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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to hesitate about daughter, boyfriend and baby moving in?

394 replies

DannyOD · Yesterday 10:23

Okay - so this will be long so strap in.

My two DD’s (26 and 22) live with me and DH. They have never particularly got on and Dd2 dislikes Dd1’s boyfriend intensely. For reference Dd2 has AuDHD and finds him too loud and in your face. He also cheated on Dd1 6 years ago which she has forgiven but Dd2 hasn’t.

Dd1 has just announced that she is pregnant. She wants to move her BF in and live with us when the baby is born. DD2 is adamant that this cannot happen as she says there is not enough room (we can do it with a bit of shuffling about - there is more room at his parents house) and that she couldn’t bear to live with him and a baby and if we go ahead she will move out and live with my elderly Mum. She is spiralling a bit anyway as she has finished her Uni course this year and finds change really challenging.

I just don’t know what to do. I would love to have the baby here and help Dd1 but this is Dd2’s home too and I need to take her feelings into account too.

OP posts:
BeSparklyMoose · Today 09:20

This is super tough and I do feel for you OP. I completely appreciate you want to held DD1 and that having your first GC live with you would be lovely. However, if DD2 is ND and struggling I think it would be really unfair to turn her life upside down like that. It sounds like it’s no secret she doesn’t like DD1’s bf and DD1 has put you in her sister in a really awkward situation by asking for this when she must have known it would be awful for her sister. I also can’t imagine it would be nice for her BF living in a house with someone who openly dislikes him. I think there would be a lot of hostility and above all else that’s not an environment for a baby to be in.

Have DD1 and her BF looked into the possibility of any sort of help to find a place for them to live through the housing association to make it more manageable? Or considered living at his parents’ house if there’s more room? I feel for you because it’s wonderful that she’s able to have a baby if she thought she’d struggle. It’s really happy news but she’s put you in a very awkward position by asking for this when she’s already pregnant when if you knew before she could have gone into pregnancy aware that living at your house likely wasn’t an option. Bottom line is they are both adults who’ve made an adult decision and I don’t think you can penalise DD2 for their choice.

Best of luck to you! I hope baby arrives happy and healthy and your daughter has a lovely pregnancy!

Youhadrambledonfor18pages · Today 09:25

DurinsBane · Today 08:20

Maybe it was unplanned?

They’ve decided to go ahead with the pregnancy, planned or not. That’s a choice.

Regardless, at 26 especially when there are two parents of the baby involved you don’t expect grandparents to house all three of you.

Ethelspagetti · Today 09:28

No he should not be allowed to move in. He can only visit. Otherwise where is his incentive to step up and work hard and save up to get a place of their own?! Don’t make him comfortable. Just support your daughter with her baby. If she cries about being with him then tell her they need to save up and move out. If she moves in with the grandma then that’s down to them, but probably won’t work out in the end. As he will probably take over the grandmas home and she’ll get sick of it, asking you to intervene.

croisette · Today 09:29

I’d tell your DD she and her baby are always welcome but if they want to live as a family they need to find their own place / elsewhere.

sounds like your younger DD nearly needs your support right now and I wouldn’t make her home environment a hostile one until she finds her next steps after graduation etc.

Nowthatshuge · Today 09:34

DannyOD · Yesterday 10:35

Not particularly to be honest. He has some good points but I do find him irritating and lazy. I am hoping he will step up now. I do however love my Dd1 and want to help her.

OP you are being very kind but you’re actually at big risk of facilitating a whole mess for everyone.

By character already the boyfriend demonstrating he is lazy and you’re giving him an out already by housing him, there is very little to zero chance of him ‘stepping up’ as he has less reason to, human nature will mean he takes the path of least resistance, ie. If the options are to get a job, work hard and compromise so that he can provide a home for his child vs live at his mother in laws for cheap or no rent which is set up for childcare on hand and probably meals etc, he is going to choose option B

also, your 26 year old daughter is now in a situation of her own making yet your younger daughter is expected to have her whole world turned upside down to accommodate, this is grossly unfair and traumatic for her. How will your relationship with her recover?

also, your life should be heading into a more peaceful era now, your kids are grown up but now you seem to be inviting chaos into your home, they will not leave for a very long time and you have already stated you don’t even like your daughters boyfriend.

the best plan now seems to be that you tell them that you aren’t in a position to offer them all a home so they have the option for your daughter to stay home with the baby and boyfriend can only stay over a limited amount of time, that should be planned to be temporary while they get a home set up. Or they move in together elsewhere and you support them where you can and also let your daughter know that at any point if things aren’t working out she can come home but just not with her boyfriend.

essentially OP you’re trying to help but you’re doing the opposite, you’re doing absolutely nobody any favours longer term by letting them move in by nobody I mean yourself, both daughter and baby and probably not the boyfriend either, he needs some life skills under his belt.

