Starting a family sounds very cute but it can be very exhausting, especially when a baby is going through a weird sleep pattern. The exhaustion comes to a level where you might start to have a toll on your health. For women who have been handling kids and working together, it becomes next to impossible to find some peace but a supportive partner plays a vital role in the same. A partner who is constantly there for you emotionally and physically brings a lot of difference the responsibilities get divided giving both parents personal space. But in contradiction, a Redditor asked for his internet peers’ advice wondering if he was in the wrong for requesting a "morning off" from taking care of their baby on weekends.
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The husband started off by saying "My wife and I have a six-month-old baby girl. She's mostly a SAHM, she works two half days a week and her sister watches the baby. I work full-time and go to school one day a week. We've always had an arrangement where she takes care of the household duties (cooking, cleaning, and now baby care) while I happily support her monetarily. Honestly, we are both living our dream life and my wife does an absolutely spectacular job taking care of me and our little one."
Credits: Reddit
"On the weekends, we share the baby duty. We usually make sure each of us gets our own alone time to do whatever we want. However, our girl has hit a bit of a sleep regression, waking up every two hours--since my wife breastfeeds, she's always taken care of the baby full-time overnight. She's a light sleeper and unfortunately has insomnia, whereas I am a deep sleeper and wouldn't wake up for baby cries anyways," he further continued.
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This is where things get complicated for the OP. His wife has expressed to him that she is exhausted and would love to be able to sleep in until 7 a.m. on the weekend. Op had his own excuses and expressed that he might not be able to do that. "Recently my wife has been asking me to wake up with the baby both days on the weekends so she can get an extra hour of sleep. Baby wakes up around 7 am. I get the baby dressed and take over for that hour."
"But sometimes, I want to be the one that gets to sleep in an extra hour. I brought this up to her and she says while she's happy to let me nap during the day, she really needs that hour bc she can't nap like I can. We got into an argument about it, and she said I'm being very insensitive when I know she is very exhausted and can't nap during the day and she struggles going back to sleep every time the baby wakes up. But I'm exhausted too, work wears me out, and school days are long... and I sometimes want the hour in the morning. I don't want to spend my off time napping, I want to play video games and chill out."
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Reddit users were straight with their replies where they clearly called out the OP for shedding off the responsibility and acting immaturely. "Oh dear god. You're in the wrong. She is up aaaaall night. She does not get breaks like you in the week. She is asking you to get up at 7. A defined time. Go to bed earlier if this is an issue. She is surviving. I doubt she is living her “dream life” if this small request has been so poorly supported by you," said one user.
"You are in the wrong. Having a baby is not a time of your life for having time for yourself. All of your energy needs to go to your baby, your spouse, and your home. If that means you have to give up video games, that’s what you do. You are now a parent. Once everything is taken care of, and that includes laundry and dishes, then you can sit down and play video games," said another user.
