'I've banned my mother-in-law from seeing our baby after breastfeeding row'
10.06.2024 - 18:29
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A mum has reached her breaking point with her mother-in-law's actions, which she claims have "disregarded wishes for grandchild", causing family strife.
Becoming a new parent is an exhilarating yet challenging journey. Despite the idyllic portrayal of parenthood in books, stories, and films, many new parents would beg to differ.
It's also typical for older relatives who've had children to offer their pearls of wisdom when a younger family member welcomes a baby - even if their advice isn't always welcome.
One 28-year-old first-time mum, who prefers to stay anonymous, revealed that like many new mothers, she's been grappling with "dealing with a lot of stress and exhaustion". Her situation has been exacerbated by her mother-in-law's "controlling" behaviour, she recently shared on Reddit, leaving her feeling even more stressed.
Posting on the forum Am I the A*****e?, she detailed how her husband's mother has been feeding her baby girl formula milk – despite being told that she's exclusively breastfeeding her baby or using expressed milk when relatives babysit. The new mum is so "furious" with the 55-year-old grandmother's actions that she's now barred her mother-in-law from seeing the baby.
In a frustrated account, the mum detailed: "My newborn hasn't been sleeping much, and I've been only breastfeeding. One day, I was completely exhausted and decided to take a nap, leaving my newborn with my mother-in-law for a few hours. When I woke up, I found my mother-in-law asleep. I checked the fridge and noticed all the breast milk I had pumped was still there."
A baffled daughter-in-law asked about this, whereupon the grandmother reportedly said she "thought my breast milk was causing the baby's sleeplessness because of my stress, so