Outrage as Dad Told He Shouldn’t Be Changing Daughter’s Diapers

A man has turned to the internet to express his frustration after receiving unsolicited advice about parenting.

The Reddit post shared by retired military veteran u/WeGoinToSizzler quickly went viral, racking up 20,000 upvotes in less than 24 hours.

Relaying a recent conversation that took place on the school run, he wrote: “One mom (who I’m not familiar with) chimed in at some point that I shouldn’t be changing my daughter’s diapers (because I’m a male), that my wife should be the one doing it.”

According to research from the U.K.’s University of Warwick, in 1982 43 percent of fathers had never changed a diaper. Almost three decades later, 65 percent of fathers reported helping “a great deal” with diaper duties, in a study by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit. However, this generational shift toward more equitable sharing of parenting responsibilities isn’t for everyone.

At the time, the poster, who states he has a “thick skin,” wasn’t bothered, but upon reflection he was infuriated by the comment.

“I love my daughter and would never let anything bad happen to her,” he wrote. “It’s starting to really annoy me that she said something like that.”

An Uncommon Opinion

Newsweek reached out to Lauren O’Carroll of Positively Parenting in England, who explained why dads should wipe their child’s bottom.

“Personal care tasks such as changing diapers are a fantastic opportunity for play and connection. Excluding dads from tasks such as this would also exclude them from being in sole charge of their kids, which will likely be:

• Detrimental to the bonding between father and child.
• Detrimental to the mother, who will not be able to have any time to herself.
• Detrimental to the romantic relationship as resentment will start to build.
• Detrimental to the child’s development as both mom and dad will be more unhappy, mum will be depleted, and (as you can’t pour from an empty cup) she will have less patience and energy for her child.

“Thankfully, the view expressed by this mother is not a commonly held opinion,” added O’Carroll, who also noted that parents with a history of abuse and/or are not trusted shouldn’t have this task.

“But neither should they be around their child unsupervised. However, that is an entirely different discussion,” she said.

Reddit Reacts

The December 4 post has sparked fury online and received more than 2,000 comments.

“This sounds like the type of woman who would call the police on a strange man in the park who happens to be there with his children. My husband was the stay at home parent, and he would get upset at people who asked if he was babysitting. Oh, and he changed a lot more diapers than I did. This woman is toxic,” said one user.

Another user said: “I changed both my son and daughters when they were young, I don’t see any issues. Especially when my partner went back to work (she works nights and I work days) so we shared the chores between us. We talk about sanitary products, I buy them from the shop for her, it’s nothing for us just real life thinks that happen and nothing to be embarrassed about. Well done for being a dad, nothing weird about it at all.”

Newsweek reached out to u/WeGoinToSizzler for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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