For working moms, leaving a baby with childcare is stressful. You’d think if you’re lucky enough to have a spouse who is home during the day, that would take some of the pressure off, but one mom recently learned that her husband was definitely not to be trusted when it came to their 15-month-old son. What’s worse, she found out about her husband’s reckless daily habit from someone else. He was keeping it a secret!
A mom took to Reddit to share the difficult situation she found herself in with her husband and asked for some advice about what she should do moving forward for her toddler and unborn baby’s well-being. “I feel completely sick,” she admitted. “I just found out that when my husband watches our baby while I’m at work, he will leave my not even 15-month baby home alone to go on runs.”
The husband had rationalized that what he was doing was fine. “He didn’t think it was a big deal because he claims he stays within 1/4 mile of our house and he claims he leaves the baby in his crib sleeping,” she continued. “I found out from someone else telling me he does this. He claims the reason he never told me is because he knew I wouldn’t be happy about that and he’s been doing this for MONTHS behind my back.”
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To make matters worse, the woman is expecting her second child, and now doesn’t know how to raise them with her husband. She said, “I am pregnant with our second baby and I don’t even know how to handle this situation and how I’m supposed to trust him. No matter how many times he reassured (me) something like this won’t ever happen again … I just keep thinking that he would’ve continued this until something happened.”
The poor mom went through all the horrible possibilities of what could have happened to her baby. “A fire could happen, there could be a carbon monoxide leak, baby could learn how to climb out of his crib and fall, baby could hit his head falling while standing in his crib … Or he simply could wake up crying and be scared because nobody is there responding,” she stated.
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“We have a jogging stroller, treadmill, stationary bike and a full gym setup AT HOME,” she said. She also shared that they did not have any kind of WiFi-connected baby monitor or camera system her husband could use to check in on the baby while he was gone.
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The woman shared that she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place as she didn’t want to report her husband for some kind of child neglect, but she also didn’t think she could trust him with either of their children. She had the idea to install cameras so she could periodically watch what he and the baby did throughout the day. “He CANNOT leave the house unless he takes the baby with him,” she concluded.
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As the U.K.’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children pointed outthere’s no magical legal age a child can reach that means they’re allowed to be left at home alone. However, leaving a child at risk is illegal.
There really isn’t a rational adult who could argue that leaving a 15-month-old alone, even during naptime, was a good idea. This isn’t a dad making a mistake, and this mom has every right to be worried, especially with another baby on the way.
One could certainly make the argument that this baby was facing a great deal of risk while being left home alone by his father. He needs to take some responsibility here and show true remorse for his actions. Even then, however, he will have a long way to go if he wants to earn his wife’s trust again.
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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
