I'd wager most parents would do their best to avoid a week away from home for work if it meant their partner looking after their baby solo.

Why? I’m a father and I’ve had such periods of Looking after the baby solo while mom was on a 1week vacation. Why is that such a huge issue to you? I’m guessing you don’t have children and you have all sorts of incorrect ideas about how incredibly hard it must be, but it’s just a week with a bit less non-baby focused time. It’s not like it’s incredibly difficult or anything.

In a good family dynamic, everyone goes with the flow of what needs to be done.

The kids too.

In times of great distress I can imagine a parent being away temporarily being considered a hardship.

Otherwise, it’s good for kids to spend time with different configurations of parent. And grandparents or extended family if they are lucky.

Also, in this case he wasn’t actually gone all the time. He was still there during the time he wasn’t using the AVP.

Doing their best to avoid it does not mean always avoiding it. People travel for work all the time, and many of them have kids.