How long did your partner get for paternity leave?

[briggsy's girl]

we haven't had our bubba yet, but his boss has already said he'll not only give DH paid paternity leave,but will be able to extend it beyond that time (i think he gets 2-3 weeks) and allow him to actually use rec leave even if he doesn't have it available - he will just owe them time. he works for a small company (only half a dozen employees i think), and his boss is a dad to young kids so he knows what it's about. his comment to me at the christmas dinner was that he'd rather keep his guys (and their families) happy, and retain them, rather than alienating them and having them move on.

DH has now been working for this employer for just over a year, so not a HUGE amount of time. the only thing the boss has asked is if DH is going to be prepared to work a day or two here and there during that leave (which financially is better for us anyway) as another of the guys is due to become a dad only a few weeks before our Gremlin is due. he's spoken to them both as he has 6 trucks, 6 full timers, and only a couple of casuals that will fill in - those casuals will need time off - he won't work them four weeks straight or anything! He will also work DH as close to home as possible for as long as i need him to both pre and post birth (so if something isn't going well, he'll get DH doing work that gets him home more often just for the support)

this is a personal thing DH's boss does. for my job, the men get two weeks paid paternity leave i think...

[The[cookie]Doctor]

5 days. It is what is written in his contract.
He took every Wednesday off for four weeks after a came home and then a week of annual leave at six weeks.

[DoubleK]

with DD, dp didnt have any time off, he was casual, so no work = no pay, and we couldn't afford that unfortunately! i was lucky enough to come home from hosp on a friday, so we had the weekend. i was ready to settle into a routine with dd anyways, and she was an easy baby, so i had no dramas.

i think when it comes time for this bub to arrive, he'll put in for some annual leave.. maybe a week, we'll see how we go i guess. he has been with this employer for 12 months full time, so they will be pretty understanding about the late notice of his annual leave application.

[Karina]

I think I read somewhere that usually he is entitled to 1 week at least but usually its unpaid unless he uses annual leave..
My DH got 1 week paternity leave and it was paid. He works for NSW Government.

[Shanti]

My DH gets no time off We have our own business. Just will come home some days early if it's quiet enough and if the staff are doing their jobs properly

I get him on weekends at least.

[fionas]

I THINK he got 5 days. I know he didn't take leave while I was in hospital because he figure d (quite rightly) it would be more important to take leave when I got out.

If it hadn't been for BFing dramas, five days would have been fine. While they were going on, I really needed DP here as I was BFing, expressing and formula top-upping at each feed which often took 2.5 hours which meant I got 30 mins break before starting all over again. DP was an invaluable help, I have to say.

[AliBaby]

My DH gets no time off We have our own business. Just will come home some days early if it's quiet enough and if the staff are doing their jobs properly

I get him on weekends at least.

I'm in the same boat as you Ren.

[Lolli]

Hi,

Dh took a month off- we were ready to kill each other by the three week point He took it from his built up holidays.

[visitor1]

With DD1 hubby worked with mates so he was home for about 4 days....

DD2 he was working from home so til he went back to FT work he'd been with us for 3 months...

Now he back home again so he will be here!!

I dont think id cope if he wasnt home ALL the time

[Shanti]

I'm in the same boat as you Ren.

Alibaby. It sucks huh!! Wish my DH could have even just 3 days at home with us in the first week so he can bond with bub.... I know i'll cope ok on my own and he's wonderful when he is home and helps out so much and cooks for us etc but when he's at work I'm really gonna miss him!! I'll be calling him to come home early every day he'll be home weekends so we can have real quality family time then.

I do feel though, I'll be able to establish routine etc and independence much faster than maybe someone who has their DH home for like 3-4 weeks. As in, I will be forced to just do it all on my own and wont' have to worry about a time when DH has to go back to work because i won't have relied on him as much iykwim? So think of it that way, at least we are adapting to how it will be right from the word go.... not having help around during the day kwim??

[Indadhanu]

Shel got I think it was 6 weeks unpaid 'paternity' leave, but she had saved up her holidays/annual leave and took 6 weeks paid off. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long IMO, but then I just wanted to get into the seing of things and Shel took it more like a holiday She bonded with Jazz and it was great for them, but for me I would have liked maybe 2-3 weeks off after the birth and maybe a week off at 2 and then 3 months old... Just to give me a break, as at those times I generally had a meltdown and could have used a good sleep.