Having a newborn baby at home is a huge blessing for new parents. Growing a family and having your first child is definitely a milestone. But as all parents know, bringing home a newborn means lots of change. Newborn babies require a ton of time, effort, and care, at all hours of the day and night. Most of the time, this completely cuts into mom and dad's sleep. The dreaded "sleepless nights" are something all new parents have come to expect.
Recently, one father seemed to be having serious issues with getting so little sleep after his baby was born, so he decided to ask his mom for help. Sounds pretty normal, right? Not really.
A Mumsnet user shared the story of her son's request on the online forum.
The mother said that her 27-year-old son and his girlfriend recently had a baby. As is the case for most new parents, they are being woken up during the night when the baby cries and needs them, but her son is evidently not having an easy time with it. He claims it's interfering with his ability to do his job effectively.
The son asked if he can move back in with his parents during the week.
So, he asked his mom if he can move back in with her Monday through Friday. The mother's husband — it's unclear whether it's the younger man's father — said that the idea of her son moving in with them is "outrageous" and that he should just deal with the sleepless nights, like every other new dad does.
The mom agreed that it was confusing that he would ask her to move back in. She asked if other new parents have done this and asked for advice on how to respond to her son.
Many people had the opinion that it's selfish of her son to want to leave his girlfriend alone with their newborn so much.
The majority of Mumsnet users who responded said the son was not being considerate of his girlfriend at all in his request.
"How about he thinks of his [girlfriend's] need to get some sleep too and takes the time to do his share of the night-time care," one person suggested in the comments.
"I'd respond that if he abandons his partner with a newborn, it's likely to end his relationship," another person added.
"You need to ask your son how he plans for his partner to get any rest while he is busy playing part-time parent," suggested another.
Other people said they couldn't "imagine" their partner doing this to them.
"I'm 6 months pregnant and I can't imagine my partner wanting to do this because we are a team," shared one user. "What a ridiculous suggestion. I don't think you are being unsupportive if you say no. If you said yes I can imagine his poor partner would feel very unsupported being left with the baby 5 nights a week."
Others shared that their own husbands worked a ton during the new baby days, but still did their best to be there.
"My husband was away working 5.5 days a week when DD was born. He will never forget the feeling he had missing out on seeing her every day," one person commented. "That was necessary. Unless he’s a brain surgeon your son is a selfish git."
Mumsnet users agreed that the mom has to tell her son to grow up.
Despite her wanting to support her son, many Mumsnet users said that there's really nothing more to do than tell him the harsh truth.
"Honestly, I'd tell him to grow up," one person advised. "This is his life now and while he gets to moan about how hard it is to you occasionally he is being ridiculous. I really feel for his girlfriend, she has really picked badly."
"I think I’d be giving him a very sharp talking to about being a parent and not thinking it was acceptable to leave it all to his girlfriend," agreed another user.
"Don't even entertain him," another wrote. "He shouldn't be leaving his partner at home alone with a new baby to go and sleep at his parents house, that's shameful. Old enough to have a family but wants to sleep at your house? Absolutely ridiculous. You can be supportive by telling him to stay at home with his partner and baby."
