You check, before you bloody throw it away 😡

[KungFuPandaWorksOut16]

Round at the MIL & FIL visiting and DH left a tub of babys formula on the kitchen side when he made a bottle up for baby. Few hours go by and it's time for us too leave. I notice the baby formula isn't in the bag, ask DH where it is. He goes and searches the kitchen and comes out confused that it wasn't in there. Me, DH and MIL spend the next few minutes searching with no luck. MIL asks FIL has he saw the baby formula, he responds don't think so. We say are you sure and describe the box. He tells us
" what the empty one you left on the side? I took it outside with the rest of the recycling "

DH told his dad that it wasn't empty, how did he not notice when he lifted it up. His dad just started muttering too himself. Poor MIL went outside to see if she could salvage it but FIL must have pushed the boxes down as you do too make more room, so a squished formula box with a lot of it leaked it.

MIL is mortified and has offered to give us money too replace it, we have refused as it wasn't done purposley, just a " oops sorry silly me " of FIL would do. But apparently our fault for putting the formula on the side. Now we have the fun of tracking down baby formula on a Sunday evening when supermarkets and chemists are closed. Thank god for corner shops and garages being open!

AIBU too think FIL was being a bit giddy with his recycling or was it out fault for leaving it on the kitchen side?

side note - MIL manages too contain her recycling urges when it comes to DC baby formula box

YANBU to be annoyed that your FIL didn't either check with you before chucking the "empty" box out or at least open it to check it was definitely empty before throwing it out.

YABU to only have one single tin of milk so that it's an emergency because an accident happened ... what would have happened if you were walking out to the car and it got dropped and spilt everywhere? What would have happened if the lid came off during transport and it leaked? What would have happened if the lid wasn't on and something got spilled into the tin making it unusable? Failure to prepare on your part does not make it an emergency on your PiLs part.

I never bulk bought milk but I always had one open and one sealed in the cupboard ... when the open one was finished I opened the stored one and next time I was in the supermarket I bought a new one to become my "stored" one, just so I was never at risk of running out and not being able to get any before the next feed was due. I would never schlepp the entire tin of milk whenever we went out, purely because it was far too heavy/bulky to transport easily and DD already had enough stuff that had to be carried with her - I'd decant some into a smaller "clicklock" tupperware tub, with airtight seal and locking clips, and make sure I had more than necessary - so at least enough for 3/4 feeds more than I thought I'd need, just in case we were delayed.

It was an accident. Annoying though! And having had a formula fed baby (oh the joy when he moved to cows milk and we didn't need to faff with formula anymore!), I do understand that you go a bit loopy about it!

I always made sure I had a spare box or carton of ready made in the cupboard for this exact scenario. Not much help to you now, but you never know when you're going to be ill or run out or drop the box or contaminate it (been there done that) or of course your fil puts it in the recycling.

I've had four DC and never had a back up tin of formula

I'm pretty clumsy too and have never thrown it everywhere

Afresh me too. I've had a formula feeder in my house for pretty much the last 4.5 years. Never bought a back up, or cartons for emergencies. Never threw it away, dropped it, lost the top while driving or any of the other suggestions in this thread. I think bulk buying of anything is wasteful and encourages waste. I will buy a new one before the old one has run out but only if it's due to run out within the next day- I shop at lidl and so have to buy formula separately so I just go when we need it.

Missed the OP saying everything shuts at 4 on a Sunday! How bizarre in 2017. Is this a thing elsewhere? Are these rural areas? I've got about 3 24hr supermarkets within a 20ish minute or so drive and plenty of other smaller shops also within driving distance that stay open until about 10 every day including a Sunday. Am in Scotland but I don't live in a city.

I am in a market town. Not particularly rural. Nothing open after 4 on a Sunday except takeaways/ restaurants.

In England, all large supermarkets (and Wilko/Boots/Superdrug/Home Bargains/Mothercare etc etc) are only allowed to open for 6 hours on a Sunday, whether in a rural area or middle of a city.

That means they are all closed by 5 pm as they do 10-4 or 11-5 generally. I think the norm in Northern Ireland is 12-6. Don't know about Wales, so does Scotland have longer hours on Sunday?

Convenience stores can open later but if it was me, I would assume that convenience stores are always going to be more expensive and would generally keep a tin or two so I always got it at the best price from the supermarket (although you can't have offers on baby milk, so maybe there isn't much price variation?)

I don't know where these places are that have large supermarkets open on Sunday evening, because certainly in places like Spain and Germany a lot of shops close after lunch on Saturday and don't open again until Monday.

Shops over 280 square metres can only open for six hours. Covers Wales as well as England.

Really? You're posting about this?
It's just a mistake on both parts and no big deal!

