me there. Did not expect to find myself in this situation! Just want to do what's best for me and my beautiful boy.

OP posts:
Manyandyoucanwalkover · 26/03/2024 02:03

No advice really but just to say how sorry I am, that you find yourself in this difficult situation. I hope things sort themselves out for you. 💐

Lifeofasd1 · 26/03/2024 02:18

Believe me, ive been there..with my husband 20 years, married for 14. We have 4 kids. Do not make any decisions right now on the status of your relationship while you have a baby under age of 2.
Exhaustion kills relationships. It changes people temporarily. Its not the real person who you fell in love with.
The only way to survive this is having a break away overnight, just the two of you and sometimes with friends.
I can't emphasise how important this is.
Cut back on costs elsewhere, make it happen, make sure you make it happen.
Yes i know it's difficult with babysitting, cost and time but i can promise you its worth it. It can save families and relationships and people don't realise this.
We learned the hard way, our marriage broke up once but we are back together and stronger than ever. At least once every few months get away, put in the effort of planning it. Too many couples break up these days and if you look at people in your life that have broken up, its the ones that neglected that time away.

Opentooffers · 26/03/2024 02:46

From what OP says, there's little choice anyway. He says he wants to split once she goes back to work. I bet he does because he's not interested in looking after his own child like he said he would.
Expect to go it alone, tell him you want to be bought out ASAP. Get a few evaluations and only accept half of equity minimum.
The clue is him sleeping on the sofa, he's already checked out, doubtful it's salvageable.
If you could move near your DM, perhaps she'd be willing to help more, or increase your nursery days.

RogueFemale · 26/03/2024 03:01

He sounds like a horrible man. Not that unusual. Get rid and move on. Pray that he finds a new girlfriend.

FictionalCharacter · 26/03/2024 03:41

I'm afraid that doesn't sound like a new father suffering from exhaustion, it sounds like a man who doesn't want fatherhood now he knows what hard work it is. He's said some really nasty things and isn't being a partner. He's basically walking away from his marriage and child.
Can you definitely not go to your mum's, even temporarily?

Janpoppy · 26/03/2024 04:03

The way he is treating you sounds emotionally abusive. Repeatedly cutting you off is so insidious, and the cumulative effect of making you feel invisible will erode your confidence and mental health.

It is actually very common for this behaviour to start when a baby arrives, in pregnancy, straight after the wedding or after moving in together. When it starts there is not much you can do, as you can't force him to treat you with respect, and it usually gets worse over time. Also, it is easy to think you can survive this kind of treatment but you are likely to get worn down over time and many women end up with irreversible health issues, so it is quite helpful for you that you can see his change clearly.

For your well-being, and your child's, you both need to leave him and live free of his abusive patterns. If after you are living separately he decides to change his behaviour and is completely remorseful you can always start the relationship again. But how he is treating you now is absolutely not okay and getting some physical space from him or leaving him would be a good priority for to to maintain your well-being as much ss you can.

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