Paternity leave

vwatson83

My DH is a teacher. He is thinking about taking 2 weeks off, but since I'm due around Spring Break it'll really be 3 weeks with him home. Hooray!

But then he made the stupid comment of "Man, 2 weeks off seems like a lot of time. What will I be doing the whole time? Staring at the baby while she sleeps?"

I seriously wanted to punch him in the face (not gonna lie).

What do your SO/DH plan to do?

salt78

Mine is taking off for 2 weeks. I consider myself extremely lucky.

Madringal

My DH will take 2-3 weeks off as well since his company shuts down the week between Christmas and NY.  He was a huge help to me when DD1 was born.  My DH is a very hands on daddy - diapers, baths, up at night, the whole shabang.  He is beyond amazing. 

TNgirl4life

Well, My husband is Military so he automatically gets 10 days off for baby! And then a month or so later we plan to go back to TN for a visit & will be taking a bunch of leave too!

AmyFTM

Luckily my DH works for his family's business so there's some flexibility there. He plans on playing it by ear and possibly returning to work part-time initially. We are very fortunate.

LilyPotter218

Mine is taking off a few days max. He will obviously be off the days we are in the hospital and likely the first day or two we are home. Then he will go back to work.

My mom will be staying with me for a little while so there is no need for all 3 of us to be there. 

MallyPie

My DH is taking off probably 2-3 days right when the baby is born.  I am getting off for 8 full weeks and then going back part time for the next 4 weeks.  The first week I go back part time, he is taking a full week of vacation.  Not super ideal, but at least he will get some time off!

ryry1977

My DH gets a week paternity leave and will be taking 2 weeks vacation/comp time...so 3 weeks total.  He did the same with DS and it was great.  Now if only this time around I can get him to do the laundry and keep the kitchen clean:)

speckledfrog

MIne gets two weeks off.  From what I've heard, that first week is rough and you need all the help you can get.

repedrick

My DH is taking 4 weeks off (possibly more if I have to go back to work early- see post below). He's planning on helping with DD1 and getting a few things done around the house. We figure he might as well take advantage of the opportunity for time off since it's covered by FMLA and not having the paycheck those weeks is not a big deal to us. Otherwise, it's hard for him to take several days off in a row to get a house project done.

Ashley&Scott

My DH is taking 2 weeks off after DS is born & another week at the end of my maternity leave. 

SaraT717

We were just talking about this the other day before he was saying two weeks now he's thinking a week he is in sales so his pay could change alot when he is gone.

EllasMommy2010

My DH will take 1 week off of work.  My mom is then taking 2 weeks off to help me.

RA1109

Mine gets 8 weeks 100% paid, but since his work has a 2 week Christmas break and I'm having the baby the first day of his break, he'll get 10 weeks total.  His work can't do without him in emergencies though, so after 3 weeks he'll be on call to work from home if needed 2 mornings a week and they'll give him an extra 2 weeks.  So 12 weeks paid.  Awesome.  He was home for about that long with our first, and he is extremely hands on, he could easily be a single dad.  I don't work so it will be a really nice break for all of us.

soralette

My DH was hoping to take six weeks, but, heh, apparently it's Baby Season on his team -- one of his teammates is expecting the month after we are, and another teammate is going to be finalizing an adoption the month after that!

So DH may only get to take 3-4wks instead.

FarmvilleLover

6 weeks after my ML ends. Before that, he can work from home and take time off as wanted/needed. One of the perks of being in business for yourself.

ar52kortlang

Hubby and I started to save our sick time/vacation time up when we started trying for this LO... so we will both be off for 12 weeks:)

LittleBirdy24

I think it will be similar to last time, he SAID he was taking 2 weeks off, but started going stir crazy after one week, so the second week he would get up early and go in for a few hours.  It worked just fine since DD and I were just sleeping while he was gone anyway.  SIL will be here this time so I won't be stranded if he decides to do that again (he can work from home mostly now, but he does have to go out to clients sometimes)

Tina272

You ladies are all very lucky.  We will be lucky if DH is off while I am in the hospital and for one or two days afterwards.  Thankfully my mom will stay a few weeks. 

Ya Never Know

lol... men... your DH probably won't have time to watch the baby sleep, because he'll likely be taking advantage of the fact the baby is sleeping just to get some sleep for himself!

DH is taking a month off when the baby comes. I figure the first month is going to be the most difficult since it will be a huge adjustment, so it will be nice to have him there. He'd love to take more time off, and if circumstances were different, I'm sure he would. Between taking care of the baby, and trying to keep our house from falling apart, I'm sure we'll both have lots to occupy our time.

 

gothgrrl

My DH has made plans to work from home for a few weeks (unless needed in house for a meeting or something).  So far he's willing to step up to the challenge of a new baby.

NoodleM

I'm still trying to convince mine to take a few days off until I'm discharged out of the hospital He went back to work the next day after his daughter was born, but he was also 19 and his ex had her mom there with her the whole time.

It was looking like his work would have two weeks off for Christmas which would have been nice since I'm due boxing day, but now it looks like there will be enough work throughout the holidays and the money would be nice.

I get a year of maternity/parental leave because I'm in Canada. I'm not sharing parental leave with him.

med380

My DH's company gives 3 days paid paternity leave, but he'll be taking 2 weeks total.  He did this with the last one and I really appreciated having him there to help out, especially for those first few days when I was still pretty sore and couldn't stand/walk for long periods of time.

sweetky_06

DH will take a week off when the baby is born for us to spend together as a family, then he'll go back to work and my mom is coming for a week.

