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New grandparents

5 replies

sadmum52 · 23/12/2021 10:11

My DS has just announced he and his GF of three years are having a baby . We are all thrilled . My relationship with my son was a little strained at one time but I’ve been working on forging a healthy adult relationship and it’s working and we are getting on much better . Now with a baby on the way I don’t want to strain the relationship with mistakes I could make in my excitement. I get on with his GF and again we are building a relationship. This could do with some work but I’m really trying . So I’m hoping when baby comes she knows I’m there to help and advice when solicited. What I’m looking for are tips and advise on how to walk the tightrope so I don’t overstep my boundaries and I don’t become overbearing. She is very close to her family so I know the baby will spend a lot of time there . I’m hoping to forge a good relationship so I’m included in the babies life but I don’t want to be pushy and spoil what we have . So any tips and advise would be lovely

OP posts:
Deut28 · 23/02/2023 23:11

That you're asking this question is a good first step. I've not once asked my MIL for advice. You get so much unsolicited and conflicting advice from so many different people. Parenting advice, especially around some safety things (car seats, safe sleep, weaning) can be wildly different now to what it was for my parents' generation. I appreciated when they (or my own parents) asked what help we'd like, what things we needed, how we do things etc without pushing their preferred option. And the best thing they did in the early days was tell me that I was doing a great job with DC. It meant so much to me.

ringofrosies · 23/02/2023 23:15

You sound like you’ll be a wonderful MIL and grandmother. I like that you appreciate your DIL is very close to her own family and will likely go to her mum for advice and help. I think as long you let them know you’re there to help any time and respect their boundaries you’ll get along just fine.

Doihavetowait · 07/03/2023 20:14

I think don’t give advice, don’t interfere. Don’t criticise . Just be positive and appreciative and help in any way you can. Tell them both what a good job they are doing. It’s hard!

Andthebaby33 · 07/03/2023 20:21

It’s so nice that you want to ask. Congratulations I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful relationship. My MIL has been a pain since I had DC and I’ve relied heavily on my mum who has got it down to a T in my opinion. I would say - offer help rather than advice. Help from my mum looked like : I’ve made a massive batch of x,y,z meal would you like me to drop some round? Let me and dad come round and weed the garden/ clean the car etc etc. I think a lot of people think helping is offering to take the baby out but I think if you offer to do other tasks mum will be so pleased and then you will probably get a baby cuddle after :)

And whatever you do don’t do what my in laws did: call my husband incessantly while I was in labour and then come to the hospital without being asked 1 hour after I had an emergency section. I was livid ! If you don’t do anything bonkers like that I’m sure you will be fine :)

LightDrizzle · 07/03/2023 21:03

Congratulations! I’m sure you will be a great MIL because you are asking how to be!

I agree with not giving advice or interfering.

Make sure you still show an interest in your DIL and your son when you message, speak or see each other rather than just locking onto the baby like an Exocet missile.

Keep any early visits to them short and sweet and offer to bring specific food with you like sandwiches from a favourite deli or something you make you know DIL enjoys.

Only say positive things about the baby. New parents are hyper-alert to “subtle” hints about how often the baby feeds/sleeps/cries/burps etc. The same with comparisons to your own children when they were babies. No knackered parent with a contact sleeper wants to hear that yours were swaddled and slept in their own Moses basket from coming home from hospital.

Check what their wishes are re posting on social media. Don’t post photos of the baby without checking if they are okay with it and if you are posting about the birth with their permission, don’t just cut them out of the story. “Congratulations to Gemma and Oliver on the birth of their beautiful son! Thrilled to be a grandma!” is much nicer than a photo of you and baby with “New grandson!” or similar.

Try not to brood or fret if a visit is ever postponed or cancelled because of a bad night or DIL not being up to it, reassure them it’s fine. It does happen, particularly in the early weeks when baby blues or exhaustion can just wipe you out.

Don’t get sucked into competitive grandparenting with your DIL’s parents or your own friends. Just because your mate has her 6 weeks old granddaughter for overnights doesn’t mean you’re less than if you don’t. The baby sure as hell won’t remember it.

If your son complains to you, be very wary about saying anything that could be interpreted as critical of your DIL. Err on reassuring him that things are tough for both of them in the early months and it gets better. There will be times when either or both if them get ratty and the last thing you need is your son telling your DIL in a row that “Even mum thinks you’re unreasonable and she had to look after us without my dad lifting a finger during the week…”.

The surest way to build trust is to follow their preferences on care to the letter and not to query them. They’ll both feel very protective and a relative saying their babies slept on their side and never came to any harm does not inspire confidence in their willingness to do otherwise if caring for another baby.

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