Mother-In-Law Lets Grandson Latch On And Now Mother Doesn't Want Her Near Her Baby

Sep 30, 2021 by apost team

It’s common for mothers to go into protective mommy mode whenever something bad happens to their child or whenever they feel like their child is in a potentially dangerous environment. Mothers typically will do anything to make sure their little ones are safe and protected at all times — no matter what. A first-time mother recently had a disturbing encounter with her mother-in-law with regards to her own child. The incident has left her wondering if it would be best not to let her mother-in-law ever see the child again.

For about the first six months of their life, babies should be exclusively breastfed if possible, according to the CDC. After this, parents typically incorporate formula and mushy foods, and eventually go on to add solid foods once the baby’s teeth start coming in. However, most babies continue to be breastfed until they are either 1 or 2 years old. Everyone’s situation is different, but it’s most common for babies to be breastfed during this time frame in the U.S.

It goes without saying that the mother should be the only one breastfeeding their child, but unfortunately this was not the case for one mother. When visiting her mother-in-law, she found out that her mother-in-law had actually tried nursing another baby that wasn’t hers. The mother was completely shocked and grossed out and has since wondered if she should trust her mother-in-law to be around her own child.

She went to Reddit on Sept. 21, 2021, to ask for advice and find out if she was overreacting to what she felt was a troubling situation.

Starting off her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) talked about how “rocky” her relationship with her mother-in-law has been. It first started after the OP gave birth to her baby and her mother-in-law showed up completely unannounced three days later. The mother-in-law had also seen her just six days after she gave birth, but they haven't seen each other since.

A few months went by before the OP met up with her mother-in-law again since their relationship had been so strained. “We met up about a month ago where MIL took no responsibility/wouldn't acknowledge any wrongdoing or even that she had spoken ill of me after my birth,” the OP explained. Fortunately, they were able to act cordially around each other for the sake of the OP’s husband.

During the weekend of Sept. 18, 2021, the OP and her husband planned on visiting her mother-in-law with their baby. It was the first time the older woman got to see the baby again following the initial hospital visit months prior. “We went and MIL was beyond obnoxious and even insulting (tried to rip baby out of my hands twice and at one point even cornering me while baby was asleep, told me I’m spoiling baby),” the OP said. 

The visit only continued to go downhill when the OP’s mother-in-law revealed some troubling information. The OP recalled, “The worst part is that I was nursing baby near her and she tells me that two weeks prior she had allowed her grandson to latch her to realize there was nothing there. At the time I was mostly ignoring it and the day after I realized how inappropriate it was and I’m disturbed.”

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The OP was utterly shocked at what happened. She didn’t want to sexualize the act of breastfeeding, but she also knew it was completely wrong for her mother-in-law to try to breastfeed when she knew she wasn’t even lactating, especially with a baby that wasn’t even hers. “It has me very paranoid about my child being there so we agreed to keep visits rare, short, and supervised,” the OP explained. “I think it really disturbed me that she didn’t see the behavior as inappropriate at all and thought it was a casual way in which to relate to me.”

At first, she wondered if she was overreacting to the situation, but Reddit users were quick to assure her that she was right to be so upset with her mother-in-law’s actions. One user commented, “Don’t ever leave your child alone with her. Follow your instincts, they won’t steer you wrong.” Another agreed and said, “Strong boundaries are needed and a call to the authorities too.” A third user replied, “Do the 2-year-old’s parents know about Disgusto Granny? My kid wouldn’t come within 10 miles of that trainwreck.”

It seemed like the OP took the comments to heart and decided to take action. Updating her post, she explained that her mother-in-law would never get the chance to watch her baby unsupervised and even wants to limit her interactions with the baby while supervised. “I’m a first time mom and I didn’t want anyone to think I’d be neglectful and ever allow her unsupervised access to my child,” the OP said.

What do you think about this first-time mother’s disturbing encounter with her mother-in-law? What actions do you think she should take? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family members and friends, too.