Being a stay-at-home parent means you’re always on, and the five minutes you carve out when the baby is happy and occupied are basically sacred.

A new mom who took a brief breather while her well-fed, recently changed baby played contentedly with her shirt got told by her partner that turning her back for five minutes made him “feel physically sick.” And that didn’t land well for her at all.

While he works half the week, she basically breathes baby every second of every single day. So when she pushed back, he apologized, but the damage was already done.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA – My partner said he felt sick when I turned my back on our 4 month old for 5 minutes to look at my phone.

We were sleeping in bed in the morning — him being fed, burped, and with his nappy changed — when I tried to put him back on to feed.

He bit me out of boredom, so I rolled over and said he could lay there for five minutes.

This soon drew some negative attention from her partner.

He was happily playing with the back of my t-shirt and babbling when my partner asked why I had my back to him.

I said he doesn’t want anything and is quite happy resting for a moment, and my partner said it made him feel physically sick.

But she’s reminded of just how different their parenting styles really are.

Here’s the thing: my partner is great and does a lot for us around the house and otherwise, but he works half the week and I’m a stay-at-home mum at the moment, so I eat, sleep, and breathe baby.

Her partner isn’t near as good at multitasking.

When my partner takes the baby, I feel like he’s babysitting and forgets about everything else, including his own needs, like staying hydrated, making himself meals, and doing the odd chore or two, which I do daily.

So hearing this, I obviously had a go at him and was very shocked.

He showed remorse, but the damage was already done.

He then apologized, but it was the initial disgust that has left me dumbfounded.

I genuinely feel like I’m surviving on five minutes here and there to myself while the baby is occupied or content, and caring for my mental health by taking breaks and disengaging is sickening to him?

AITA?

Caring for a baby is a full-time job, but you still have to be a person.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.

What did Reddit have to say?

Independence is a good thing for kids.

Her partner clearly just needs to put himself in her shoes.

Some arguments are justified — and this was definitely one of them.

The early stages of parenting are rough on everyone, so maybe it’s best not to hold too much of a grudge.

The baby was fed, burped, changed, and happy. She needed five minutes — and she was entitled to it.

But when her partner’s gut response to that was physical disgust, it made her question whether they were really on the same page about the whole responsible parent thing.

Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint, so she’s not wrong for turning her back for five minutes. Being sleep deprived forever won’t get you far.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who was rudely confronted by a teenager, only to have the teen’s father step up in an unexpected way.