https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 20 May 2026 14:00:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave/page/2#post-1391022 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:20:19 +0000 Adira 1391022@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hubs chose not to take any FMLA, but took 4 weeks of vacation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave/page/2#post-1391013 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:17:16 +0000 rachiecakes 1391013@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He didn't take any. </p> <p>He's self-employed and made sure I had help with I needed it, but he had to leave the hospital for work (we were there 5 days) and would have to leave to work nights from the day we got home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave/page/2#post-1390967 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:56:37 +0000 prettylizy 1390967@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He gets the 'birth day' for the bebe as a PDO, but if he wants to take paternity leave it would eat into my maternity leave (since our leaves are gov't regulated) With DD he too 1 day off. Water broke Thursday night, he took Friday off, DD was born Sat night and we went home from the Hospital on Monday but he went into the office. Technically he's a sales guy so he can come and go as he pelases, but if you're not working you're not making money! I had my mom and sister to stay with me while he was at work so it wasn't a problem. I suspect he'll take a day or two this time depending on when the baby comes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave/page/2#post-1390942 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:45:25 +0000 mediagirl 1390942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>2 weeks. Now he wishes he had taken more. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave/page/2#post-1390939 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:44:46 +0000 purrpletulips 1390939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH got laid off the Friday before DD was born so he had lots of paternity leave (ha) but found a contract job after two weeks. DH had to use PTO for any time off when DS was born and took 1 week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390922 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:39:16 +0000 Mae 1390922@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband gets 2 days paternity leave. I think he plans to take 2 weeks total, although not together. He'll take the first week off to be with me and the baby, then my mom will come down to help out for a week after that, then the next week (or week after) my MIL will come to meet the baby and my husband will take that week off so he can visit with his mom. </p> <p>He has a good amount of time off every year though (like 5 weeks) so I do expect he'll take more time than usual off over the summer and fall, and probably just take a few random weeks off to hang with us! I just didn't want him to use all his time right away in case we are dealing with illnesses or something later. Also, honestly, I don't know that my husband COULD take 4 weeks in a row off at work. At least, not without things becoming such a mess before he comes back. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390903 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 15:34:04 +0000 MrsStar 1390903@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Dh took 3 days (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - lo was born on the Thursday night) unpaid. Hoping when we have another baby he can take about 2 weeks paid leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390577 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:57:15 +0000 travellingbee 1390577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No paternity leave but he was allowed to take them as sick days. And he had a lot saved up. So he took 2 weeks of sick leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390568 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:53:58 +0000 septca 1390568@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH was eligible to take up to 6 weeks of sick leave. He took 2 weeks off when DD was born, 2 weeks in the middle when we went on vacation, and then the last 2 weeks when I went back to work (which was awesome!).</p> <p>To be totally honest, neither one of us enjoyed having him home for 2 weeks after DD was born. I was eager to get into a routine and there wasn't much he could do. Next time, we agreed that he will take a week - 10 days off. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390567 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:53:56 +0000 Bookish 1390567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH was not given any paternity leave; he ended up taking 2 full weeks PTO, and then a week of half-time after that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390564 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:52:41 +0000 GrapeCrush 1390564@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>with DS he had off from Wednesday(the day of my induction) and was off through that week and the following week. with DD he had off from Thursday(the day of my csection) and was off through that week and the following week. all was his PTO, since his work doesn't have paternity leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390547 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:46:55 +0000 coopsmama 1390547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DH was given a week off for paternity leave and that was perfect for us. My recovery was quick and really smooth and by the end of the week he was definitely ready to get back to work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390321 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:48:12 +0000 yellowbird 1390321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My dh took 1 week pto and 4 more weeks fmla with no pay</p> <p>I'm hoping next time he'll take 1-2 weeks pto and then 12 weeks fmla when I go back to work so we can hold put on daycare! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390319 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:48:06 +0000 wonderstruck 1390319@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No paternity leave here, small business - which is owned by DH's family, and only has a few employees (one of whom was out of state when I went into labor) so they were incredibly shorthanded. He ended up going back to work the day after we came home from the hospital =( Thank goodness for my mom, who took a week off work to help me, but next time I will insist that DH takes at least a week off AFTER we get home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390277 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:35:42 +0000 Andrea 1390277@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No leave for DH. He took one day the first time and five days the second. