Stay at home dads?

AGmomof3 · May 2010

Are any of you out there planning on going back to work and leaving your SO at home with the new baby?

I'm planning on returning to work as a private school teacher sometime in October and then my dh will stay home with the baby. He is a self-employed carpenter and he might work now and then and have his mom watch the baby occasionally. (Actually with this being the absolute LAST baby on either side - #15 on my side and #16 on dh's there may be a lot of fighting between MIL, my mom and sister on who gets to watch the baby, at least when she's little. . .lol)

We did this before, 10 years ago, when I had my first and it worked out pretty well. My dh is an awsome dad.

I'm just looking to see if there's any other of you out there thinking about the same thing. . .

Jenn06L80 · May 2010

This is an issue for my DH and me. I make about 3 times what he does. He will be working, but he will be home. We tried to figure out a way that I could be home more, but my salary and health care benefits just are better than his. My DH is not that domestic, but during my pregnancy he is working on laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning more. There is no way I am going to work full time with an hour commute, and do all the house work.

However my DH is an awesome man, so I am sure he will set up! Glad to hear that this situation worked for you in the past!

Sweets2005 · May 2010

My friend and her DH are almost in the exact same situation.

She is a teacher and carries the benefits so she had to go back to work while her DH, who is a landscaper, stayed home with the baby.

Sometimes their parents would help.

I think it is great!

TheBuddha · May 2010

My DH is finishing his bachelor's degree and will be done in December. I plan to return to work in January and until he finds work he will be a stay at home dad. It is silly to pay for childcare when we don't know how long it will take him to find a job in this economy. I will have a master's degree in August and will have an increase in income, so depending on what he finds, he may stay in his SAHD position for longer. I've been working on my career for 6 years, he is just beginning, so if the money is better from my job, I'll work.

floridakat · May 2010

MH is staying home with the girls. He's got a great job, but he works for a non-profit and it doesn't pay enough and has no benefits. With what we'd pay for day care for twins in our area, it just doesn't make sense for him NOT to stay home. So, he's going to take a year or two off and SAH.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm crazy jealous. But I know he's going to be amazing with the girls!

brown_bride07 · May 2010

We will both be working but DH does alot of the housework now. My DH's best friend is a stay at home dad and it works for them. His wife is an OB and they have 3 kids. He does IT support work on the side but he's a full time dad. It can work.

sillypit · May 2010

DH will be staying home with our little girl after I go back from maternity leave. We're pretty excited about it, not only do I make 4 times what he does, but he's also the more patient of the two of us so it makes more sense for him to be home with the baby all day.

Allie30 · May 2010

My BIL is a stay at home dad. My husband would probably kill to be as well, but he makes twice what I do and has the benefits. My job is already "from home" so it just makes sense to keep it this way. He's also more "domestic" than me. I have a tough time picturing the situation where the person who makes more and has all the benefits is the one that quits, "domesticity" or not.

My husband is just keeping his fingers crossed for the day I make more than him and he can stay home with the kids!

bkr1180 · May 2010

We're sort of doing this, my DH is a firefighter and works 1 day and is off 2 days. We are planning for him to stay with LO on his off days and my mom who is retired on his on days. He isn't very domestic either but will do basic cleaning and laundry-big help. LO is both of our first, so he maybe recruiting my mom or his to come assist until he gets the hang of parenting a newborn.

slharbi1 · May 2010

Same here I make 3 times what my DH does. I didn't push him to stay at home however he keeps dropping hints. It is fine with me.

kvansick · May 2010

My DH and I have a unique situation. I teach college classes, so I only "work" outside the home 3 days a week, and spend the other 2 days at home responding to emails and doing prep work. I do not get maternity leave, but can opt for FMLA. I plan to stay home for a few weeks after LO comes to adjust and heal, but then head back to work as soon as my Dr. allows. DH works outside the home, but for a European company so he is allowed 6-8 weeks of Mat. leave himself. He has the ability to also work from home whenever because of remote access and such, so he will be home in the beginning as well and then return to work when his "time is up". We have a close friend who is a nanny, so he will watch LO whenever there is a gap between DH and I (which is going to end up happening most of those 3 teaching days).

Carilyn · May 2010

My DH is a SAHD. He basically has been since DS was born. He worked part time as a cook at a restaurant for a while, but his hours ended up dwindling. Technically he is still employed and may consider working if they called him in a pinch, but he stays home full time now. It ended up working out well for us because he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year and a half ago and I'm not sure he'd be able to work all that much (wouldn't have at the time of diagnosis anyhow), so I'm glad we don't/didn't depend on his income at all!

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