When I go back to work in July DH is going to take 2 weeks off to spend with LO so that I am a bit more comfortable with the transition back to work before starting up with daycare. 

bpwife&mama

My DH will take a week off at the beginning then a week to two later on maybe in March or April.  He is using his sick time and has like 3+ weeks so we can be pretty flexible.

KRISTA555

It's more to help you than anything, IMO. You're sore and can't move that well for awhile.

Ironically, DH has it worse off now that he's retired from the Army.

When he was active duty, he got 2 weeks off for paternity leave.

Now that he's working a civilian job, he gets zero time off.  Not to mention he's going to school full-time too.

wordslikeswords

DH doesn't get paternity, but he is planning on taking a week off when the baby comes.. mostly to learn with/from me and both of our mothers as they will be there too. It's going to be a full house.

JLG95

For our first, DH and I both took 8 weeks of leave.  I really needed the help.  Newborns need a lot of care and it's exhausting.  It's not easy learning how to be parents.

For this one, since I know what I'm doing, DH is only taking off 3 weeks.  

Wiscisbliss

MallyPie:

My DH is taking off probably 2-3 days right when the baby is born.  I am getting off for 8 full weeks and then going back part time for the next 4 weeks.  The first week I go back part time, he is taking a full week of vacation.  Not super ideal, but at least he will get some time off!

 

That's us too!

SVAQ11

Mine is basically taking 2 weeks off, but he has to go in one day the second week to take care of some stuff.

AugustSkye

DH recently got laid off from his seasonal job. Right before the layoff, he applied at a factory with great benefits and crazy overtime and got the job-- but he doesn't start until January. So while he will be present when LO is born and in the hospital for a few days after, he won't actually get to stay home with us. It makes me a little sad, but it's just one of thsoe sacrifices that has to be made for the good of the family!

footnotegirl

My husband desperately wants to take the full FMLA allowance of 12 weeks, but he'd have to spend all his vacation and sick time, which we can't do right now (too much stuff coming up next year). Right now the plan is:

I take 6 weeks unpaid leave, then go back to work part time (20 hours a week) for the next couple of months, slowly ramping up to my normal 36 hr/week schedule

He's taking a full week's vacation right after the baby is born, and his boss wants him to work at home one day a week at least after that (his work is very pro-family that way). He may also be switching to working 4 10 hour days a week and then being home one full day every week for a while.

I have a friend who lives in Sweden. I envy her so much. They get 16 MONTHS FAMILY LEAVE when they have a baby, each partner has 2 months, and then the rest can be divided up between them as they see fit. This leave is paid at something like 60%!! And if you have more than two kids, one partner automatically gets to work half time with something like 75% pay.

girley75

Sara.Henkel:

We were just talking about this the other day before he was saying two weeks now he's thinking a week he is in sales so his pay could change alot when he is gone.

This,

Ya, My husband plans to take off 2 weeks, but cannot take off any more than that because he is also in sales and could affect his pay.  As it is, I'm sure he will be bringing his computer home to keep track of his accounts..

BlakeG

Mine is planning to take a week vacation and then work home for a week.  Still need to get that work from home week approved though....

KatieMarie27

We haven't discussed this yet. DH works for his dad doing construction, so getting time off shouldn't be an issue.  However, I don't think DH wants to take any time off.  He probably will end up bugging the sh!t out of me, but I would like for him to take off about 5 days, just so I can sleep and we can both bond with LO.  I plan on BF, so I get to get up in the middle of the night.

In the last 3 months, DH has taken 2 1/2 days off of work to get scuba certified and about 10 days total for 2 different hunting trips.  He is also planning on going on a ski trip with a friend in January and possibly going to Phoenix for a few days to go golfing.  In my mind, if he can take off that much work for "fun" things, he can take off time for his child.  If not, I might call my FIL and cry until he makes DH come home, even though I doubt FIL believes that paternity leave is legitimate.

MrsT2008

My DH was off the first week we were home (last week), he's working this week, then off for the next 2-3 weeks because of all the PTO he saved up.

And honestly, with a brand new baby, there isn't much that both of you can do!  Maybe we're not the norm, but there has been a LOT of lounging around so far.  Even more so when both of us were home.  The best part of him being home was that one of us could run errands without having to bring the baby.

kmberman

Mine is going to be taking off the first week and then he said he will see how things are going. Hopefully things wont be too crazy with an almost 3yo and a new born, but we will see. 3 weeks...Im so jealous!

dizzycooks

My DH will be off while I am in the hospital and then for a day when we get home.  After that he will likely return to work full time at that point.  My mom is taking a few half days and will come by in the afternoon to check in with me, do a few chores and start dinner.  DH is taking a week off when I return to work so he'll be on his own then.

Cinamom

We are beyond lucky and DH gets 30 days 100% paid paternity leave. 

betsykerry1

maybe i'm crazy, but my partner can take the entire, FMLA guaranteed 12 weeks if she'd like. I think she's planning on taking a month off... 

Sascha3

My husband wanted to take 2 weeks off, but now I don't think it will be feasible.  The GM's last day is Jan 1, and he is getting promoted to her position.  The assistant manager they were going to hire turned the job down.  And we don't know if they will have an assistant GM in place in the next 2 weeks.  And I am due the 10th.  So there may not be any managers to cover for him at all.  He of course can get a couple days off, but he had wanted to take 2 weeks off.