A new mum has shared her outrage after discovering that her mother-in-law fed her child formula milk against her wishes.
The 31-year-old asked Reddit’s AITA (Am I The A**hole) forum whether she was wrong to kick her MIL (mother-in-law) out after making the shocking discovery.
The mum wrote that ever since her three-month-old baby was born, her MIL has been “constantly giving unsolicited advice” and “making passive-aggressive comments” about the way she parents.
And the biggest bone of contention has been her choice to exclusively breastfeed.
The parent said her mother-in-law, who she called “Tremaine” (not her real name), insisted that formula is better because “breastfed babies are too clingy”.
“I’ve told her multiple times that this is our choice, and Kyle [OP’s husband] has backed me up,” said the mum.
When her MIL paid a visit recently to help out while Kyle was running errands, the new parent said she went to take a quick shower, leaving her baby in his cot with her husband’s mother looking after him.
But when she came back into the room, nothing could’ve prepared her for what she saw, as she claimed her MIL was holding a bottle and feeding her baby formula.
“I was in shock,” said the parent. “She saw me and immediately said, ‘See? He’s drinking so well! This is why I told you formula is best!’.”
Filled with rage, the new parent said she “completely lost it” and retrieved her baby from her MIL before telling her to “leave immediately”.
“She started screaming, saying she was just trying to help and that I was being ungrateful. When Kyle came home, he was furious at his mom but said I might have overreacted by kicking her out so abruptly,” she continued.
“Some family members are saying I should apologise and let her see the baby again, but I don’t trust her anymore. So am I the asshole?”
Everyone was in unanimous agreement that the baby’s grandparent was in the wrong here for disrespecting her wishes.
“NTA [not the asshole],” said one commenter. “Do not leave the baby alone with her. Let her know that she crossed a line and therefore her privileges of being alone with the baby are revoked. Until she can respect your parenting choices, she doesn’t get to be alone with him.”
User Fearless_logic added: “You are the mother and you decide what your child gets or doesn’t get. End of story. She has NO RIGHT coming in to your home and disrespecting you like that.”
As well as disrespecting a clear boundary, some people noted she could’ve caused the baby harm.
“What if your baby was allergic to that formula. She made an executive decision about a child that isn’t hers,” said one respondent. “Therefore that child will never be alone with her again. Personally I would never even let her hold the baby again.”
Another parent added that “there are horror stories about grandparents not believing parents about allergies and giving food to [the] child that has sometimes lethal consequences”.
“This is your child and you make the decisions about feeding,” they added.
What do you think? Let us know!