12 week old doesn't like his dad

Thanks Carang. I have been in this forum for a while, so I know that you are a straight and honest person. That is why I always appreciate your inputs and advices :-)

Hubby actually does try different things... he would carry the baby in different positions, he would walk him, rock him, put him down, put him in the bouncer, give him the pacifier, etc... it used to work before (or at least would temporally calm the baby), but it seems that as the baby is getting older, he is getting more attached to me.

I guess it is always easier for me to calm the baby, as I can resource on my breast. And I can carry the baby on the pouch sling, which always seem to calm him (The problem is that the pouch sling does not fit my hubby). We do play with the baby together, but when I am around, the baby only look at me. ... Hubby does offer to take care of the baby when I have to go to the doctor, for example.... but usually I would rather take the baby with me, than leaving him with my hubby... it is completely my fault, I know... I should trust more in my husband and let him learn to take care of the baby, even if the baby may cry non stop for several hours :-(
 
I have seen this many times before in my line of work and I would agree that starting off the playtime as a family of three and making it interesting and fun then you start to back off when things are going well, not secretly but just telling your baby you will be back in a few minutes, the, over time things will get better. It is a very uncomfortable feeling for a father to feel that he is not wanted and it really can put him off especially if his own baby is telling him this by crying. Good luck
 
My husband was like yours, and now my baby is 22 months old and still has always preferred mama. So I have to do most things and it's really exhausting being literally the only caregiver in my boys life, especially almost 7 months pregnant. I told my husband that in hope it will be different with the next one, bc it's already damaged the possible closeness my husband could have had witness my son, don't get me wrong, my son adores daddy, but when it comes to care stuff like feeding a bottle, being consoled, being put to bed, being put back to sleep, it's all me.
 
I can understand your husband thinks playing with a baby is boring. Well, after a day of hard work..
What you should try is giving him the baby for more "adult" activities; like giving the bath, or the best I think a massage to the baby.
Indeed, this would be a special and quiet moment for them. No need for him to do baby talk.
 
I agree 100% with Carang. It is easy to enable and hard as a mother to step back and let both DH and DC tough it out BUT without this initial teething period you will never get to the point where you could have a more even split of the parenting duties. Most fathers I know and certainly my own DH are pretty keen to say 'well she only wants you' but I've stepped back and watched the interaction without intervening and have witnessed that DH doesn't really try very hard.....he's not passionate about it in the way that I am, and I'll persist....like try a million things literally..... until I make my baby happy again. A few times I've asked my DH to sit in with me and observe whilst I do the play time with my DD and he has found that he picked up some useful tricks that work with her....because the truth is, the less time he spends with your child, the more frustrating it will be for him, and it's vicious cycle, he will know less about what it takes to soothe your baby, then will feel less engaged ect, ect, ect.
Not wanting to be harsh but DH needs to pick up his game.......we're all tired, mothers especially and it's all too easy to have a snooze, leave it top the helper, go veg out on the internet, in front of the TV but it's time to grow up and fight the fatigue and do the needful.
 
Must admit, I haven't read all the postings here, but just my two cents. When I was pregnant (with our first), my hubby - ever the realist - never thought about what the baby would bring to our lives... other than bills for diapers and formula. He only began to think about it a week before my due date....

When she was born, he was a changed man... his loved her SO MUCH. Though I hate to say it...he treated her like a toy or a doll. He'd kiss her, play with her (sometimes even when she didn't like what she was doing), but then plop her down wherever when he was done... and leave everything else to me. So, I warned him. If he wants her to know Daddy (he works til quite late M-F), he had better spend more time with her.

Fast forward 5 months...

We've worked on it to arrive at something that works for us. Not perfect, but it's a work in progress. I stay-at-home, so she understandably has a very strong bond with me. I encourage him to play with her, give him little tips to make her laugh and ... what I found is making the difference is this: Every morning, I wake him up with her. He plays a bit with her..and she's around while he has breakfast and goes out the door. At night, he gives her the 11pm dreamfeed. He REALLY enjoys it. He loves kissing her chubby face, so after he feeds her... he just kisses and kisses and kisses her.. :)

Although she's supposedly asleep... I think she really knows it's Daddy. The other night, she woke crying at 10pm.. we were both in the room. She looked over at him. He avoided eye contact (he can't resist her cute face) ..and she started crying as if to say "Daddy's ignoring me!!!"

Cute :)

Daddies do really need to get more involved. It's so easy for them to leave everything to Mom... but they will reap the rewards later on!!! Good luck!!!
 
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