My Baby Sobs Every Time My MIL Visits. And I Uncovered an Unexpected Truth

A young woman wrote to us and asked for help. Like many people, she was facing problems related to her mother-in-law. She managed to find out what makes her child cry after every visit of her mother-in-law and now she does not know how to act.

She wrote:

People have shared their views on the situation.

• Let her know that her grandchild is sensitive to it, and let her make the choice of either using a different perfume or stop visiting. © Tyra Cosgrove / Facebook
• She could bring a small vial of the perfume with her and put it on after she leaves. © Ann Marie Viola / Facebook
• Maybe the Mil can wear the perfume, after visiting the baby. So she doesn’t have to renounce and the relationship with the baby can go on slighter. © Fabiola Fatima / Facebook
• Maybe there’s a different version of it he doesn’t react to, such as a powder or soap or lotion? Or maybe if she sprays it before she leaves home, her clothes reek of it, and he’s coming into contact with it when she picks him up? But she needs to know. She’ll be horrified to learn something she does albeit innocently causes her grandson to have an allergic reaction. © Rohanne Compton / Facebook

• Just like you did with the clothes and jewelry. Tell her the doctor’s testing if he’s allergic to scents. Please no parfum or strong smelling laundry products. © Vanessa Gowy / Facebook
• Your son might have (MCS) multiple chemical sensitivities. I was always sick as a child from perfumes to cleaning products which my mother insisted on using. Left home & don’t use anything perfumed.I can lose cognitive function around scents. © Denise Bracken / Facebook
• Strong sense, perfume, are not good for your babe lungs development. You worried about your MIL’s feeling than your baby’s health? © Jenna Inme / Facebook
• Well, you have to choose baby’s wellbeing or not confronting MIL. If MIL is a reasonable person and loves her grandkid, she will not offend but understanding. Your child’s health trumps MIL. © Romy B. Milaković / Facebook

We hope that our reader will be able to build boundaries and protect her child’s interests while maintaining her friendship with MIL. This woman did not manage to do this, she forbade her mother-in-law to communicate with her daughter after she cut her 14-year-old girl’s hair.