I have a 6 week old girl and been exploring postpartum for dads. I get unreasonably angry at her for doing baby things. Feels like something is wrong with me. It’s 100% on me, and I’ve never been an angry person . Open to any suggestions on doing better. 😞

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You basically won’t remember the upcoming year because you will be in a chronic state of sleep deprivation. Which will also reduce your ability to self regulate.

The best metaphor I know for this is a mercury meter. Your cumulative stress is the mercury. A baby adds a structural 20 degrees. As a result, if you are living a high velocity life, you are likely now always in the red zone or or on the cusp, so just a few more degrees will push you into it. And then you are much more likely to react from an emotive place.

Welcome to parenthood.

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Give yourself a break. You are probably just really tired. You need to push through this as you need to be there for mother and baby.

Is she healthy? Is mother healthy? Then you’re fine.

If you want to add value in other ways: run the household. All the cleaning, cooking, and tidying.

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Nope, nothing wrong with you. I had that during the first couple years (kid didn’t sleep for nearly five years). I’m a very calm, nonviolent person but would get into moments of lashing out verbally. I even felt rage when my dog barked.

I went to therapy, considered medication, and other typical approaches. What ended up helping me is journaling for 5min a morning so I could figure out what was eating at me, and I also did more exercise even though I was a zombie—heavy bag helped a lot.

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This will change when the baby is a bit older; the smiles will send you over the moon. So hang in there.

What helped my wife and me tremendously is having my mother stay with us for a few months. Having someone who’s been there and done that constantly reminding you what’s worth stressing about and what isn’t is quite helpful

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I never understood how a parent could shake their baby. Until I had one of my own and discovered how unreasonably angry they can make you. There is a reason they play crying babies as a torture mechanism. Don’t get me wrong, I’d never hurt my son, but I now understand some people have shorter fuse. So give yourself a break. It’s not just you. You can love your baby unconditionally, but also feel urges to throw them out the window.

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First time dad? Going from zero kids to one kid is a major adjustment. I was not at my best as a father or husband the first few months and said a lot of things that just weren’t fair. It gets better!

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You need sleep bro

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Perinatal Anxiety & Depression affects 1 in 10 dads. You do not have to just accept it and get through it. Help is available and better for you and your family. See if there is a local program for support. In Australia we have PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia) which supports new and expecting mums and dads. Their website should at least have fact sheets and info for you to read even if you live in another country.

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Totally normal. Really small babies don’t really give you much in return and the sleep deprivation can really take it’s toll. Something that helped me was 1) getting the baby on a schedule and just putting the baby down when I got frustrated

Some great advice in this thread. If you’re on paternity leave (or even just on the weekends or days you’re not working), nap when the baby naps and try to minimize your caffeine consumption.

Give yourself a break, keep trying, and get a babysitter and separation some times

She is only 6 weeks old. Do your fatherly duty but feel free to walk away. Remember it’s not her fault she is here. Learn to love her, overtime you’ll look back and wonder why the outbursts.

Hire a babysitter so you can shower and take a nap. Seriously. It’s ok to literally need a break. If you can get a night nurse even for just a few days to get a few nights sleep and maybe the nurse will observe some things or make some recommendations to you based on individual situation

As other people have said this is totally normal. When I had those feelings at 2 AM after getting woken up again, I made a point to make sure whatever I said when I entered her room was sweet and empathetic (regardless of how I felt). That sets the tone for the whole encounter

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