Nowthatshuge · Today 09:36

Nowthatshuge · Today 09:34

OP you are being very kind but you’re actually at big risk of facilitating a whole mess for everyone.

By character already the boyfriend demonstrating he is lazy and you’re giving him an out already by housing him, there is very little to zero chance of him ‘stepping up’ as he has less reason to, human nature will mean he takes the path of least resistance, ie. If the options are to get a job, work hard and compromise so that he can provide a home for his child vs live at his mother in laws for cheap or no rent which is set up for childcare on hand and probably meals etc, he is going to choose option B

also, your 26 year old daughter is now in a situation of her own making yet your younger daughter is expected to have her whole world turned upside down to accommodate, this is grossly unfair and traumatic for her. How will your relationship with her recover?

also, your life should be heading into a more peaceful era now, your kids are grown up but now you seem to be inviting chaos into your home, they will not leave for a very long time and you have already stated you don’t even like your daughters boyfriend.

the best plan now seems to be that you tell them that you aren’t in a position to offer them all a home so they have the option for your daughter to stay home with the baby and boyfriend can only stay over a limited amount of time, that should be planned to be temporary while they get a home set up. Or they move in together elsewhere and you support them where you can and also let your daughter know that at any point if things aren’t working out she can come home but just not with her boyfriend.

essentially OP you’re trying to help but you’re doing the opposite, you’re doing absolutely nobody any favours longer term by letting them move in by nobody I mean yourself, both daughter and baby and probably not the boyfriend either, he needs some life skills under his belt.

Also to add, you’re strong your older daughter up to absolutely accept less in her relationship, by giving them an option to move in rather than figure out how to make a home of their own you’re giving her the message that she’s not capable and neither is her boyfriend, both you and her should have higher expectations for her.

SleepyFeline · Today 09:36

When I was 26 I’d been working as a doctor for a year so was arguably in a better position than DD1. If I’d have got pregnant, I still wouldn’t have been in a position to have a baby: I was living in a shared house; I had huge student loans (private student loan with a fixed monthly repayment as well as the usual student loan with the income-linked repayment); I wouldn’t have been able to afford childcare etc. Moving back in with my mum and making my poor decisions her responsibility wouldn’t have been fair on anyone, so you know what I would’ve done? Taken responsibility for my own actions and had an abortion.

OP, you’ve been avoiding any of the questions asking if DD1 and her boyfriend work. That makes me think that neither of them have jobs, pay rent etc.

How are they going to pay for a child?

Be honest with yourself- they aren’t. You are. When your grandchild is living with you and crying because he/she is hungry, and there’s no milk in the house, are you going to ignore them, or are you going to buy milk? After the first time, are you going to wait until it happens again, or are you going to keep stocking up just to be safe? Is DD1 going to bother providing for her child when she knows you will do it for her?

Think back to when you were pregnant with DD1. Where were you living? Who was paying your bills? What were you doing to prepare for your child’s arrival? How much did you have in savings to pay for baby furniture/clothes etc? Compare this to where DD1 is now.

You say you can’t tell someone what to do with their body. But when that someone is completely dependent on you from both a financial and practical perspective, you can absolutely make them see the consequences of their irresponsible choices. And yes, “choices” is the right word. Either DD1 CHOSE to try to get pregnant despite her current situation (in which case she hasn’t got the common sense to be able to raise a child) or she became pregnant “accidentally” (in which case she isn’t responsible enough to use contraception properly) and CHOSE to continue the pregnancy and have a baby. Either way, she needs to see the reality of the situation. She’s CHOSEN to have a baby but she doesn’t get to choose what to do with your money and your time/resources. She and her boyfriend need to explain exactly how they are going to care for and provide for the baby without using you as the answer to everything.

You say that you’re hoping the boyfriend will step up when the baby is born but I think that everyone here can see that DD1 also needs to step up.

As someone with AuDHD (although not diagnosed until my mid-30s - genuinely well done for advocating so well for DD2 that she was assessed and diagnosed as a child), the idea of a newborn and another adult moving into my home, my safe space, is horrific. I need my home to be my haven, where I can decompress and recharge after being drained by dealing with people at work etc.

