MIL keeps buying from temu

[J78912]

My MIL is very excited to have her 1st grandchild and starting buying teething rings/ dummies from Temu for us. I read some bad things about the materials and my husband asked her not to buy anymore. She's now just given me LOADS of clothes all from temu which again have read bad things about chemicals in them. What would you do? I find these sorts of situations so awkward!!

I’d hand them back and repeat that I’m not accepting anything from Temu. Rinse and repeat.

You’re going to have to sit her down and explain

Temu. Killing the World by the medium of shit things

The dummies and rings would not be going near my child. the cloths I'd wash, leave on washing line for a few days, then wash again to keep as spars, babies can go through insane amounts of cloths and I'm sure they'd do as emergency outfits. If you've already asked her to stop, then theirs not much you can do. Would it help if you redirected her to specific gifts you would like to receive instead or involved her in baby excitement another way (maybe help set up nursery?).

Potential child labour, enforced labour are my main " no never" to buying anything. That is why things are cheap/cheaper from Temu.

Their materials are questionable. They are prolifically producing crappy quality items that tend to break and go to landfill.

You are right to refuse anything rhat does not line up with you values (no matter what business it originates from). For example, people love Boden but their pro hunting boss means no more for me 😡

OP, I would slightly wimp out and say that the Clinic/MW/Nurse said X,Y,Z story about Teemu products safety re:babies and you won’t be in a position to use them.

clothing etc, as others have said, I would wash a couple of times and use them as alternative outfits. However, I would also mention the chemical coatings (phthalates, PFAS, and formaldehyde etc.) and how they are endocrine disruptors and you would prefer she didn’t buy more.

please update us! V interested in this topic

Did your husband explain why not to buy from places that ship from outside Europe or did he just say no Temu? A better explanation might work. Also, is it possible that she ordered the most recent delivery before she was told not to? I wouldn’t keep it if I were you as you are giving mixed messages if you do.

Hand them back. Ask her how she would feel if it was children she knew being forced to make these.

Say thank you, but could she buy fewer things of better quality and ethical brands.

She could buy Polarn o Pyret who have beautiful clothes and are designed to last to be passed on. Ethical, sustainable and designs are very cute.

Hand them back or give them away with full disclosure of where it’s from. I wouldn’t even use the clothes after washing. I want to trust what baby clothes are made of (mostly cotton or wool or bamboo, no polyester) and I wouldn’t trust anything from Temu. Point her in the direction of somewhere better with a nice sale on?

I know I can be too straightforward at times but I would give them back to her and make sure she understands why you won’t accept any Temu shopping from her no matter what.

Get DH to give them back to her to return and say no more Temu and perhaps suggest that whilst it’s never expected if she does want to pick up cheap baby bits for you then the supermarkets are full of nice stuff without the child labour or hideous chemicals.

Get your dh to hand it all back and say No, we really cannot accept anything from Temu because it’s dangerous and unethical. Simply that.

if your DH has told her not to buy baby things off Temu already then I’d get him to hand them back to her saying they are 1) not subject to quality or labelling laws or checked so are potentially unsafe for baby and 2) often made by workers including kids forced to work under horrific conditions. Which you want no part of.

She was told - and she’s ignored you!

You and your DH will have to be very blunt, and be prepared to stay strong if she gets upset, cries or tries to make you feel guilty.
Since she's ignoring your wishes so early on, be careful with her going forward. She sounds like the type of grandmother who will ignore your parenting wishes behind your back, like the ones who feed him unsuitable food behind your backs.

Yep he explained about the ethical issues and the chemical issues and yet she's ignored him..😡

This is something I am concerned about! I know she's not happy about no kisses so worried she will ignore that

Pack them all up and give them back to her. Keep doing it until she gets the message.

Why is she even buying dummies? What if you don't want your baby to have one, wherever it's from? She sounds like a pain in the arse.

Urgh she is and I find myself worrying about things in the future

Husband finally had the chat and she rolled her eyes and said "well you'll just have to throw them in the bin then" he was polite and said please stop buying from Temu. Hopefully she stops now

My MIL is obsessed with temu (like many others) and I told her I wouldn't use anything from there for baby. Few weeks later, she handed me a box of things she bought for baby. Its still in said box. And she's not bought anything else for baby (now 1 year old!!!!) She can more than afford to buy from "better" places but chooses not to!

Exactly that. I would rather her buy half of the amount of clothes and just go to a supermarket and buy clothes from there where prices are decent! I know we've offended her but end of day our children's health comes first.