How long did your partner get for paternity leave?

[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

[fionas]

Sorry to hijack but I just wondered if any of you found that instead of DH taking time off at the start, you would have appreciated the help more later?

I think the two-month mark would have been good for us - when DD was a bit more alert and it was harder work to get her to sleep after her play 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.

[nic]

For me, I preferred the time off at the start. But we are pretty fortunate with DH's roster in that he works a 3 week cycle, and in those 3 weeks he works 11 days ( 6 days and 5 nights to be exact)

His first week back at work was 3 nights, and then he had 4 Rostered days off, followed by 3 days and 2 nights then 5 days off then another 3 days, one off and start all over again.

Having the c/s, I found it useful having DH home from the start. Having an older child going to school was also helpful him being home to do the school run. Many different circumstances. What works now might not work next time for you?