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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

I feel like my Mother In Law took something special from us

172 replies

GaurdiansofOurgalaxy · 24/09/2016 13:52

My daughter is over 5 months old. My partner and I had been waiting for the right time to introduce solids to her diet (currently breastfed exclusively) and one morning earlier this week we made the decision to start feeding her just a little in the evenings. Based on the guidelines on the NHS website, she is ready. Also, she has started to wake up in the middle of the night more frequently for feeds! Once a week my partners mother takes care of the baby for two hours whilst we attend couples counselling. Before we left we told the MIL that we were going to feed her for the first time that evening and that we were excited. We explained that after we picked the Baby up after our session we were going to buy the highchair/bowls/spoons, etc. Oh how exciting, she said! Are you going to feed her banana? No, not banana. (I didn't explain that I have an allergy to bananas and maybe my baby might too, I just said no, not banana.) Anyway, we got back from our session and upon walking in the door the MIL says "I am so sorry but I had to feed the baby banana, she was soooo hungry"........... We are both upset that she did that. I had fed her a huge feed right before we left, we were only gone 2 hours and every 2.5 to 3 hours is her normal feed time. The MIL knows this. She wasn't hungry. But the MIL has nothing to do in her life since her children left home and her own mum who she cared for has passed away. She believed having grandchildren would fill this gap in her life, and I appreciate that this must be hard for her, but to take away special moments from us, the parents, so that she feels fulfilled doesn't seem fair. When she learned she was having a grandchild she had a whole room built with a full nursery. She had saved every toy and their boxes (including over 400 cuddlie toys in vacuum sealed bags) her children had, and all of her daughters clothing. She is literally obsessed with babies and treats them as toys, like dolls. She knows we are upset about it, but what now? This isn't the first time she has done something like this but she doesn't listen. Would you continue to let her have the baby without us there or are we just asking for more of this? Would you be upset?

OP posts:
Marmalade85 · 24/09/2016 17:31

My son is 9 months and I can't remember what food he tasted first. Maybe she didn't realise what a huge deal it was?

GenghisCalm · 24/09/2016 17:33

OP has every right to be upset she had expressed that they were excited to fed LO for the first time am MIL stole that experience from her.

We made the mistake of telling MIL how excited we were to take DD to see Father Christmas for the first time later that afternoon when we dropped DD off while I took DH to the hospital for tests. When we picked up DD a couple of hours later MIL presented us with a framed picture of DD sitting on Father Christmas' lap. I burst into tears and threw the picture on the floor and was completely devastated.

She still thinks that she did nothing wrong because she wanted to take DD to see Father Christmas as Christmas is the most special time of the year when you have little ones. I must admit I got my own back because MIL didn't get to see DD on Christmas Day as planned because I was so hurt we went away and didn't come back until after New Year.

Sorry to say that it still hurts that she took that away from my DH and I.

pontificationcentral · 24/09/2016 17:34

I have three children.
I have literally no idea what the first solid food any of them ate was.
Or who fed it to them.
Or when.
And I don't care.
Shoot me now.

I also call mn bingo.

Y'all need to get out more.

snowgeese · 24/09/2016 17:35

A MIL here . Absolutely agree your mil was out of order to do that OP .
Only you know if thoughtless or manipulative . It is only through reading MN that it has clicked with me how unkind it is to do this . Phew don't have grandchildren yet but have looked after very regularly PFP ( precious firstborn puppy) don't laugh and bear with me Smile .
Thought I was the oracle on anything doggy . Taught pup how to climb stairs and come down , lead work etc and usual food issues . I cringe now .
My DIL was so gracious and lent me dog behaviour books to read ,went silent if I was brightly regaling latest pup moment . How it must have hurt her so much .
But it was truly thoughtlessness not malice or power stuff . In my head I was helping Blush .
So I have learnt so much thankfully before precious children . Pup is now big dog and no harm done thank goodness

Please don't go down the route of cutting her off . A chat hopefully will set the future dos and don'ts .
Want saddens me is the amount of posts on MN that say grandparents can't be bothered with their grandchildren and show no interest . If Just if they have been thoughtless rather than malicious and had a sudden " you won't be looking after the grandchildren again " it is little wonder they withdraw .
Hope it gets sorted OP .