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390264 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:30:48 +0000 Mrs. M 1390264@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH didn't get any paternity leave so he used vacation days. He only took 3 days off when our daughter was born because it was an extremely busy time of year for his office. I've already asked him to request at least a week for when Baby #2 is born to help me get in a groove with an infant and an 18- month old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390248 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:25:17 +0000 kjpugs 1390248@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH didn't get paternity leave (at one of the largest, most well-known FAMILY entertainment companies... interesting) so he took just under 2 weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390230 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:19:43 +0000 LovelyPlum 1390230@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH is currently a per diem substitute teacher, so while he won't get any paid leave, he will just be unavailable to work for a few days. We haven't talked about the specifics of how long he'll take off, though. I suspect it will depend on how L+D go, how long my mom stays with us, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390152 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:01:01 +0000 Amelieisme 1390152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS was born on a Friday via c section. DH was off that day and returned to work for a "half day" (really worked nearly a whole day) the following Thursday. So 4.5 days? Neither of our mothers stayed to help. It was doable, but totally jealous of you ladies whose husbands got so much time off! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390147 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:00:24 +0000 swedishfish 1390147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I voted other because he has to take vacation time for paternal leave or it's unpaid. He took one week off after R was born and another week before I went back to work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1390125 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:54:14 +0000 Vegmama 1390125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My partner doesn't get paternity leave, but he's taking 5 weeks off. His first week was PTO, and the remaining 4 weeks are unpaid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389987 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:13:26 +0000 nana87 1389987@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: oh absolutely! definitely important to take FMLA into account when thinking about how to manage both parents' leave time :happy: we probably won't use it since dh has enough paid leave to cover whatever chunk of time he takes off, but thank goodness it's there in general since many employers aren't as generous with paid time off </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389964 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:06:47 +0000 yoursilverlining 1389964@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is just an FYI because I think it's commonly misunderstood, but men are eligible for parental leave under FMLA too, same as women. So, make sure your partners check and see if they are eligible for FMLA. It's unpaid, but it's still leave. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389953 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:03:11 +0000 ElbieKay 1389953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband will get an extra two weeks of paid paternity leave. Then he is going to spend a week of PTO, so he will be home with us for three weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389944 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:01:28 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1389944@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No parental leave for DH. He was allowed to use sick time. He took one week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389939 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:59:11 +0000 sslm 1389939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No paternity leave, but he took 1 week of vacation, 3 days immediately following the birth, and then Thursday and Friday the next week. My mom was around to help the other days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389929 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:54:51 +0000 nana87 1389929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>thanks everybody so far, this is really interesting! </p> <p>I added an "other" category since some people's answers weren't really fitting elsewhere! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389923 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:53:40 +0000 looch 1389923@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband took two weeks off. I was fine with this because I knew my mom was coming at week 5, so I only had to deal with 3 weeks alone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389922 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:52:52 +0000 lovehoneybee 1389922@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>He got 3 PDO that butted up against a weekend, so he was home for 5 days (babe was born on Wed, he went back to work on Monday). He did have vacation time he could have used, but my mom was here to help me for a few weeks and he and I jointly decided that we should save his vacation time for travel or if I needed him here after my mom left. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-your-partner-didnt-get-much-parental-leave#post-1389916 Fri, 31 Jan 2014 10:49:50 +0000 NeekieRose 1389916@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH got no paternity leave but took the 4 days I was in the hospital off (baby born Tues, he went back to work Monday). He has flexible hours though so he was home early and my mom was here for 10 days. </p> <p>Baby girl was so easy that I think he would have been bored being home for longer. But he was definitely a baby hog when he got home from work. </p>