'My mother-in-law refuses to respect my rules for visiting our baby - I'm laying down the law'

A mom-to-be says she and her husband decided to lay down some basic rules for both sides of their family to follow once their first baby is born. Unfortunately, her mother-in-law apparently didn't take too kindly to this and ended up throwing a 'fit', leaving the pregnant woman with additional stress.

The couple had wanted all members of their extended family to follow these rules, which include not following them when they head over into another room to change a nappy or feed the baby. They also want their relatives to take Covid tests every couple of days, and to wear masks around the baby at all times.

When it comes to social media, the parents say they don't want any pictures of their child online, except for the ones they choose to upload.

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Taking to Reddit , the expectant mother stated that her mother-in-law 'threw a literal fit about these rules', and believes she 'has every right' to 'change her baby's dirty diapers, and feed him'.

The exasperated woman wrote: "No ma'am. Your dirty hands will not go near my baby nor will you get to feed my baby when he's so little. Absolutely not. (We're talking days old)"

"Regarding the Covid tests, I put it there because she willingly exposed us and other family members to Covid KNOWING she was close contact. Did she care? Not at all. So from now on she will be taking Covid tests at my wish. And will wear a mask at all times during visiting the baby."

Reaching out to fellow Reddit users for advice, she continued: "With social media, she absolutely overshares everything. And has loads of random people on it. I don't want weirdos seeing pictures of my newborn. So I am 100% sticking to these rules and she can literally suck it if she's not happy about them."

"She has gone around and badmouthed me for months, making completely false claims. I called her out on it and warned her that I know and it's her final chance. Now she's done it again."

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Although she won't deny her mother-in-law visitation to the newborn out of love for her husband, she's made the decision not to communicate with her going forward, finding that she brings just too much stress.

One person advised: "Limit the time of visits. Confiscate her phone when she enters the house - otherwise, you just know she will whip it out and take pictures to post. Can't come into the house with a phone, no siree."

"Others are right about consequences. your mother-in-law is planning on ignoring all the rules. Have a procedure in place to prevent her from doing so. Don't let her get away with shit and then try and downplay it."

Another commented: "These are all very reasonable rules. Make her wash her hands and have her keep her phone in her purse."