A couple with a 2-month-old left their baby in the care of the child’s grandmother. The husband’s mom babysat for her son and daughter-in-law on many occasions, which they have expressed their extensive gratitude for.
Since the couple worked full-time during the week, the babysitting arrangement with the child’s grandmother had been working out well. Their appreciation was further reinforced by the fact that the grandmother watched their baby free of charge.
A woman on the telephone. | Source: Shutterstock/Studio Romantic
The story, which starts off positively, was published by the grandmother’s daughter-in-law on Reddit. She revealed that it had been three weeks since they started employing her mother-in-law’s assistance to babysit her child after she returned to work from her maternity leave.
But one fateful day would change her feelings towards her mother-in-law and her ability to look after her child. And it all began innocently with a routine check of her baby monitor.
What the Nursery Camera Revealed Left the Baby’s Mom ‘Horrified’
The mom, who mentioned that her baby was still breastfeeding age, explained that she made sure to pump milk for her baby son and leave the bottles to her mother-in-law to feed the child during the day. Following his daily dose of pre-pumped milk, his mom would breastfeed him at night after work and on the weekends.
The little boy’s mom went on to say how the two had formed a special bond during his feeding time, describing the overall experience as beautiful.
She revealed that her decision still stood and that she and her husband pursued nanny interviews the following weekend.
One day at work, the mom did a routine check on her baby monitor app to see if the baby was taking his nap for the day. She had been informed via text messages by her mother-in-law that the baby was being particularly fussy over taking his nap that day, so she told her she might have to hold him in her arms to calm him.
Wanting to see if her baby was alright and whether or not he ended up taking his nap, she checked the app. What she sawnext left her extremely alarmed.
Upon looking at the footage from the app, she saw her mother-in-law carrying her baby with her shirt hoisted up and her breast exposed. The mom disclosed:
“He was latched onto her breast. I was shocked and horrified, [and] I called her right away, and she didn’t answer, so I had to sit there and watch her attempt to breastfeed my baby. He was latched on but obviously not getting any milk as my mother-in-law is not lactating.”
The Mom’s Decision to Watch Made Her Mother-in-Law Angry
As a result of being completely horrified and taken aback by her mother-in-law’s actions, the baby’s mom decided she did not want her mother-in-law looking after him anymore, despite the financial constraints of hiring a nanny or putting their baby in daycare.
After telling her mother-in-law how she felt, the grandmother panicked and explained she was only attempting to calm the baby down. She accused her daughter-in-law of taking her grandson away from her, and said the decision was unfairly made. According to the baby’s mom:
“She was mad that I had checked the camera and told [my husband] it was an invasion of privacy.”
Though her husband understood her point, he expressed wanting to give his mother a second chance at looking after their son, especially since she opted to watch him for free. But his wife still felt certain that her mother-in-law was in the wrong and refused to see her again or let her near her baby again for that matter.
When the baby’s mom asked followers of the story whether or not she was being unreasonable in her decision, many said she was justified. One urged the mom to never leave her baby alone with his grandmother again:
“This is a perversion of what should be a bonding experience between a mother and her baby… and literally no one else. Do not let this woman around your child!”
After all the comments were posted, which were in agreement with the mom’s decision after what she saw on the baby monitor app, she gave followers of the story an update. She revealed that her decision still stood and that she and her husband pursued nanny interviews the following weekend.