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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to want to keep baby things given to me by my sister.

281 replies

Noonesawme · 23/01/2024 10:16

When DS was born, DSis gave us all their baby things including big bits like crib and changing table and loads of clothes. They are adamant they're not having more children so there was never a conversation about needing to give anything back when she gave them to us. I am genuinely very grateful for her giving us all these bits.

DSis has now asked for a lot of these things back to give to her DH's sister who is having her first baby.

I do feel a bit annoyed at this. DS is still young so we haven't decided for sure yet if we want another but it's definitely not off the table and we have put these things away now DS has finished with them (she isn't asking for anything DS is still using, just that he has outgrown, to be fair).
I did say to DSis we were hoping to keep everything ready for if and when we have another and DSis spoke to her sis-in-law who agreed to give anything back if we have a second.
I still feel a bit irritated though. Her sis-in-law is a bit older than me so probably likely to have a second baby not that long after they have this one if they want another (I don't know her at all, just going on what DSis has mentioned) so I can see that we may well end up clashing with needing some of these bits and because it'll be in her house, she'll be the one that gets to keep them. From what I know of her they have a lot more money than DH and I do and could probably much more easily afford to buy all these things if they weren't given them whereas we would really struggle to replace everything we thought we wouldn't have to think about at all.
I know I didn't buy these things myself but they are sentimental also as they were DS's baby things and I just don't really want to give them away and have to hope we get them back.
WIBU to just refuse to give them back?

OP posts:
canthelpitt · 23/01/2024 11:37

This must be a reverse.

Pinkl · 23/01/2024 11:39

Your sister gave you these items and as she had no plans to have anymore children there wasn’t an expectation for her to want them back. She then promised them to someone else without consulting you first! This i do find rude rude and it created this awkward situation. Having said that I do think you should pass on what you can and what isn’t sentimental to you.

TraitorsHood · 23/01/2024 11:39

I don't think you're unreasonable at all @Noonesawme !!

I think when you give something away then it's given away?? If your sister gave them to you without any caveat that she'd want them back then I can't see why she still thinks they're hers to pass on?

I also think it's really frustrating when people 'give' you large items for babies and then unexpectedly want them back - MIL gave us some bits for our DD which her friend had passed on to her as her grandchild had outgrown them. Now this friend wants them back because her niece is having a baby and it's a pain in the arse as it's all gone in the loft and now we have to fish out eg. a bouncer chair and lug it round to MIL's over an hour away so she can give it back. We would never have taken it had we known she'd want it back.

lola8345 · 23/01/2024 11:39

You give it all back. Bouncy chairs, cribs, playmate...these are not sentimental items. The outfit baby came home from the hospital YES!

If you wanted to hoard a load of stuff for sentimental reasons you should have bought your own. In fact why don't you do that, go and spend thousands on new items, give the to your sister, so you can admire a load of stuff.

Noonesawme · 23/01/2024 11:39

Wow! Overwhelmingly BU then... Fair enough!
It's not that I'm being selfish. Well I suppose I am, I'm just worried about not getting these things back if and when we need them as they are special to us. Not just from being DS's but my niece and nephew too. But you're right, the odds are slim that we'll have a second baby at the same time so I'll hand it over. Thank you

OP posts:
HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:40

How about everyone be an adult and actually stump up the cash to buy things for their own kids instead of fighting over handouts. FGS, YABU and so is anyone else expecting long-term loans of baby items for planned and expected kids when they have an income and should actually be providing these things for themselves.

TraitorsHood · 23/01/2024 11:40

I can't believe so many think it's OK to give things away to someone and then demand them back to give to someone else?? Without prior warning that it was just a loan??

HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:41

Noonesawme · 23/01/2024 11:39

Wow! Overwhelmingly BU then... Fair enough!
It's not that I'm being selfish. Well I suppose I am, I'm just worried about not getting these things back if and when we need them as they are special to us. Not just from being DS's but my niece and nephew too. But you're right, the odds are slim that we'll have a second baby at the same time so I'll hand it over. Thank you

They belong to your sister, not you. Did you consider they're special to her?

SouthLondonMum22 · 23/01/2024 11:42

HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:41

They belong to your sister, not you. Did you consider they're special to her?

