In laws constantly refer to daughter as ‘baby’ rather than her name!

Aww mine as well, brought back lovely memories seeing your post.
my youngest dgd is three I sometimes still call her “The baby” as even now her name just seems so grown up for such a little dot.
do agree though thingy isn’t very nice.

Maybe they hate the name Knoxlynneleigh.

Massive over reaction!

My children get green-eyed-monster over it too 😂

Mine are 9 and 6 years old and I will always grab one for a cuddle and say, “Whose my special little baby?”

And the other one soon appears telling me that he’s also my special baby 😂❤️

Yes I think you are very much overreacting.

Our youngest is always called the baby. It's like a term of endearment. Infact my older one sometimes gets green eyes and says

"I'm still your baby too aren't I Mummy!"

I think you are massively overthinking this. Sometimes babies seem too little to have a name somehow. Like they need to grow into their personalities a bit first 😂
I think as a mum, you've spent months and months perusing and pontificating over names and weighing them up and deciding so it probably feels like a much bigger thing to you. Also you've probably had longer to think of her as that name. But it doesn't sound like your inlaws mean anything malicious by it so I really wouldn't worry.

Encouraging language like baby informs child of family they belong to. Later on they would like to opinion continuance without shocking language

This is the best response to being told yabu I’ve seen on mumsnet yet 😂
fwiw don’t stress it, I call my son ‘the boy’ or, more often, just ‘boy’ I absolutely adore him, doesn’t mean I don’t love his name either!

This is completely normal for many people isn't it? My DGM always called DC1 baby/the baby/the bairn until DC2 was born. DC1 got a nickname from then (shortened version of her name which we also often use) and DC1 became baby etc! My DSis will be having a baby soon so I presume DC2 will start to get his name and new baby will then be baby! DH's DGM has done exactly this too and so have all my great aunts. I think it's sweet. I still call DC2 'the baby' sometimes myself and he's just turned 2!

It's habit. We do the same with our own until they are a bit more like proper people. Not sure why, its just a habit.

I think baby is pretty normal. We still do it sometimes and he’s 3!
Thingy, not so much.

"The baby" is fine and pretty common for grandparents, or even parents. I called my son "the baby" when talking about for quite some time. "Thingy" however is a very odd way to talk about her grandchild but at least it was a one off. Maybe she was flustered.

Perhaps go and watch the last few series and the Christmas specials of Gavin and Stacey, that might make you feel less annoyed.

I was still called "the baby" of the family by my grandmother and at that stage I was 12 and helping her navigate shopping centres with her poor sight and bad hearing.
I still remember her asking "What would the baby want for Christmas?" to my mum. I was able to pipe up from the back of the car, "I'd like X or Y Granny, thank you". She was quite the card 😁

Yes I think you are over reacting big time. They are saying baby out of endearment!

I refer to our 3 YEAR 10 MONTH OLDS as the babies. It's love, not disdain

My brother is the baby and he’s 24 😂 Dd is 7 and I still say oh I’ve got to go pick the baby up from school etc. So they may not grow out of it.

I don’t think they’re doing it to cause harm, but you’ve got your PFB so will be mega on it in regards to things like this. It won’t annoy you in a few years.

A woman I worked with always referred to her youngest child as 'the babby'. (Birmingham). I never learnt the child's actual name.
My grandmother called me 'Baby Bunting' for years. It's very sad when they die and you realise you will never hear it again.

My youngest (7 weeks) is 'the baby'. By grandparents, us, and siblings, everyone really 😆 and I'm guessing she will be for many years! Before she came along the next youngest was the baby... until the new one came along. I've got four children and they've always been 'the baby' at some point.

It's adorable. And in the grand scheme of things not a big deal and temporary.

I think it's quite natural to call a baby 'the baby' to start with. If you're not the parent, you don't know much of their character to start with and, as the mother is usually always present, they do seem rather like her appendage to begin with, rather than a separate human being.

I get asked how are "your girls" frequently - youngest now 18. Not quite the same but I'm not offended by the non use of their names.

Oh God this is totally normal in our family, all babies are referred to as 'the baby' until they get replaced by another sibling or niece or nephew!

Same.

My parents and in-laws call their grandchildren by their names and their uncles and aunts do to. My parents and sister do add little nicknames and DH and I have our own but we’re all still saying their names and our youngest is barely a week old.

I would at least expect the baby’s name to be said at least a few times here and there, not just referred to as the baby.

I’d just ask why.

I still refer to my one year old as the baby even though he isn't one anymore

I think a lot of people do this without even thinking

Hmmm , not sure . I have a 12 week dgc and I’ve always used their name , every single time and in every context from day one . I wouldn’t use “how’s the baby” etc . Seems weird to me .

My son is 22 and I call him my big baby on occasion!

I have relatives like this. And then they refer to anyone under the age of about five as "baby [name]". I find it strange and a little endearing, as though baby is a title. I also think it might be regional.