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Are we being too overprotective by not letting MIL babysit?


My son is 4 months old, and he has yet to be babysat by anyone other than his father. My MIL desperately wants to babysit. She has been literally begging to babysit him since he was a week old. At least once a week she asks when will she get to babysit him. The problem is my husband & I really don't trust her to watch him on her own. Every time she sees him she snatches him up away from us. Our boy screams every time she holds him, so she squeezes him tighter & says "I'll make you love me!" We feel like she doesn't respect any boundaries we set, but that's a feeling all parents deal with, isn't it? I really don't know what to do. I worry about leaving our son with her, but I feel guilty she hasn't gotten to babysit. Perhaps we are being overprotective, or letting issues of the past cloud our judgement? (2 years ago she had a restraining order put on my hubby because she didn't get her way with our cat, & I don't think he's totally forgiven her) I just don't know what to do! Please help

Posted: 06/08/2012 by unknownsmommy

Mom Answers

If neither of you trust her and she has bad judgement don't let her babysit. It's not worth risking your child just because she makes you feel guilty.
posted 06/09/2012 by HereNow26
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I think you would be right to be suspicious of a woman that tried to have her way with your cat.
posted 06/08/2012 by mapsrofekaf
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You don't have to leave her alone with the baby if you're not comfortable with it. Sometimes it can be hard to trust anyone else with your baby, especially when they're really little. It is good to learn to let that go a bit, for your own peace of mind. But only with someone you feel you can trust.
posted 06/09/2012 by a BabyCenter Member
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I am going through a very similar situation with my MIL and my son is 4 months, also. She has been begging to babysit since the day we brought him home from the hospital. It drives me nuts because she has not been around babies pretty much since her kids were kids - 30 plus years ago - and the other grandkids live far away. She has no idea what is correct for babies nowadays and is very paranoid. Anyway, what I did once was let her babysit for 2 hours. I went home, did some things and went back to pick him up. She was so worried he would stop breathing when he was sleeping, she pushed him around the house in this old crusty stroller. UGH. She still hounds me all the time to babysit, but since I am currently a SAHM I don't need her help. She tries to cajole me by saying I can do this or that without him quicker or easier. I don't care and I keep telling her I will keep her offer in mind. The guilt really gets to me, too. Good luck.
posted 06/12/2012 by staselew
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Have you tried reading the MIL her constitutional rights? Under the god-given bill of rights, the MIL has the right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without any interference from communist, pinko, maggots. If the MIL wants to have her way with your baby, than you better let her do so or you're in for some good old fashioned texas justice. You ever heard of capital punishment? Let's see what you america-hating, godless heathens have to say when that baby is facing the electric chair. Don't mess with texas. America the beautiful, o'er amber waves of grain, hallowed be thy name. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever, world without end. A--men.
posted 06/08/2012 by eaglerider4ojuly
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