Mom of a 4-month-old bans her mother-in-law from taking care of the baby unattended after she puts sugary cereal in her son's bottle: 'She called me controlling, a helicopter parent, a bad parent, etc.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 7, 2024 4:00 PM EST

Getting grandparents to adhere to newfangled standards of contemporary parenting is not always easy. Sometimes, you've just got to accept that they might not use gentle parenting language perfectly (praising a job well done instead of praising the effort specifically) or might raise their eyebrows about the rise of swaddling for increasingly big babies. You might be able to live with some disagreements, but any good parent won't let their parents or in-laws do anything that actually endangers their baby. That includes putting tons of blankets and toys into a newborn's crib, incorrectly strapping them into a car seat, and putting cereal in their bottles. Some argue that a bit of rice cereal in a baby's bottle is harmless, but the mother-in-law in this story went way further than rice cereal. She put crushed-up Froot Loops into her grandson's bottle and tried to play the victim when her daughter-in-law called her out. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10438082048
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITAH for not letting my MIL see my baby until I put cameras up in my home?
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 03
    1 25F had a baby boy with my 27M husband 4 months ago. His mom, my MIL has some old school backwards thinking that I do not agree with.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 04
    She spanked her kids, let them "cry it out" when they were babies, etc. she tries to impose those thoughts on me and I tell her I do not like that way of thinking and will not be doing that with my child or future children.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 05
    One thing she did was put cereal in her kids bottles. She said it to me about 3 weeks ago and I told her no because that will increase the chance of gagging or inhaling that liquid into his lungs and I told her that I will not be doing it, my husband said he will not be doing it and I told her she will not be doing it.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 06
    I caught her on Saturday feeding him his bottle with fruit loops mixed in when I came downstairs from taking a nap. I completely lost it and told her to get out of my house. She told me I can't do that because this is her son's house too and I told her I would Just call the police because she's refusing to leave.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 07
    She left but stayed in her car across the street until my husband came home from work. She tried crying and acting like I was the bad person. He told her that he asked her to stop when he caught her last week. I got pied because he didn't tell me that. I was furious with both of them at that point.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 08
    I told her she would never be allowed to watch him or any children I have in the future again and she has completely lost my trust. She's never allowed in our home again.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 09
    My husband has tried to smooth things over and I'm not having it. I told him the only way she'd be allowed back in our home was when I put cameras up and she can not go out of my sight with again.
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 10
    She blew up at me in the group chat that we have with her, myself, my mother, my father, my husband's 2 sisters, and my sister. She called me controlling, a helicopter parent, a bad parent, etc. My family was not happy about the way she talked to me and told her she needs to back off and his side of the family was more so on her side and said I was overreacting a bit
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 11
    because the baby is okay. One of his sisters did say she crossed a line and she's done that with her kid when she popped her daughter in the mouth and that's why she's not allowed to be with her daughter by herself. I don't think I'm wrong
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 12
    Edit people keep saying this is fake because I "don't know what rice cereal is" I know exactly what it is and I work with children for a living, I'm a pediatric nurse. That is still 1. Not what she used 2. Not what I wrote. I know the difference between a cereal intended for babies I STILL Told her no to anything mixed in my babies bottle. I thought she meant that cereal as well but I still told her no. You'd imagine my
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 13
    shock and horror when she had rainbow cereal crushed in my babies bottle. She said she used Cheerio's when her children were younger. She knew what she meant, I thought I knew what she meant but I clearly gave her too much credit. Just because you don't understand doesn't mean the story is fake
    via u/Overall_Today_3592
  • 14
    theworldisonfire8377 • 23h ago Top 1% Commenter Putting Rice Cereal in Your Baby's Bottle: Is It Safe? Should I Add Rice Cereal to My Baby's Bottle? Feeding From a Bottle | Nutrition | CDC Send these links to the group chat (all reputable medical sources), and tell everyone what she did, that she went behind your back twice endangering your child as a result of her actions, and that when MIL decides leave the 1950s behind and come into the 21st century, you might consider letting her around you
    via u/theworldisonfire8377
  • 15
    child again. Then ask them what makes them think you should be putting your child's safety as risk to appease old-fashioned parenting techniques that have been proven wrong in the last 50-70 years??? NTA.
