Selfish mom forces best friend to constantly babysit needy 10-month-old baby, rages when she gets told to hire a nanny: 'I agreed ten minutes, and that turned into one and a half hours'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 29, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

It's often said that it takes a village to raise a child, and it is undeniable that parenting is made immeasurably harder when you don't have a wider support system to take the pressure off now and then. However, when you become a parent it is important to strike a balance when it comes to relying on friends and family to help you with your kids. While many of them may be happy to help, there are usually limits to how much they can do that.

This is something that one entitled mom completely ignored to the extent that her best friend began complaining to the internet about how used she felt. Revealing how she and her mom friend are neighbors, she explained how she frequently finds herself babysitting her 10-month-old at a moment's notice. As if that wasn't enough, he is a fussy baby and his mom has a tendency to leave him with her for unexpectedly long periods of time. Needless to say, Reddit was not too impressed by this behavior.

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  • 01
    Shan
    via Alexander Grey

    Photo does not represent real subjects in the story

  • 02
    AITA for telling my best friend she needs to hire a nanny instead of relying on me?
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 03
    So my best friend is like my sister and we always help each other out when needed. She has a 10 months old baby and I have always been helping her in every way I can, but lately it started to be a daily thing. We live on the same floor next to each other and she calls me to watch her baby over everything. 'i need to shower, can you hold him? 'he is so bored, can you hold him?' She calls me like multiple times a day to ask for a favour and now even when I don't reply.. she comes to my house with
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 04
    yesterday I had some work to do on my laptop and she asked me to hold him for '10' minuts cause she wanted to take a quick shower. I agreed for 10 minuts and that turned into one and half hour.
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 05
    Mind you, her son is really not an 'easy' baby. Cries uncontrollably the moment you put him down and try to play with him. So I am forced to walk for like one and half hour with him in my arms while I have other things to do...
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 06
    Anyway yesterday I felt lightheaded while walking around with the baby.. so I put him down while trying to distract him with some toys.. he kept crying so loud, but I couldn't take him cause I was worried I would drop him..
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 07
    She heard the 'crying' and knocked my door in a ballistic angry way.. saying why do you let him cry? I explained to her the situation and also told her that its her fault for not disciplining him and letting him play on his own.. Ive babysitted a lot of babies in the past and none of them were like this.. it's not the baby's fault. It's def hers
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 08
    She was like: I don't like to ever hear my baby cry and I do not accept that you let him cry either. That really me off.. so I went on like: Then you should hire a nanny that will fulfil all of your requirements...
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 09
    Extra info: nobody of her family, including her mom, want to ever help her out cause of the fact that they can't put him ever down... not even for a second. Also: her husband has a very well paying job.. they can easily afford to hire help
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 10
    Thirdly.. I absolutely do not mind helping her out and I love her baby, but I do not like when it's like a 'must' and she even gets angry when I don't do it 'her way'.
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 11
    Side-note: I always do it her way.. just yesterday it was taking too long and I was just concerned about his wellbeing.. as I had already fainted a couple of days ago when helping out someone feels like an obligation I immediately don't want to do it anymore.. am I being an ? Edit: I don't mean discipling, but TRAINING. English is not my first language.
    via Weirdkoalaqueen
  • 12
    MeowSkitty Next time she knocks on your door with that baby, quickly grab your outside jacket and bag, and open the door. Pretend you were going out to the store or something. This is only a temporary solution for when she refuses to get the hint or if you don't know how you should say No.
    via MeowSkitty
  • 13
    citrushibiscus She sounds very selfish and ungrateful not to mention entitled. I think you need to take a break from this friendship and reevaluate if she's someone you want in your life if she acts like this. Has she always been like this, taking you for granted, you always folding to her? At least stop opening your door when she knocks. Tell her you can't watch the baby, and if she gets upset, block her. There's a difference between helping her sometimes and this. She needs to learn that you d
    via citrushibiscus
  • 14
    Famous_Specialist_44 You sound like a saint. No one can expect a small child to never cry. No one should expect a friend or neighbour to be the on-call child minder. No one should say 10 minutes and stretch it to over an hour. NTA
    via Famous_Specialist_44
  • 15
    RMaua ΝΤΑ Stop opening the door when she tries to hand him off. Or find somewhere else to be during the day so she can't drop him off. Not your baby, not your responsibility.
    via RMaua
  • 16
    NatashOverWorld You're not being an AH, you're being used. The whole 10 mins that becomes an hour and a half? That's not an accident. Your friend has decided you're her free babysitter OP. You need to break that delusion of hers. NTA
    via NatashOverWorld
  • 17
    DazzleLove NTA. But it isn't necessarily her or the baby's fault he cries all the time- a panoply of health issues like reflux, delayed food allergies, can make babies inconsolable like this. My niece was like this till we found the cause, then became a different baby.
    via DazzleLove
  • 18
    LucyParish NTA NTA. It's clear tat you've been a great friend by helping out, but it sounds like yur friend's expectations hve become too demanding. It's important to set boundaries, especialy wen it starts affecting your own well-being. It's reasonable to suggest that if her nids are so specific and frequent, hiring a nanny might be a better solution for both of you......
    via LucyParish
  • 19
    equationgirl NTA. Poor chap might be going through separation anxiety, or be dealing with reflux, all sorts of things. Has he had a check up recently? None of that is your responsibility OP. You've been a great friend so far and she needs to organise childcare. And pay for it - has she ever paid you?
    via equationgirl

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baby parenting mom friendship aita babysitter best friends babysitting reddit thread Reddit entitled people
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