Parenting is challenging for most people, and even the best of the best have bad days. However, no account of good or bad parenting can justify what happened with this Reddit user.
Reddit user Briannaoops recently turned to the internet for advice. She posted about how her husband fell asleep while watching their baby overnight and almost set the house on fire. This led to netizens debating whether the husband’s carelessness stems from exhaustion or if something worse is at play.
In the viral Reddit relationship advice forum, she posted that the couple had been splitting nighttime childcare duties. Her husband, 26, watches over their baby from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. every night. During the husband’s shift, he fell asleep multiple times, forcing her to wake up to take care of their crying baby.
Things worsened one night when her husband decided to have pizza and left it in the oven. She said:
“Then last night, my husband left a pizza in the oven for over 2 hours while he fell asleep, during his shift.”
Not only did he leave the baby alone, but he also almost set the house on fire. She explained:
“The baby was in the bassinet in the kitchen screaming when I woke up. The kitchen was filled with smoke and my husband was soundly asleep on the living room couch.”
What’s worse is that when she woke up, her husband didn’t realize the gravity of what had happened or could have happened and instead insisted it wasn’t a “big deal.”
Upset and frustrated, she shared:
“I was so upset and angry. The baby was breathing in smoke for at least an hour and the oven was close to catching on fire.”
Although the husband eventually understood the severity of what happened and has apologized to her, the Reddit user is still unsure if she can trust him again.
As the Reddit post gained traction, many users asked the most logical question: why did the smoke alarm never go off?
As questions poured in about the alarms, the poster later clarified the situation in an update. She explained:
“For everyone wondering about the smoke alarms, we just moved into a new rental and assumed the smoke alarms worked. Turns out they never even put batteries in them, which is definitely on us for not checking!”
This update led to users debating the husband’s negligence and the reason behind it.
Some even hinted at substance abuse, with Redditor Cchrissyy stating:
“Are there any other signs of a drinking problem or pills? Because that’s what the heavy sleep and leaving baby in another room sounds like to me – a sign of substances altering his mental status. If you have any other reasons to think that, I would insist on rehab or take the baby and go stay with family.”
Another user, Mutatedavocado, added:
“Not to be that person, but is he an evening drinker? It’s hard to sleep through all of that naturally.”
While others suggested sending him for sleep studies or getting “watches that vibrate” to wake him up every 15 minutes.
