Give it time, it will come. Dad’s seem to find it as bub gets older.

A lot of dads are worried about hurting delicate little babies but will start engaging when they are confident they won’t ‘break’ them. Give it a couple of months, it will come.

My husband found it hard when they were new born he was always afraid he would hurt them, mainly with our first child, but when our second came along it was different, but i also was unwell & ended up in hospital so he had to take on some of the responsability. It does take them a bit of time, its different for them compared to us.

I dont think dads really get into it fully until bub starts to get mobile! dont stress, its pretty rare for a father to not bond, it’ll happen & when it does its beautiful!

I always give a gift to the father too so he dont feel left out

It is hard for dads as they didn’t have life growing inside them but most get involved as much as possible kissing belly, talking to bub and going to appts with you and I hope he was this involved with you and bub.

My ex husband wouldn’t bond with our son and said our son robbed him of me. It ended our marriage in the end BUT know my son it 4 he wants to be around. I think it is more about reducing his child support amount he has to pay, as he just doesn’t really seem that interested.

BUT it is the extreme of what can happy. Some men just need some time to bond with babies. Some men are just scared of them as they think they are fragile and small. Go out for the afternoon and leave the baby with him this might help. TIME is the answer just try not to pressure him about it, may cause more problems.

Good luck…take the gentle approach.

Do you know why he is struggling to bond? Is bub needy, are you both sleep deprived, tired etc. Has his life changed dramatically eg house is a bit messy, dinner isn’t the same? Truely it’s not that uncommon at the beginning. I’ve seen it quite a bit. Men don’t realise how much work babies are and really struggle with the change in family dynamics. I won’t really say cut him some slack as Mums are the ones who are doing most if not all of the work. Speak to him and even if he doesn’t really seem like he wants to bond with bub still get him involved. Make him change nappies, Burb bub and if bub is being difficult and Dad isn’t doing anything important and not trying to help put bub in his arms and walk away for 5 minutes so he can get an idea of what you are going through. Please reply I really hope things get better.

Sorry I have not experienced this so can’t offer advice.

My partner did for a little while. Once our daughter grew up and wasnt so “fragile” things got a lot better

hubby had trouble bonding with our first son so i put him in charge of bath time and bed time. within a week, they were best mates

How sad, but can be more common than you think. Why? The crying? Sex of baby? Stress at work? Choose a good moment to share like when the baby is in good mood to to gradually build up bond. But don’t let their struggles dominate your thoughts.

This has been a common problem. Depression becomes huge. There maybe underlying problems there. It may come from their own childhood. Not accepting the sex of the baby. Eg they were told having a girl and it was a boy. Today once born the baby is not bathed for three days so the mother does bond. Theres supposed to be the smell of the baby that triggers the senses

Its a very common thing, it can take time to bond.

Yes my partner didn’t bond with our second son at all. It was awful actually and it wasn’t until he was older and walking and talking that he has now bonded with him.

my partner struggled until our boy was a few months old, now they are best of friends. It is beautiful watching them bond

My husband stuggled with our son, but that was due to what would of been our oldest passing away at a few days of age due to prematurity at 24 weeks. Our next child was born also prem but at 34 weeks and all the fear of loss come back, he was afraid to bond with bubs. bubs needed to spend the first three weeks in special care.My Husband continued to work until bubs come home only visiting after hours. Our bubs made it home just in time to watch the final in 2008. It was during that time where bubs was in his crib next to his dad and his dad just picked him up and held him and cried about our previuos loss and we talked about his fears and he relised bubs made it home where he belongs. I think with the males they feel so useless when bubs is born they dont know where they stand with the care of bubs and in hospital it the mums who get all the support. Once they know and they let there guard down they will bond he might just need to be shown that he is needed and bubs couldnt do without him.

My husband is the same, he found it hard to relate to our first son as a baby as I did most things. As he got older and started to crawl, walk, talk etc everything changed and they are now best buds. My advice, give it time as it will happen 🙂

My partner never knew what to do and always thought he would get it wrong, i struggled to cope with him not being overly involved but it didnt change, he was just to nervous and unsure. all men/women are different so each reacts differently. with our second he bonded well i however didnt so it can go either way. good luck and try not to be to disheartened.

I think sometimes it is harder for them to bond as they don’t know how. A lot of partners don’t want to do the wrong thing and they don’t always have the same hormones and instincts. Plus they don’t get to breastfeed, etc. Encourage them to sit with you whilst you feed, encourage skin to skin contact with the baby and your partner. They will get there.