If OP's sister gave them to her, they now belong to OP, not the sister.

graciemcadams · 23/01/2024 11:42

peachgreen · 23/01/2024 10:52

This has to be a reverse. God, I hate reverse threads.

@peachgreen what's a reverse thread?X

Notonthestairs · 23/01/2024 11:42

You aren't even using the stuff, you dont know when you will use and you'd rather it stayed in storage!
Good grief.

SJM1988 · 23/01/2024 11:43

TraitorsHood · 23/01/2024 11:40

I can't believe so many think it's OK to give things away to someone and then demand them back to give to someone else?? Without prior warning that it was just a loan??

me too!

MotherOfCrocodiles · 23/01/2024 11:43

I hear you op, giving away baby things was an emotional step for me and I did it when I felt ready. For me I gave away the baby stuff when my youngest was about 2 and the baby times started to feel distant.

I think it's especially fraught if it's all tied up with uncertainty about whether you might have a second child

Not everyone thinks about items in the same way, your sister (like everyone here apparently) either takes a practical view, or in fact has her own emotional reasons for wanting to see the things used again ASAP

Can you have a conversation with her about why you find it difficult to part with certain items right now

HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:43

SouthLondonMum22 · 23/01/2024 11:42

If OP's sister gave them to her, they now belong to OP, not the sister.

They belong to the people who paid for them. Not the people who were loaned the items.

butelass · 23/01/2024 11:44

SIL's kids are also your sister's niece and nephew. And her DH is just as entitled as she is to want to share outgrown stuff with close family.

If you were still using them or also pregnant then she WBU.

You are U to be anything but slightly disappointed (and keep that to yourself).

(I really through this was a reverse too until the update!)

graciemcadams · 23/01/2024 11:44

I'm quite surprised at the responses here.

I would never give something away to someone (there's no mention of it being loaned) and then ask for it back?

Am I missing something here?

If not, OP I don't think you're being unreasonable

MyOodieIsAGoooodie · 23/01/2024 11:44

Did you only use things your sister gave you for your baby? You didn't buy anything yourself that's sentimental too?

SouthLondonMum22 · 23/01/2024 11:45

HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:43

They belong to the people who paid for them. Not the people who were loaned the items.

There's a difference between giving and borrowing/loaning. OP says they were given to her, not loaned to her.

Doowop1919 · 23/01/2024 11:46

Wow. Just wow. Your sister should never have bothered. You sound ungrateful and selfish in your op.

butelass · 23/01/2024 11:46

@graciemcadams it's when the OP is actually the other person in the situation (in this case OP was actually SIL) and wants to check the protagonist of the story IS indeed unreasonable.

LadyBird1973 · 23/01/2024 11:46

If your sister loaned them to you, they are hers. But if she gave them, they are yours.
It's a shame this wasn't made clear. I go understand getting attached to things that your baby used and wanting to keep them.
I'd keep hold of a few of my favourite outfits and return the rest to sil and next time, buy what you need do that you can retain control over what happens to them.

abeeabeeisafterme · 23/01/2024 11:47

Wow. Give them back with a huge thank you and present. Most people would also include their own baby bits that could be shared with their sisters SIL.

MyOodieIsAGoooodie · 23/01/2024 11:48

graciemcadams · 23/01/2024 11:44

I'm quite surprised at the responses here.

I would never give something away to someone (there's no mention of it being loaned) and then ask for it back?

Am I missing something here?

If not, OP I don't think you're being unreasonable

I also think this btw.

I mean, I'd give it back as your Dsis has promised them rightly/wrongly to her sis in law who has said she'll give them back, but I do think this stuff is technically yours now.

Perhaps get the 3 of you in a WA thread and list it all so you are in direct contact. How far are you off TTC for number 2?

HowToSaveAWife · 23/01/2024 11:48

SouthLondonMum22 · 23/01/2024 11:45

There's a difference between giving and borrowing/loaning. OP says they were given to her, not loaned to her.

From the OP:

there was never a conversation about needing to give anything back when she gave them to us.

Omission is not permission. OP assumed she was entitled to the items forevermore. That's not the case.

MaxandMinniesMummy · 23/01/2024 11:48

Totally unreasonable. If your child is no longer using the items, pass them onto someone who needs them. How selfish!