RunnyRattata · 24/09/2016 17:37

What is wrong with simply stating that you were very upset that she gave your baby solid food when you wanted to be the first to do that? Tell her very clearly that you want to do all the firsts as your beby is growing up. Put it all out very clearly and do it together with your DH. If she repeats her error once it has been clearly pointed out, then you will have a clearer idea of what you're dealing with.

missellieclampet · 24/09/2016 17:38

"My MIL has an empty life to the point that she is behaving oddly and taking over with my baby"

Response: "cut her out of your life without mercy or remorse"

FFS!

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 24/09/2016 17:39

You know geese, had anyone taught my stubborn PFP anything, even the smallest thing, I would have been kissing their feet in gratitude.

And I'm very PFP.

WinchesterWoman · 24/09/2016 17:42

Snowgeese that's a nice post.

Yes Miss, temporarily. Unless she's like Snowgeese and a 'chat' will be the end of it. But as SG points out, only the OP knows that.

I think the signs are there of undermining, going behind parents' back, manipulation, deliberate point scoring. That, all the way through childhood? Sounds great. Hmm

calmbeforeiloseit · 24/09/2016 17:42

Make your feelings on the matter clear, as though you had written them in indelible ink on the living room wall. Regardless of the act, the principle is that you told her something and she both purposely ruined the experience for you both and went against your clear instructions.

Yes, today is the banana. Tomorrow, another boundary and another first could be lost. Stand up to her, you are the only one who can advocate for your daughter.

Sit down with her and explain why you are upset and what feeding her meant to you both and ask why she fed her when you expressly said a) no bananas and b) you were to begin feeding her tonight. Do not use your child as a weapon by withholding contact. That's not right.

Do not brush this under the carpet and do not put off confronting her regardless of how nice she may seem or how you feel sorry for her.

IL's wanted daughter overnight, despite our own hesitations we allowed it, it ended up becoming a regular occurrence. Whenever DD returned, there was something off that we could never put our finger on. We assumed she was overtired.

It transpired, MIL and FIL gave her baths and she didn't like it. It made her and us uncomfortable. We asked them not to, yet did not want to hurt their feelings. They assured us they would stop and made us feel so terrible and like we were the unreasonable ones.

Several years passed until both were arrested for the sexual abuse of DN who had confessed to SIL. It came about that they would do it in the bathroom. They had touched our daughter too but she was spared the same level of abuse he was exposed to.

We have nor ever will forgive ourselves as we let our own feelings and the need of our daughter's fall to the wayside. Today its only a banana but it's still a boundary and it has still been broken.

Speak up and put your daughter first. She could have gone into anaphylactic shock, in that case no one on here would have been saying it's only a banana.

WinchesterWoman · 24/09/2016 17:45

Meh my mother potty trained my child, my mother in law used to get them to eat when I couldn't, my sister used to help with my teenager when I was at my rope's end. I don't feel superior to the OP for being upset about this. Why would I want to point score over a new mum (like so many others seem to) because my experience is different?

ItsABanana · 24/09/2016 17:46

We made the mistake of telling MIL how excited we were to take DD to see Father Christmas for the first time later that afternoon when we dropped DD off while I took DH to the hospital for tests. When we picked up DD a couple of hours later MIL presented us with a framed picture of DD sitting on Father Christmas' lap. I burst into tears and threw the picture on the floor and was completely devastated.

Sad Flowers I honestly cannot get into the mindset of anyone who thinks that's in any way acceptable.
To say you were looking forward to taking DD to Santa for the first time, then do it when you're out and show you the pictures... unbelievable.
Exactly the same as the original banana scenario.
Just... wow. It's mean, and completely overbearing and can really hurt so I don't blame you for being upset even if others think "no big deal."
It IS a big deal to completely trample over someone else and make them feel shit.

SandyY2K · 24/09/2016 17:54

I don't really think the issue is that she gave the baby some banana. It's that it was the first solid feed and she had no place feeding the solids as you said you both wanted to do it. She could have given the baby some milk if necessary.

Plus you said this isn't the first time she's done something similar. Overstepped the mark. I think pulling back from her will give her food for thought. I understand how you feel.