He sounds like a bit of an arse for not even checking, sorry. It's not your fault for having out in the kitchen...where you make the bottles :/ duh?
Perhaps you should do what I did, I know I have twins so needed to stock up more as getting out every day isn't easy with newborns, but I used to go shopping once a month (to 3 different shops) for a big monthy shop and buy several tubs at once. They used to get through 2 tubs a week before we started them on cow milk. Incase of incidents like this you could keep an extra one in the cupboard? Wish I could do that now. Between my 3, a 6pt barely lasts 2 days now D:

I either don't understand this thread or it's completely irrelevant. So what?! You bought more. Life goes on, Christ, just finished a thread about someone putting their dog to sleep potentially ffs

I've had a formula feeder in my house for pretty much the last 4.5 years. Never bought a back up, or cartons for emergencies. Never threw it away, dropped it, lost the top while driving or any of the other suggestions in this thread. I think bulk buying of anything is wasteful and encourages waste

Good for you, well done for having such good fortune, but not everyone does and some of us perfer to be prepared for emergencies, just in case. It's not bulk buying to have a spare in the house, just like I always have a couple of spare loo rolls in the bathroom and a spare lightbulb and batteries in the junk drawer.Bulk buying is having a whole cupboard full of extra milk, 50 loo rolls stashed away, 20 lightbulbs and 200 batteries (and honestly, if it's an ambient product that won't go off, you are actully going to use it, it's cheaper to buy in bulk and you have room to store it, what's wrong with bulk buying?)

I once lost a whole tub of powder because as I was carrying the shopping in from the car, the handle on the bag broke and everything went flying and as the milk powder landed, somehow the packaging split sending the entire contents spilling out over my driveway. Whilst it was annoying to lose the cost and have to replace it (and have to dump it all int the bin) I didn't have to panic because I still had a 3/4 full tub in the kitchen, the one I bought was just to be my back up and so all I had to do was add the milk back onto the list so I could pick another one up (and check the bag carefully before carrying it inside!) next time I was shopping.

People saying "not thread worthy" the OP was upset and panicked at 5pm on a Sunday worrying there was nowhere to get food for her baby, cut her some slack?
Interesting to hear Scotland doesn't have the same Sunday hours law as the rest of the UK. Here even the 24 hour shops close at Midnight on Saturday, open at 10am Sunday, and shut at 4pm, then don't open til 8am Monday morning. Some have slightly different hours of 11-5, and Tesco i believe opens at 6am on Monday (some stores at least).
It's something i find very frustrating as i have disabilities that leave me mostly housebound, its a fairly uncommon occasion i can go out of the house, and it's usually at 3am to Tesco/Asda or i wouldn't get out the house at all, and Sundays are frustrating if thats the day i'm capable of going out and there's nowhere to go.

FIL doesn't sound much of a communicator!

He should have checked, what kind of silly person doesn't check something is empty before throwing it away?

This kind of silly person who threw away 300 euros in an empty medicine jar (yeah, notes don't rattle or weigh much) that OH was keeping as a rainy day fund If he could forgive me you can forgive your FIL!!

What Bumwad said.

If I was formula feeding my baby and lived where shops close at 4pm it would seem logical to have a back up tub, that's not bulk buying it's being prepared. As you've discovered accidents can happen.

It would be a good idea to always have at least 2 boxes spare. Your FiL sounds a bit careless but he did not do it on purpose. A lot of older people have this thing where nothing can be out of place or one cup can bever be left by the sink etc.

If you've only got one box of formula then you really do risk ending up in this situation one way or another OP.
Someone could have tipped it over, or seeing as you're carting your one and only box of formula from place to place you risk misplacing it too.
I think you should be more annoyed with yourselves than FIL.

FIL being an old tit by the sounds of it. Grateful to live near a 24 hour Tesco for such emergencies!!

This is another very sound reason for living in London. I could easily score formula 24 hours a day.

I'll bear it in mind for the next London-bashing thread.

Meanwhile, it's been more than 24 hours. Has OP's baby been fed? Has the FIL been suitably chastised for his crimes against recycling?

My Dh once dropped a full box of formula and spilled it all over the floor, I had only just moved on to bottle feeding and only made one bottle out of it! My system now is as soon as I open a box I buy another one!

I really think that it is barely relevant that it was a box of formula. Surely the whole point is that "you" (or anyone with more than half a brain) do(es)n't go chucking un-identified stuff away without checking a) with the owner that it was indeed meant to be disposed of and b) precisely what it is / was if you are thinking about putting it in recycling.

I'm sure in the OP's position I'd have been pretty scathing..... although experience has taught me that it is wise to systematically put your stuff back in your bag when you are out and about (especially in other people's homes) in order to make sure you don't leave it behind by mistake.

Only 6 hours on a Sunday?? 😮Glad Scotland has more sociable shopping hours. I love a wee stroll around big 24 hr Tesco late in the evening when DH at home and DCs are sleeping.
That's what passes for a social life these days
Would definitely keep a back up tin from now on OP.

If he didn't do it on purpose it was an accident therefore no reason to blame FIL. Also his kitchen his rules i.e. Don't leave stuff lying around. Next time keep your stuff neater/separate so no risk it'll be mistaken for rubbish.