Relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law are sometimes fraught, but for one new mum, it's a whole new level of awkward.
She shared to Reddit that her husband's mother, who is 70, has asked to breastfeed her two-month-old baby.
Mother-in-law Wants To Breastfeed Her Baby!
“This 70-year-old woman plans to breastfeed [my] sister-in-law’s first baby that’s due in a six weeks,” the woman explained.
“She read that grandmas help breastfeed babies in some cultures and wants to give it a go.
“Now that she’s got this idea that she’s going to breastfeed ‘her grandbaby’, she’s started to come for me saying that she doesn’t want a stronger bond with one baby more than the other (my youngest baby is two months old).
“And since he’s already here, she wants to start ‘practising’ breastfeeding with my baby. I can’t even.”
The grandmother dreams to breastfeed her grandchildren at the same time, which totally creeped out the mum.
Grandmother Wants to Tandem Feed Her Grandchildren
“In hopes it goes well and then she can breastfeed both my baby and [my] sister-in-law’s baby.
“She says she wants to breastfeed them at the same time ... like her eyes gloss over as if it’s some dream of her to tandem feed them.
“This woman is a special kind of delusional. Can women that age really even re-lactate?”
The woman had her husband talk to his mother and explain that it was not going to happen. The fallout has caused even more awkwardness.
“Of course this all falls onto me in her eyes, she’s mad saying I’m standing in the way of her having a closer bond with her grandbabies,” the woman said.
“I’m the reason. Even though my [husband] was equally grossed out.
“I told her to go talk to her doctor and find a lactation consultant if it’s that important to her, but that she will never ever breastfeed any of my babies no matter what.”
Some Suggested No Unsupervised Visits
Many agreed that the grandmother's request was completely out of line.
"Oh my god. I am absolutely horrified for you. This would be enough to stop any unsupervised visits with nonverbal children for me. There’s no way she is willing to respect that boundary," wrote one person.
“[This woman] is completely justified in being weirded out by the request,” another said.
“It’s inappropriate and massively crosses the line. But that should be the case, no matter [the] mother-in-law’s age," said another.
"That's just a huge no-no from me! I couldn't imagine anyone but myself breastfeeding my children, let alone a woman in her 70's," added another.
A grandmother weighed in on the issue. "I breastfed my own babies, and supported my eldest to breastfeed hers. I was a new granny in my forties and I remember both grandbabies being handed to Mummy very quickly when they (as newborns do) began to 'root' at Granny's boobs. Usually with a laughing 'that ship sailed looooong ago, kid'," she wrote.
Several commenters wondered about the mental state of the mother-in-law.
"In the nicest possible way, is she actually a bit demented?" one asked. "Because that's about the age I start to see old ladies BF baby dolls... And it's cute, in a secure dementia unit with plastic dolls, not so much with real live babies..."
This article was first published in KidSpot and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
ALSO READ:
How I Survived Tandem Breastfeeding Two Kids At The Same Time!
Mothr-In-Law Ignores Mother's Warning And Gives Son Food Despite Allergy