25-year-old takes toy away from 3-year-old cousin while babysitting, gets reprimanded by aunt: 'I wasn't going to listen to him scream all day'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Oct 2, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Almost anybody who takes care of kids can tell you that one of the most important parts of the process is damage control. Even the most diligent caretaker is not going to avoid every scenario where they get themselves into trouble, or get upset over something that seems totally inconsequential and dumb to most adults. While preventing these things might be the best course of action, it is only realistic to expect that you have to respond to problems rather than avoid them quite a lot of the time.

The real test comes in how any issues that arise are responded to. Some things just aren't going to be as effective, or are straight-up not good in terms of a child's development. Choosing the right option every single time can feel like a minefield, and sometimes even more so when babysitting for children that aren't yours. Parents can get opinionated on how other caretakers treat their kids.

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  • a young child plays with wooden toys
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • In this story, one young woman who was living with her aunt, her husband, and her two kids came up against this issue while babysitting their youngest son. The three-year-old had a toy train that he loved to play with, but he became distressed and started screaming when it fell over while he was playing with it.

    This was a regular occurrence, and his babysitter grew tired of dealing with the issue while she was taking care of him. When it was his naptime, she decided to put the toy away, leading him to play with his other toys after he woke up. 

    She told her aunt about the situation, and she was annoyed that she had prevented him from playing with the toy. She wanted to know if she was in the wrong.

  • AITA for taking a child’s toys away for the afternoon?

    I'm a 25F and currently live with my aunt, her husband and two kids (16 and 3). The 3yo is potentially on the spectrum but my aunt keeps putting off getting him evaluated. He's obsessed with cars, trains and dinosaurs at the moment, and has a wooden train set with tracks. He has a habit of trying to roll them on his play rug instead of the tracks, and we have tile floors.
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • So, when his trains roll over the grout they tend to fall over, and when they do he gets upset, really upset. He tends to make noises when he's upset, but god when the trains fall. It's not a grunt or a pout. He screams, loud and shrill. And he'll do it over and over and over again. Even if we put the trains on the track he'll put them back on floor and the cycle repeats.
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • I was watching him, and he had a particularly rough day, especially with his train. So, after I put him down for his afternoon nap I took his train and track buckets and locked them away in a cabinet for the rest of the anfternoon until his mother got home, which was only another 2-3 hours. I told her what happened after she asked why I took his toys as I was bringing
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • wooden train toy and track arranged on a wood floor
    via Y M
  • them out to put them away I. his toy cupboard, and I told her. I tried everything; helping him fix it, redirection, telling him to stop screaming, but nothing was working. So yes, I got fed up and took his toys for the afternoon. He honestly wasn't even affected by it and spend the afternoon playing with his dinosaurs and magnets instead.
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • She thinks it was an a h le move to resort to hiding his toys from him, but what else was I supposed to do? I sure as h_I wasn't going to sit there and listen to him scream all day because he won't just pick the trains up and keep them on the track. I love her kids, I really do, but there's nothing I hate more than
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • hearing a child scream, especially that constantly. Looking back, I do feel bad, but I'd exhausted all my other options and wasn't going to fight fire with fire by yelling at him because what example does that set? That I can yell and scream but he can't?
    via OmgThatWitchIzzy
  • closeup of a plastic dinosaur toy
    via Sandy Millar

  • Commenters agreed that she had made the right decision.

    Shoddy-Stock7151 NTA - The trains were causing him stress and you eliminated that stress in a gentle way for him. If he woke up from a nap, and was fine without the trains, you helped him. Also, it's ok to not want to listen to constant screams or racket.
    via Shoddy-Stock7151
  • ADHDofCrafts NTA, especially given that you waited for nap time and saw that he was happy with his other toys. Redirecting a child who is having trouble regulating themself is genuinely a great method. You did great! Your aunt and uncle, OTOH, are true AHs for refusing to do right by him and get him evaluated and for not helping him learn to regulate his emotions.
    via ADHDofCrafts
  • Spiritual-Bridge3027 NTA Your title is misleading. You hid the toys that were triggering a special needs child and the redirection worked! The kid was happy playing with other toys. You did what was necessary to keep a kid happy while babysitting. Your aunt is nuts for picking on you about this.
    via Spiritual-Bridge3027
  • wowgamertbc NTA! The kid obviously redirected after the nap just fine, out of sight out of mind is always a good option. You didn't take the toys you just put them away so he wouldn't fixate on them after his nap. This works, why would she think this was an ah le move. I used to do this with my son as a baby/ toddler all the time. Sometimes he would notice and look around but not finding it right away would go play with something in front of him.
    via wowgamertbc
  • 416558934523081769 NTA, I've done similar with my own toddler. It's a form of redirection and you even did so while he was napping. There's a decent chance he only briefly realized they were missing before moving on to more productive play -- and by that I mean play that isn't upsetting him.
    via 416558934523081769
  • 00098888 NTA - I'd think differently if you'd have snapped in anger and hid them away while he cried for his favorite toys. But putting them out of sight so he can move onto another activity peacefully after nap? That's so tame. Unless there's another solution for the trains (like on a piece of cardboard, or a different rug, something like that) or another way to play with them... I think it's alright they get put away during certain times of the day regularly. But maybe keep an eye out for a lo
    via 00098888
  • Plane-Technician8087 NTA redirection is good for any child having trouble with a toy or task or activity. You didn't put him in a cold stark room, he just played with other toys for a while.
    via Plane-Technician8087
  • Adahla987 Do you know how many times I've taken a slide whistle from my own child and hidden it for days???? NTA
    via Adahla987
  • VirtualTotal8468 You waited until he was napping to remove the specifc toys that were causing distress. You didn't take them away while he was awake and crying for them, you didn't threaten him or make a big deal about it. From what you say, he might not have even noticed they were missing and was calm and happy the remainder of the time.
    via VirtualTotal8468
  • Definitely think you took a reasonable step in a kind and reasonable way.
    via VirtualTotal8468
  • Mandiezie1 NTA and as the adult it's absolutely your job to assess the situation and deem what is best for the child. If he becomes overstimulated by a situation and repeatedly ignores the redirection, hide them. You did a great job waiting until he went down for a nap so there would be no more issues.
    via Mandiezie1
  • LilMushboom NTA - clearly he had other toys available that he was able to play with that didn't cause him constant distress like the train toy. He wasn't upset anymore. Sounds like redirecting him to a less upsetting activity worked out fine. It's not like you slapped the toy out of his hand.
    via LilMushboom
  • MxBluebell As an au tic person myself, I'm telling you that you're NTA. You did everything right! You took away the factor that was causing distress (the trains) and distracted him with other toys so he was able to calm down and self-regulate. You saved him from going into a meltdown if the train fell one too many times.
    via MxBluebell
  • JamSkully NTA. He played dinosaurs instead of trains & it was fine. Although I hope you would've given the trains back if he was distressed by their disappearance.
    via JamSkully

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family drama aita toddler toys babysitting family reddit thread Reddit train cousins dinosaurs playing
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