My partner seems to be really down recently because in his words “the baby loves me more than him” simply because she only really laughs for me. I don’t know how many times I can tell him that’s not the case, because her face lights up whenever he walks in a room and he gets the occasional laugh, and he can always put her to sleep. But he just won’t accept that and it’s getting him really down. What can I do for him/ how can I help him? I know it must be hard for him to go to work everyday but he does spend as much time as he can with her in the evenings and weekends🩷 I hate seeing him down I just don’t know what I can say/do
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My other half went through this recently but is ok now cause baby has stared laughing at him and at the time I just reminded him that she had done something with him that she didn’t with me so he was ok xx

At the start my partner was same cz everytime he had her she cried and I mean cried and when he passes her to me she stopped i had to keep telling him she lobes him 2 and when it comes to laughing I'm the only one who can make she really laugh my family can make her laugh and my partner can but she really laughs just for me

May be try recording videos of her during the day where she says Dada or waiting by the door looking for Dada. You can ask her to look for Dada and record her reaction that she’s actually looking for him, and send it to him while he’s at work. x I’m going through the opposite actually my baby gets excited when she sees her Dad or Nana but not me.😁 Probably because I spent 24x7 with her !

In the nicest way, this might be a tough love situation. Remind him babies aren't rational beings. Babies don't really love, they NEED. He's not being rejected, he's still the second favourite person in her world but at the moment you fulfill most of her needs so it's very normal for her to have a preference for you. His day will come and you'll need to be the one to remember it's not personal. For most of my childhood my dad was my favourite, we didn't see him all week, then he'd come home all happy to see us with a present wanting to play when my mum had been bossing us about all week lol. My daughter had a VERY strong mama preference, after a difficult start with a NICU stay she was very attached to me so I think that exacerbated things and although of course it did get to my husband sometimes I will forever be so proud of him for all the effort he's made to get them to the amazing bond they have now. It took YEARS and he didn't ever try to blame it on me, or her, or use it to shirk responsibility.

Maybe look into some postpartum mental health services for him? I kept getting a lot of information in antenatal classes about how it can affect men too. Also, maybe have him read to baby at night? My baby loves the sound of her dad's voice and just stops to listen to him