    via u/theworldisonfire8377
  • 16
    Swiss Miss_77 • 23h ago • Top 1% Commenter And even then... it wasn't rice cereal. IT WAS FRUIT LOOPS!
    via u/Swiss Miss_77
  • 17
    theworldisonfire8377 I don't think there would be any articles specifying actual cereal such as Froot Loops because the average, normal person isn't stupid or ignorant enough to do such a thing. It's like finding an outlandish warning label on something and thinking "is anyone really stupid enough to try that?" Well, this woman is that person, apparently.
    via u/theworldisonfire8377
  • 18
    Hippie_Gamer_Weirdo She is the grandma giving the teething baby a shot of whiskey. Put og coca cola in her children's bottles. Puts a bunch of pillows and blankets in a crib. Gives them toys with small pieces. Doesn't put them in a carseat.
    via u/Hippie_Gamer_Weirdo
  • 19
    Ok-Try-857 I doubt this would help. It's not about the cereal. It's about power and control. Instead, her husband should tell his mother that she can feed cereal to whatever baby she has next, but not to his.
    via u/Ok-Try-857
  • 20
    touslestrains Setting boundaries is hard, but protecting your baby's safety isn't overreacting.
    via u/touslestrains
  • 21
    Lightmeup-goahead Never leave MIL with the kids alone ever. This becomes Olive Garden grandma aka you only visit her at Olive Garden.
    via u/Lightmeup-goahead
  • 22
    PurplePufferPea THIS! Even if you have camera's I wouldn't trust that women one second. She clearly has her own agenda and doesn't give a cr p about anyone else's opinions. I'm sure she can find a spot off camera to slip some Pringles into the next bottle, because the baby needs some potassium....
    via u/PurplePufferPea
  • 23
    Beneficial_Good2119 NTA, your husband needs to step up and establish the boundary though. Don't let that woman in your house without cameras, and all visits should be supervised by you until she has earned your trust back. She needs to understand that she doesn't get to choose how to parent your child, and needs to respect your rules if she wants to be in your child's life.
    via u/Beneficial_Good2119
  • 24
    WhizzoButterBoy MIL is a nightmare and an AH BUT Your husband is also a HUGE AH here. SHE DID IT ALREADY??? And he DIDNT TELL YOU? And he allowed her to continue to interact with your child unsupervised???
    via u/WhizzoButterBoy
  • 25
    So. He lied by omission to protect his dangerous mother and enabled her to potentially harm your child. Yikes. You are underreacting. NTA but stand up for your baby.
    via u/WhizzoButterBoy
  • 26
    notthedefaultname Cameras won't save a baby in crisis or being hit. They cant stop the bad thing from happening to baby, they can only give you proof that it happened.
    via u/notthedefaultname
  • 27
    Cali_Holly ΝΤΑ There is no smoothing anything over. Freaking Froot Loops has dyes and additives. A newborn baby does not need that. And it could have a really bad effect on a brand new belly. Fruit Loops?!! !
    via u/Cali_Holly
  • 28
    Secret_Sister_Sarah NTA This woman is trying to play the victim when she's an unashamed child ab er?! She spanked her kids, let babies cry it out instead of checking on them, and has put choking hazards in her own babies, and now your baby's, bottle, and won't stop even when told to stop repeatedly?
    via u/Secret_Sister_Sarah
  • 29
    Your SIL said this woman "popped her daughter in the mouth" and lost the privilege to see her. Dear god, that is NEVER okay! She's calling you a helicopter mom because she can't see how crucial it is to protect babies from her.
    via u/Secret_Sister_Sarah
  • 30
    zxvasd I like the family logic. Sure she put the child in danger, but nothing bad happened so everything's ok.
    via u/zxvasd
  • 31
    ZyxDarkshine This is exactly the type of person, that when told their grandchild has an allergic reaction to something, will introduce the child to the allergic environment in order to "prove you wrong". This person is dangerous
    via u/ZyxDarkshine

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family drama daughter in law baby crazy things parents say wife reddit story froot loops parenting husband in laws mother in law family reddit thread Reddit mom cereal
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