Pregnancy Support Group
Welcome to the waiting room for anticipating moms and dads. Whether you're expecting your first or a new little brother or sister, meet other parents in this community who are also looking forward to a new addition to the family.
I gave birth to my boy on August. He is now 6 months. I’m having a hard time trying to get my bf to help out just alittle. He comes home from work and I would ask him to hold my baby for ten minutes while I go shower, but he would yelled at me and say no. What Can I do?
Communication is absolutely key. You feel like he's unwilling to help, he may feel like he's been at work all day and deserves some time to wind down before he takes on any baby tasks. You're both frazzled because having a baby changes the dynamic of your relationship a lot and you both have needs that need to be met on top of what the baby needs.
Try and have a talk that uses 'I feel' statements, and have him go first so that he doesn't feel attacked. A good prompt for him would be 'I feel ________ when I get home and the first thing you ask me to do is hold the baby.' This gives you not only the starting point for an important conversation, but a great leap into his thought processes. Maybe he's happy to watch the baby, just not the very first thing when he gets home. Or maybe he would be, but it's coming across to him as you trying to pass the baby off to him for a lot longer than a shower. That's not to say that he shouldn't be involved in caring for his child, he most definitely has that responsibility, but if 15 minutes could make the difference, then those 15 extra minutes of being stinky and needing a shower would be worth it to me.
You're both tired and stressed and need a chance for just the two of you to connect again. I know that the whole 'communication is key' thing sounds overrated and overdone, but it really truly is important and will solve a lot of problems. Please reach out to me if you need to talk!!