Being a new parent to a precious little angel is one of the most heartwarming experiences in the world. But this joyous responsibility also brings forth the inevitable struggle of sleep deprivation in caring for the baby.
Two parents have found themselves grappling to find common ground on who should attend to the baby and who should indulge in an extra hour of sleep: the mother, who works part-time and struggles with insomnia, or the father, who works full-time and wants to unwind with video games as a reward?
Full-Time Working Dad, Part-Time Working Mom
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In a recently shared Reddit post, a husband revealed that he and his wife have a six-month-old daughter. While she's primarily a stay-at-home mom, she works part-time for two half days a week, and her sister looks after the baby.
Meanwhile, the husband works full-time and attends school one day a week.
Dividing Responsibilities
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The parents have always maintained an arrangement where she takes care of the household duties, including cooking, cleaning, and now taking care of the baby, while he happily provides financial support.
Living Their Dream Life
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Currently, the husband appears to be content with his married life as a husband and father to his wife and little girl.
“Honestly, we are both living our dream life,” the husband reveals, adding, “My wife does an absolutely spectacular job taking care of me and our little one.”
Getting Enough “Me Time”
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During the weekends, the parents share the responsibility of taking care of the baby. They typically ensure that each of them gets dedicated alone time to engage in other activities.
Sleepless Nights
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Unfortunately, their little daughter is currently going through a sleep regression, causing her to wake up every two hours but her mom is always there to attend to her when she wakes up.
“Since my wife breastfeeds, she's always taken care of the baby full-time overnight,” the father notes.
Light Sleeper vs Deep Sleeper
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The mom, being a light sleeper and suffering from insomnia, is always alert and responsive to the baby's cries. On the other hand, the dad, being a deep sleeper, wouldn’t wake up even if the baby loudly cries.
Team Effort
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Lately, the mom has been asking her husband to take over baby duties on both weekend mornings so she can sleep for just one extra hour. When the baby wakes up around 7 am, he gets her dressed and takes over caregiving duties for that hour as requested by his wife.
Husband Request
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Feeling overwhelmed by the daily task of taking care of the baby, the husband told his wife that there are times when he also longs for an extra hour of sleep.
In response, she told him that she’s happy to let him nap during the day, but she still believes that that specific hour of sleep is crucial for her because she cannot easily take naps as he can.
Fatigue Takes Its Toll
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The parents found themselves in a heated argument over the matter, with the wife accusing her husband of being “very insensitive” when he knows too well that she’s extremely exhausted and can't even enjoy a nap during the day, pointing out how she struggles to go back to sleep every time the baby wakes up.
An Hour for Video Games
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“But I'm exhausted too, work wears me out, and school days are long,” the husband shares. “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.”
Who Should Get the Extra Hour of Sleep?
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With conflicting opinions and struggling to find a middle ground, the dad reaches out to the Reddit community for insight. He poses the question, “ AITA for asking us to share mornings off for sleep?”
Give Night Off = Gets Morning Off
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“YTA,” commented one Redditor, explaining, “If she's taking all the night duty because you don't wake up, then you get the morning duty when you do wake up so she can catch up on her lost sleep in the night.”
“You want a morning off, give her a night off.”
“But, But, Video Games”
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“I was so close to giving a NAH because new babies and sleep are hard,” one user wrote, “but then we got to ‘video games’..... Nope! YTA OP!”
“You can't have both nights and mornings. And your video game time might have to just suffer for a while....”
Formula Feeding for Parental Breaks
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“YTA - You don't think she wants to just chill out and do something on her own time?” another user questioned. “She's working too by not just going to work but also taking care of the baby. The least you could do is give her some time to sleep in.”
“She's right; you can nap and do whatever, she can't. And unless you're going to offer to take over the feeding through formula, the ONLY time she gets a break is if the baby is sleeping or she's off to work. Give up your extra hour of sleep; give it to your wife, who does so much.”
Buried in Judgments
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“RIP OP. You're going to be buried in the YTA judgments here,” stated a Reddit user. “She works PT, takes care of baby, has to do all the housework, has to do all of the night feedings, can't sleep.... but sure, you'd like an hour.”
They continued, “You are out of the house all week, and you do what, spend one hour a day ‘helping’ to take care of your kid? And would like more time to play games? You have no idea what her day looks like, do you? Take three days off, and send her on a mini vacay to sleep somewhere, and see all the stuff that she does on a daily basis, on repeat.”
“An Adult Baby”
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“You would rather play video games than help your exhausted wife get an extra hour of sleep?!” Why do people marry people like you?!” questioned another “YTA” voter.
In response, someone chimed in, “We marry people like OP because they totally walk around in a 24-hour facade up until marriage- then bam you’ve got your hand cuffs on, and realize you just signed up to take care of an adult baby.”
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Sylvia Silverstone is a passionate writer who loves to share her knowledge and expertise on a wide range of topics, including beauty, life hacks, entertainment, health, news, and money. With a keen eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, Sylvia's engaging writing style keeps readers coming back for more.
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