This new mother has taken to the internet and revealed something quite strange. That her mother-in-law, grandma, wants to breastfeed her grandchildren.
The bond between mother and child is only strengthened by breastfeeding and is something quite personal. So, naturally, this mother was a little weirded out by her mother-in-law’s strange request. The 70-year-old woman wanted to try to breast-feed her baby!
Let’s get one thing straight before we begin, this story came from a Reddit thread, so we can’t 100% validate if this story is real. However, we’re pretty sure things like this do happen, so for the time being, we’ll take their word for it.
Mother is upset Grandma wants to breastfeed her child
In an anonymous post on Reddit, this parent claimed that she found herself in a rather awkward position after rejecting her mother-in-law’s request.
The post that detailed how grandma wants to breastfeed the baby has since been taken down. However, the transcript remains below.
The new mother wrote on the thread:
“This 70-year-old woman plans to breastfeed my sister-in-law’s first baby that is due in six weeks. She read that grandmas help breastfeed the babies in some cultures and wants to give it a go”
“Now that she has the idea that she is going to breastfeed her grandbaby, she’s started saying that she doesn’t want a stronger bond with one baby and not the other”
“And since he’s already here, she wants to start practicing breastfeeding with my baby in hopes it goes well and she can start breastfeeding both my and my sister-in-law’s baby”
The grandma says she wants to breastfeed them at the same time. She claims that it is some kind of dream to do a tandem feed. The mother, however, says that she can’t even. “This woman is a special kind of delusional. Can a woman that age even re-lactate?”
The new mother had spoken to her husband, who, in turn, spoke to his mother. He told his mother that they were not comfortable with the idea, but of course, the daughter-in-law got all the blame.
“Of course this all falls onto me in her eyes, she’s mad saying I’m standing in the way of her having a closer bond with her grandbabies. I’m the reason, even though my husband is equally grossed out”
She said she told her mother-in-law to speak with a lactation consultant if it’s that important to her, but there is no way she is ever allowing her to breastfeed her baby, no matter what.
The Internet agreed that it just wasn’t right
Many people online have voiced their opinions on the matter and feel that the grandmother had crossed a line with her demands.
One comment reading “this woman is completely justified in being weirded out by the request.”
Another replied, “It’s inappropriate and massively crosses the line, but that should be the case, no matter mother-in-law’s age.”
“It’s a huge no-no from me! I could not imagine anyone but myself breastfeeding my children, let alone women in her 70’s” said another
A different user said she was absolutely horrified on the mother’s behalf. Stating that this would put a stop to all unsupervised visits with nonverbal children. There’s no way she is willing to respect that boundary.
Another comment agreed yet again about grandma wanting to breastfeed her grandchildren being wrong. “ Yes, in some cultures, they do this – but usually with another mother or woman in the tribe who are also lactating. Not elderly grandmothers who will be completely unable to feed the child. The kid will get no nourishment from it, not from dried-up old udders. The couple should not leave their baby alone with this woman.”
It seems that no one is on granny’s side as still more responders to the thread agreed with the original poster.
“That is really odd. The grandmother probably read about it being done in some poor culture where the grandmother is young, say 35. But, with a baby, she’s nursing, and she also has a 17-year-old with a baby and so nurses both her child and her grandchild, acting as a wet nurse. For a 70-year-old with dried-up old breasts wanting to do this is sick. I wouldn’t let Granny babysit the baby on her own if I were her.”
What do you think? Would you let your mom or mother-in-law breastfeed your child?
Keep Reading: Dad Divides The Internet With His Tactic For Getting His Son To Read
Sources
- “Mum appalled as 70-year-old mother-in-law ‘crosses line’ demanding to breastfeed her baby.” Mirror. Courtney Pochin. February 07, 2021.
- “New mum is left speechless after her mother-in-law, 70, demands to breastfeed her baby.” Daily Mail. Carina Sathis. February 07, 2021.