A mom has sparked a debate on social media after banning her parents from changing her newborn’s diaper in order to “protect the baby’s privacy.”
Taking to the popular British parenting website Mumsnet.com, a concerned parent asked if “only the parents should change nappies?”
“I’m very keen on consent and protecting my baby’s privacy and prefer that only myself and my partner are the ones to change DS [darling son’s] nappy,” she wrote.
“Obviously I understand if we’re not available due to nursery eventually or if someone else is babysitting then I’m happy for someone else to do it however this has not yet been the case,” she continued before adding that the issue came up when her mother-in-law took it upon herself to change the baby’s diaper.
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“[The baby] continued crying throughout the change and she gave him back straight after but it annoyed me as it wasn’t her place to change him,” the mom added.
She claimed that she “didn’t say anything at the time” because she was “trying to be nice and friendly.”
However, now she’s starting to find her mother-in-law more overbearing so she’s close to “drawing a line” with her.
The post received hundreds of comments – with some siding with her, while others criticized her decision.
“I don’t understand the logic here,” commented one user. “If you’re genuinely worried about privacy and consent in these matters, then surely nursery must be a total no-go?”
Another agreed writing: “So nursery workers or babysitters can change your child but their grandparent can’t? I suspect this is more about your feelings towards your MIL than anything to do with privacy and consent (consent being a ridiculous concept for a small baby who has no capacity to give informed consent at that age).”
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Others even suggested that this mom might just have a vendetta against her mother-in-law.
“Your poor MIL. If she’d sat there and let you do it you’d have moaned she was unhelpful/uninvolved/uninterested,” one user pointed out, while another added: “Is your MIL actually overbearing, or are you constantly pushing back and trying to stop her spending time with the baby?
The response continued: “At the end of the day you are the baby’s mom and nothing will change that, but having positive relationships with family is important and you should be encouraging this. Boundaries are important too and if she is genuinely being too much then you should address that, but your OP comes across like you may be the one being a little intense and over thinking things.”
What do you think about this issue?
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