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No way are mom's better than dads. My husband is an amazing dad. I think something I have over him is that I spend all day with LO, and I have more patience in general. But I don't think those things are gender specific, and he has his things that he does better then me with LO.

@mrbee: Yup, I think dads can be a better parent than moms can. While I can see that generally, there are more better moms than better dads. But there are always exceptions to the rule.

Of course! There are good and bad parents, it is not gender specific.

It largely depends on the situation.

It always bugged me growing up when dads would work all day then go out at night, leaving mom alone all day with kiddie. Soi told my husband when we got engaged that I wouldn't tolerate that. But no worries here, my husband is an excellent dad. I think he definitely has the ability to be a better parent than me. He is the most patient person i've ever known, he is sensitive to LO's needs, he is compassionate, affectionate and loving.
I am not patient at all!

I've definitely seen some better dads than moms. It all depends on the couple.

I think in my little family, we complement each other very well. I think as LO grows older, we'll work well together.

I think dads can be just as good a parent as moms can be. I know dh has more patience than I do. It helps that DH has summers off from teaching and is home with ds. He really figured out his own way to parent ds. We balance each other with worries, play time and getting household stuff done.

I am guilty of saying mama knows best, just today in fact! When I said it earlier, I meant it more because I'm our LO's primary caregiver, so I know more quickly what is and isn't normal for him. It definitely isn't because I don't think DH isn't a good dad.

I actually think that dads can be just as good parents as moms, in fact some dads are better parents than some moms. I can think of some dads that I know that are WAY better than their baby mamas. Like you, I don't think better parenting is tied to gender, I think there can be a lot of factors involved that would make one parent better than another. I also don't think that a primary caregiver is automatically the better parent either.

My Dad was!
For me, it was the way he was always so patient with me and really gave his time to me generously. Little things like the way he would explain how he put the honey onto my toast, or how he'd read me my bed time stories and stay with me for a long time when I was falling asleep....it all meant a lot to me and left a lasting impression. To this day, he continues to give me lots of time, and always listens and supports my decisions, making me feel good about my life and giving advice in subtle, smart ways. Yay for great Dads!

I think most times women and men are both great parents and sometimes one is better than the other.

But, I do know that a lot of women I've talked to have a sort of 'anxiety' after birth, where they envision things happening and take precautions to avoid bad things - even if the likelihood of the bad thing happening is very rare. I think that 'intuition' decreases over time after birth but I do think there is some superpower that is temporarily conferred after giving birth. I think 'anxiety' is the name it's given but that has a negative connotation and really it's learning to be a protective mama, and I do think it's something tied to the birth process.

My friend however was saved as an infant by her father who had some strong feeling he should return home. The babysitter was downstairs and unaware that my friend was suffocating under blankets in the crib. But luckily the father got home in time and got her to the hospital and all was fine.

Absolutely! My dad is an amazing father. He was a single dad for a couple years so I think that supports your theory about primary caregivers.