I hope DD2 has asked her grandmother about the possibility of moving in with her. I suspect she has. I also suspect that it wasn’t a spur of the moment comment, but rather a back up plan that’s existed for quite some time, and has been thought through to the Nth degree.

Good luck. I think DD2 is the only one in this post who actually sees the reality of the situation (although maybe your DH does too? You haven’t said anything about what he thinks/wants). Listen to her. She sounds sensible.

If you let DD1 bring her boyfriend and raise their baby in your house you are, by default, choosing her over DD2. I know you want to support DD1, but support for a grown adult doesn’t mean taking responsibility for their poor choices. It means helping them to take responsibility for themselves.

LakieLady · Today 09:41

thelegacyofhope · Yesterday 15:14

She is 26 and still living at home..!? Is this common in the UK?

And is having a baby but STILL has no plans in getting her own place? This can’t be good for anyone, it’s not healthy.

I'm afraid it is common in the UK.

Rents are very high in the most densely populated regions: £1300+ a month for a 2-bed flat in one of the cheapest parts of London, and only a little less in my predominantly rural county in SE England.

Average take-home pay is around £2000 a month, less if you have student loan repayments. Someone in their early-mid 20s would likely be earning less than the average, and in many parts of the country the average wage will be less (high London salaries skew the average).

A lot of young people who are in the early stages of their careers struggle to afford rent a home and many live in house shares until their 30s! My stepson left home for uni and houseshared for a few years, he's now moved back in with his mother at the age of 36!

Clydebuilt · Today 09:50

Youhadrambledonfor18pages · Yesterday 10:39

“Maybe it's so they can save a deposit to buy their own place”

If that’s the case, you don’t decide to have a baby.

So, they decided to have a baby first???

viques · Today 09:51

DannyOD · Yesterday 10:35

Not particularly to be honest. He has some good points but I do find him irritating and lazy. I am hoping he will step up now. I do however love my Dd1 and want to help her.

If he is too bloody idle to pick up a box of condoms and use them knowing he is going to be reliant on other peoples charity and goodwill to house a child then I doubt he is going to metamorphose into super dad anytime soon.

Iamnotalemming · Today 09:52

What a mess. Do any of these young adults work? What are they contributing to running the household?

SickandTiredofEverything · Today 09:52

No. Absolutely hell no. This will become the status quo and they will be there for years. You will be back on this forum in a year two asking for help to get them out as you are so unhappy and broke. You DD2 has as much rights as DD1 and way more than the boyfriend. DD2 doesn’t want him there, ergo he cannot come. But don’t blame DD2, say YOU don’t want him to live with you either. DD1 and baby can stay but boyfriend can’t. I’d take a big step back and let them sort themselves and their child out.

viques · Today 09:55

ReluctantSwimMum · Today 08:20

😆 This is absurd. Of course she and the boyfriend and baby need their own place. 26!

Can they register on the council housing register and also look for private rental now, surely you can help and if you can't then the council's welfare fund will help with a deposit for private rental.

The “councils welfare fund”? New one on me. Where do I apply? Will it cover that new TV I fancy?

Gribouille · Today 09:56

If he's already cheated on her when things were in the easy, early stages, I don't imagine he'll be around to trouble you much longer once the baby arrives...

Is allowing her to stay but not him an option? Might concentrate their minds.

ForNewHedgehog · Today 10:03

Maybe stop mother henning your ADULT children. Sounds like chaos. It’s your house you have the people live in your house you want. Anyone not happy with that is welcome to find their own accommodation. Everyone pays rent and their share of the bills if they stay.

whatcouldbenext · Today 10:23

They are adults having a baby. Not even particularly young adults.
Why on earth would they all be living with you?

Youhadrambledonfor18pages · Today 10:25

Clydebuilt · Today 09:50

So, they decided to have a baby first???

Which you don’t decide until you have somewhere to house that baby… (rental or mortgage).

Smellmyfart · Today 10:25

If both your dd are not in the position to move out, you need to put them above the father of the baby, maybe reach a compromise that he can stay 2 or 3 nights a week.

Your dd2 has expressed that she is not comfortable with this situation, it is not fair that she would feel uncomfortable in her own home.

I fear the only right answer is a no to moving in and compromise on a way to help your dd1 have support with the baby.

Clydebuilt · Today 10:30

Youhadrambledonfor18pages · Today 10:25

Which you don’t decide until you have somewhere to house that baby… (rental or mortgage).

Exactly! Who would decide to start their family, THEN save for a deposit to buy/rent?

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