My ex-husband told me he loved me when we were dating after a few weeks. I never said it back. After a week of him saying it and me not returning the sentiment he said it was hard to tell me he loved me when I didn't say it back. I said, you don't want me to lie, do you? Sorry now I ever told him I loved him.

You say it when you feel it.
If the other person doesn't, then they probably don't feel it.
You both then get to decide what to do with that information.

I agree with your instincts.

Premature “I love you’s“ say “I want something from you”.

Whereas a timely “I love you” says “I care to give to you”.

“One week” notification would send me running... for they don’t even know me a little.

For me it would be 2 or 3 months to tell someone I them.

It should be voiced when you truly feel it, but I think genuine love takes time. If someone were telling me they love me after only a week I'd be extremely skeptical and consider it a red flag of huge proportions. You can't even begin to know someone in a week or two.....not really at any rate.

That is too soon.

Yeah very subjective no time limit

First, I wouldn't assume the statement is made to pressure you. It could be, but if it's made in good faith, it's made without the expectation of a particular response or the assumption that you're coming along at the same pace. You have to question whether the pressure is real or not. It's not impossible for someone to be head over heels very quickly, and at least it's a huge compliment.

Tell him you're not there yet, and his reaction will tell you all you need to know. If he really loves you, he won't start pouting or acting out. He'll tell you that's fine.

Of course if this was literally a week, then chalk it up to irrational exuberance, and discount its value as actual "love". At that stage he could only comment on what little he knows of you -- outward appearance and appeal, interesting conversation, meeting of the minds -- but I agree it's too soon to make a declaration of enduring love. I'm just arguing there's no inherent reason to feel put upon.

To answer the question: When you mean it.

I dodged a bullet. Every single day, Nick dropped by hungry without calling first.

He prowled in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Raised to be a gracious hostess, I made him a protein smoothie or fed him dinner. Suddenly I was cooking for two. This was a big imposition.

"You are a great cook!" Nick said. He insisted he knew how to cook. But when he promised to make dinner, instead he brought fast food that I don't eat.

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time," Maya Angelou said.

After 2-3 weeks, I dumped Nick because of serious problems with sex and communication.

Every time is the right time! Love doesn't need time, it needs trueness!
Just explain to him, if he has it in him to love, then he should feel it with no expectations...... if he truly loves you he will be just expressing his feelings which not wrong. You don't have to return the same feelings because there is no favor done in loving someone or someones .. love is love and that's it

It seems that men often use it as a lever. A week is way too soon. Love needs to be demonstrated before it is spoken.

As soon as you can’t not say it. But a week is too soon. A month is too soon. If you say it, when you say it, mean it. No take backs.

The right time to tell someone you love them is the instant you feel it.

When two people feel strongly for one another, love knows no time or boundaries.

I'm not going to live my life counting how many days, weeks, or months go by before I tell the man I love that I truly love him. It could be too late.

I'd rather have loved and lost than not have loved at all.

Love is worth every smile and every painful tear.

I wonder if saying "I love you" too early is a lack of empathy. If wonder if the right timing to say it is when you mean it AND you get enough signs from the other person that the feeling goes both ways. They say that time has no respect for what's done without it.

In any event just remember: These moments won't come back around. The short time we are allowed is precious and we have to make the most of it.

I just go with how l feel.

It depends on so many things. I'm usually very hesitant to say it but I've said it after 3 days. That relationship lasted 10 years. But it didn't put her off like it does you. So it is too early, only because you feel it is.

Wen you mean it ?

This is bullshit. What do you call trust? Loving can happen anytime weather you just met someone or you have been together for years, and simply because you have been with someone for years and he or she "I love you", make them real. Most domestic violence is done by people we have known for decades.

I have to say that saying you waited 6 months to a year sounds like you were holding back all that time, rather than being honest about how you felt. So, one could say you were as needy as anyone else, which is just a matter of desperation, not whether you're worthy or anything. It's not necessarily unhealthy to grab a life preserver when you're drowning, it's just a situation you both should be aware of and work with. It's not against the law to be lonely. If you can't handle meeting someone who's more than ready to start a relationship and who's willing to jump in with both feet, fine, but don't make it a crime and run into the night screaming. Of course building trust and everything takes time, but that's not the same as having the hots for someone. Just a thought. Personally I've held off getting involved with anyone for a very long time. That hasn't earned me any brownie points, and one could just as well say I haven't been willing to be open enough. Putting arbitrary time limits on how you feel and whether to express it is just another form of game playing.

However, I do agree that it takes time to know if you really love someone for who they are, not just how bad you need to be in a relationship. If you know someone hasn't gotten to know you well enough to love you, then yeah, they are at least a bit needy if not delusional or deceptive. For example, online dating sites are full of scammers who pelt unwary men and women with flowery promises of love, betting on their loneliness so's to take advantage of them.

My wife and I courted for ten years on and off before we married, less than four months after that she died. Life is short it is better to fill it with a lot of mistakes made in haste, than play safe and make none but the mistake of emptiness.

You cannot love someone after a week, I don't think. Not proper love. Infatuation, yes. Abiding love takes a little time is my belief. Take things carefully, needy can turn into controlling.

That depends. It is only words and what do they actually mean. So many people say I love you but in the next breath call you horrible names.

I'm 35. I hardly ever tell my mother that I love her. I don't think I ever told my dad that. My kid sis, I hardly ever tell her as well. I've been friends with all of these people for over 30 years. I'd be a skeptic if he said those words after a week. Seems wonky.

Take care,

M.