MIL Vent

PAAZwife

I know that I really shouldn't complain because MIL and FIL offered to watch DS way back when they found out that I was pregant, but sometimes I just need to get my frustrations off my chest.  At first I thought, "Great!  Free daycare!"  Then they started watching him.  MIL in particular refuses to listen to a word I say.  In fact, she often does the opposite.  For some reason she doesn't think that he needs to sleep during the day (at least not as much as he should).  So today FIL is out of town, and she had DS by herself.  I was working from home (a 2 minute drive from their house), so I asked her to call when she thought he'd need to go down for his afternoon nap.  I planned to bring him home and have him nap here.  At 1:15, she calls and says he's not ready yet but she thinks by 2:30 he will be and that she'll call then.  So 2:30 comes and goes, no call.  I decide that I'm just going to head over.  If he's awake then I'll bring him home and play with him for a bit before his nap.  I get there, and she tells me he's tired and ready to go down.  OK...THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL?!

So, I get him home and am changing his diaper before the nap, and he literally falls asleep on the changing table while I'm changing him.  No paci in his mouth, no fussing, just passes out!  Apparently the other day he fell asleep while playing on his playmat at their house.  I know newborns do that, but I don't think that most 5 month olds do.  Do you maybe think he needs more sleep!?

LClaire

awwwww:( poor guy:(

Futuremrssoll

poor little guy. ?i feel you on the MIL vents. ?She always said that when we had our kids (we as in us, my SIL) that she'd stop her wedding flower business to be available for us to have her watch the grandkids. ?So when we had Eli I just did not really need much baby sitting, though I had her come down and watch him while I was here, so I could clean and what not. ?We had a disagreement about whether Eli needed a blanket or not, so it seems, since then, she has not respected me as a mom. ?My SIL had a baby and she watches him all the time. ?My SIL and I have very different parenting techniques, so I feel like my MIL is always judging me, because I'm?usually?the one to speak up, not my DH. ?I feel like she does the opposite of what I tell her as well. ?The other day I told her to feed Eli at a certain time when my husband and I were out to dinner, and when we got back, an hour after I had asked her to feed him, I was like, so how much did he eat, and she was like, ohh, i totally forgot to feed him, we were just having too much fun. ?She has never forgotten to feed my nephew! ?GRRRRR, haha, so, in other words, I feel your pain.

rlthomas7

Around 5 months is when Adam started jumping himself to sleep in the Jumperoo, so it can happen.

However, not sure how your guy is, but when my guy was that age if he was sleepy, he was screaming. So it was kind of impossible for us to keep him awake if he wanted to sleep.

And also, he goes to daycare three days a week. I tried as hard as I could to keep his schedule the same on home days and daycare days, but it was like he had a split personality - at daycare he would take fewer naps, I think because there were other things going on and he just wasn't tired. It's still different. With me he naps at 11 and 4. There he naps at noon and then passes out as soon as I get him home. So maybe that's happening for you too, not that I'm backing your MIL - I never back mothers in law!

PAAZwife

Thanks for the perspective, Rachel.  Sometimes it is hard to see past the end of your nose when you're frustrated.  It usually takes me a while to cool down before I can accept other possibilities.

Jess, I completely understand about being compared to the SIL who is MIL's daughter.  There is really nothing you can do about this.  DH keeps telling me that I need to talk to his sister since she experienced the same frustrations with his mom as I do.  Ummmm....hello, I can't do that because blood is thicker than water!  It kinda stinks when you're married to someone who only has sisters.