I think #1 is certainly valid. My Nana has 30(ish) grandchildren, and each new young one seems to take years off of her. We secretly joke that it is because she has to have all of the extra time to run through the ever-growing list of names when she yells at someone: "Barry, Terry, Len, Larry, Moe, Curly, Ringo...YOU! Come HERE!"

I don't think #2 would work very well unless you outline your time frame. In current time, I think men are taking on a caregiver role much more often than they might have in the past. Even in my own grandfather's generation, the men were very seldom at home with the children. They might be caring, but they aren't the primary caregiver. I don't think the chances of finding examples of men-as-primary would be much greater in the time periods mentioned above. However, it would be interesting to see if male life expectancies are lengthening with their currently changing roles.