Now I personally wasn't so precious about the first solid feed, I would have been fine if my mum fed my DC solids ( unless I specifically said not to), but I think a MIL really needs to step back and not step on her DILS toes, because she may well find herself having restricted access to her DGC.

DameFanny · 24/09/2016 17:57

I'm wondering how much of the marriage counselling is down to the MIL's behaviour. But it was MIL that triggered our own need for counselling so I may be projecting Grin

DameFanny · 24/09/2016 17:59

Oh hell calmbefore I'm so sorry that happened to your family

LizB62A · 24/09/2016 18:00

You need to nip this in the bud now - it will only get worse.
My sister's EXH's current wife took my niece (i.e. my sister's daughter) to get her ears pierced after she heard that my sister was thinking about letting her get it done.
Then later she took her to buy a prom dress after she heard that my sister was planning to take her to get it the following weekend.
She seems to be deliberately trying to "steal" the special moments. I don't get on with my sister, but I feel sad for her when someone takes over like this

SandyY2K · 24/09/2016 18:00

Geese .. she should have been grateful you were looking after the pup. Never mind buying you a dog behaviour book. She could have just spoken to you surely.

NavyandWhite · 24/09/2016 18:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SandyY2K · 24/09/2016 18:04

My sister's EXH's current wife took my niece (i.e. my sister's daughter) to get her ears pierced after she heard that my sister was thinking about letting her get it done.
Then later she took her to buy a prom dress after she heard that my sister was planning to take her to get it the following weekend.

That's totally out of order.

Surely a parent would have had to give consent to the ear piercing?

As for the Prom dress ... as a mum who's daughter had her prom in the Summer, I'd have been flaming mad at that ....and the step mother would know about it in no uncertain terms.

youarenotkiddingme · 24/09/2016 18:04

YANBU. She made it clear you were going to give your child their first food that night and explained the build up (buying things) so it's clearly implied you are excited about it.

She made the decision to feed her and fully admitted she couldn't resist.

I'd make it clear if she has that little self control over her actions you don't consider her emotionally mature enough to be left alone with your DD!

I'm not a parent to get held up on firsts. My mum did many first with DS - but I'd never talked to her about doing it and so she was doing it from love and not over stepping the mark IMO.
She regrets the day she made the decision to be the one to allow him his first sip of coke Wink Grin

Atenco · 24/09/2016 18:19

Whao, I didn't realise that there is such a lot hanging on a baby's first taste of food.

Certainly as a grandmother I would be perfectly happy if the privilege of babysitting was taken away from me, especially by such special snowflakes.

Mummyoflittledragon · 24/09/2016 18:21

calmbefore Flowers. Poor children. That is awful. Thank you for sharing.

My mother has form for overstepping the boundaries. She is very controlling. I had to have a very serious talk with her and back away massively when she didn't listen. This resulted in us going went NC for a for a few months to protect dd and assert our right to bring up our dd as we see fit. She has an issue with dd growing up - the same happened with me as she wanted a baby/girl doll. She now knows seeing dd is a privilege not a right.

WankingMonkey · 24/09/2016 18:22

YANBU to be annoyed

This kinda happened to me albeit slightly differently. We waited until DDD was 6 months before introducing her to solids. Were very (almost overly) excited about feeding her actual food for the first time. We went on about it (a bit too much at times) to pretty much everyone we spoke to. 3 days later FIL was babysitting and we told him. To which he replied...shes been eating for weeks now. I have been giving her rice and banana and (!) icecream when she stays here. Way to piss on our parade Hmm

snowgeese · 24/09/2016 18:24

Sandy Looking back with hindsight now I think DIL lent me the book because I needed updating on dog behaviour techniques and this was a gentle way of updating me from the way I trained my own dogs . Bit like baby weaning today v the 70s .
She gave the cues and fortunately I realised eventually . Yes a chat outlining how they wanted the pup to be raised would have been helpful at the start . And I should not have presumed . He was a gorgeous pup . But not mine .

Floggingmolly · 24/09/2016 18:24

Why would you go on about it to everyone you spoke to??

WankingMonkey · 24/09/2016 18:36

Not literally everyone we spoke to Hmm

Close friends and such, and family. It was quite exciting...first child and all. Sorry