Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Sponsored threads

This topic is for sponsored discussions. If you'd like to run one with us, please email [email protected].

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

MNHQ

What’s the most bizarre parenting advice you’ve received from your in-laws? Get involved with Hotel Transylvania 2 for a chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

355 replies

MichelleMumsnet · 15/10/2015 09:17

Hotel Transylvania 2 have asked us to find out what the most bizarre advice is Mumsnetters have ever received from their parents in law….

In Hotel Transylvania 2, Drac is worried that his adorable half-human, half-vampire grandson, Dennis, isn’t showing signs of being a vampire. So while his mother Mavis is busy visiting her human in-laws with Johnny – and in for a major cultural shock of her own – “Vampa” Drac enlists his friends Frank, Murray, Wayne and Griffin to put Dennis through a “monster-in-training” boot camp. Mumsnetters everywhere will be familiar with differences in opinion with their in-laws although perhaps not quite on this scale…!

You can watch a clip from the film below

So, what’s the most bizarre piece of parenting advice you have ever received from your in laws? Maybe they they’ve got some peculiar natural remedies they suggested you use? Have they told you that they’ve found a fool proof way of getting your DC to sleep by just singing them a particular lullaby? Perhaps they think they’ve somehow come up with a way to make your DC do everything you tell them? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher! Runners up can also win 1 of 3 exclusive Hotel Transylvania 2 goody bags!

#HotelT2 is At Cinemas October 16 in 3D.

Thanks
MNHQ

OP posts:
Marg2k8 · 21/10/2015 21:22

My in-laws died before either of my two were born, so I didn't get to listen to any pearls of wisdom.

seeingdouble2 · 21/10/2015 22:55

save for your future all good and well but where is the fun in that, 50/50 of adding to the pot from funds

toodles60 · 21/10/2015 23:23

My mother in law had all sorts of weird advice when i was pregnant with my third child. I'm a type 2 diabetic and she told me the most important advice she could give me was not to breast feed because the baby would become a diabetic. That the diabetes would transfer through my breast milk. She genuinely believes this and she became really pushy with it. Didn't matter how many times i told her how ridiculous it was she still advises me to get my son checked for diabetes.

fifimummy · 22/10/2015 00:18

Most Bizarre... Rub Peanuts on her lips from 3 weeks old, then she wont have allergies to anything :O

Most annoying.....came from a midwife who told me that EVERY baby needed supplemented with formula from 5 months old if they were breastfed :/

pusinky · 22/10/2015 07:34

Put raw onions under the baby's crib and he'll never get sick

DidgeDoolittle · 22/10/2015 09:24

Mine told me to bottle feed my son as breast feeding "isn't natural".

Kriek · 22/10/2015 10:25

My MIL used to get the wet wipes out and hold an individual one between the palms of her hand to warm them up a bit. It drove me bonkers. I insisted on a nice fresh cool one instead. Apparently if they have cold bottoms they are more likely to get nappy rash! Er no MIL that's ridiculous.

SIL is currently pregnant and I cannot wait to see how this pans out. I love my MIL to bits but she is certainly one of the kookiest people I know.

maisiesnan · 22/10/2015 12:52

Put a polo mint in boiled water, allow to cool then bottle feed this to baby....apparently this is great for trapped wind!

popperdoodles · 22/10/2015 13:59

mil told me that orange juice neutralised stomach acid so I should give it to the children when they have a tummy ache. She also told me to leave my washing out in the rain as it would make it dry quicker. She told dh's cousin to put a drop of brandy in their baby's bottle to make them sleep during a long haul flight. I though she was joking but dh's cousin took it as proper advice and baby was really ill!

cheryl100 · 22/10/2015 15:41

Not particularly bizarre but I do not like when people say to not hold your baby often - it has never done my son any harm, only create a stronger bond

angiehoggett · 22/10/2015 15:54

a bit of whisky in the baby bottle, hmmm!

ipanicked · 22/10/2015 17:23

My elderly MIL told me she could breast feed the baby for me if I got tired, because "that's what grandmothers do in some native tribes"

I politely declined (also.. 'native tribes'?!)

Lweji · 22/10/2015 18:51

That's interesting. Did you ask her if she was still lactating after all those years? And how she kept it up?

Hiddlesnake · 22/10/2015 21:45

That my son's Tourette's Syndrome diagnosis was wrong. Apparently he doesn't have a neurological condition, it's just the result of bad parenting.
Who knew?!

fm201069 · 22/10/2015 22:25

let him cry. it'll let his lungs develop.

fallenangel14 · 23/10/2015 06:45

Deliberately place dd's fingers, briefly, on a hot metal fire guard before they start to walk as it will warn them not to grab hold of it for balancing when they start toddling. Deliberately burn my baby's fingers?? Good grief!

purplepandas · 23/10/2015 08:04

I too had the vacuum to soothe / drown out noise. Advice of our parents time? Apparently it worked for me when I was a baby!

strawberrisc · 23/10/2015 10:13

Wean your baby on a pork chop. It also helps with their teething.

sofieellis · 23/10/2015 12:15

My MIL went mad at me for buying "too many toys" for my kids. She told me they were a huge waste of money and I should hide them all away in the loft. I couldn't understand the logic. If the kids were playing with the toys, then they weren't a waste of money, however if I hid them in the loft, then that would be a waste of money!

I was also given a bottle of liquid, which I was supposed to drink when I was pregnant. It would bless my baby, as it was something to do with a saint. Wheh I asked what was in the bottle, they hadn't got a clue. Needless to say, it went down the sink!

helcrai · 23/10/2015 16:34

My mother-in-law told me it does my children no harm to be left in the house alone for half an hour while I nip to the shops! (They are 7 and 10!) as it builds their independence and she did it with my hubbie. "Errr, I don't think so..." I politely replied.

Tkw2014 · 23/10/2015 19:34

My MIL has some old fashioned ideas, and doesn't always see eye to eye! It was a sunny day in April and I hadn't put a vest on my DD but she did already have 2 layers on and a coat for outside and I got told 'we don't usually take vests off yet'. There have been various other incidents and she thinks we 'take risks'! It's very annoying...

sharond101 · 23/10/2015 20:02

Leave baby alone for one hour per day to encourage independence.

zatuns · 23/10/2015 21:00

Give brandy to baby if he had a flu...Add brown sugar to the milk this was a common one which cured everything apparently.

Rigbyroo · 24/10/2015 09:20

Wean them on chocolate. Stop breastfeeding so they can have a cuddle. oh and mil seems to think even if she is 'looking after' my children, leaving a baby in a poo filled nappy is acceptable!

Spencer1234 · 24/10/2015 11:52

My mother in law said to put baby rice in my son's milk from birth ha ha not sure that's advisable these days