I've got a six month old baby. My partner got really sick on boxing day. I told him to rest up and leave the rest of things to me (and to keep the germs away from baby). I handled babycare on my own entirely for the holidays (with some help from my parents for laundry and household stuff) and today I returned to full-time work and handled baby's transition to infantcare (first day) entirely on my own today in addition to pumping milk like a madwoman and still doing some design side gigs outside my official work. It all went well despite an extremely hectic schedule and I seem to be coping better than expected. I was surprised to find that I can indeed do it all on my own.

I came home and this... seems to have produced a weird dynamic in the house now. Partner seems depressed and really down because he hasn't been close to baby and me for sometime (he was "banished" to the other bedroom for recovery) and he said he feels I don't need him. He's actually the kindest most patient, lovely, helpful person that I know but I'm not in this because I want help, I just like being with him. I want to be with him.

But it seems my new self-sufficiency + productiveness (being able to work fulltime and also care for baby entirely on my own during his illness) has made him feel not needed and this realisation has somehow depressed him greatly.

What can I do to encourage him? I suspect he might have a touch of ppd for husbands :-(