My baby hates my MIL and it's breaking our hearts

"The baby burst into tears as soon as she walked through the door and wasn’t able to calm down until after she left, so we can say with confidence now that it’s linked to one particular person," the worried mum shares.

Just when you think you're set with your new baby because you have loving inlaws as well as a great mum, the baby itself can decide to mess things up.

For example, one mum shared this week that her five-month-old has begun crying when she sees her paternal grandma - to the point that it's stressing the whole family out.

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"She's been hysterical and inconsolable until we leave"

Writing on Reddit, the mum shares:

"My five-month-old baby hates my MIL. She was ok with her when she was a newborn but the last few times we've visited the in laws something has triggered her, and she’s been hysterical and inconsolable until we got home.

"We thought it was some stranger danger type phase or that she didn’t like new or noisy places… it seemed like she was accepting of my FIL but not my MIL."

Things escalated when the poster's MIL went over to babysit for just half an hour.

"The baby burst into tears as soon as she walked through the door and wasn’t able to calm down until after she left so we can say with confidence now that it’s linked to one particular person.

"Has anyone else experienced this? My MIL is a very loving kind person, she doesn’t talk loudly or have any strong perfume or features. She watched my baby once for a few hours when she was three months old and when I picked her up, she was crying but we put that down to hunger - I can’t imagine anything untoward would have happened while I was away."

The new mum explains that the situation is distressing for everyone.

"My poor MIL is absolutely heartbroken over this and desperately wants a relationship with her granddaughter but her confidence has taken a real hit."

Source: iStock

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"She eventually got over it"

The comments section was full of helpful advice for the mum.

One parent wrote, "My daughter, and I, are very sensitive to smells, so my daughter went through a phase where she hated my MIL, but not my FIL. And it wasn’t all the time. We figured out it was the perfumed lotion she was using."

"This was my first thought too," another replied. "The first time my parents visited my baby was inconsolable even after they'd left.

"It was only when my husband tried to soothe him and commented how he smells like my mum that we clicked it could be that. Changed his clothes and he went straight to sleep."

This mum agreed with the scent theory, sharing: "I was going to say this as well. We went through a phase where my daughter hated my dad. He's a jewelry mechanic. He has a very distinct smell, I don't think it washes away at this point. She eventually got over it."

Taking the possibility further, this parent suggested something done when babies are alone in hospital: "Would you mil be willing to wear something of yours/partners so she smells familiar?"

Have you experienced this with your baby? Tell us in the comments on Facebook.

Originally published as My baby hates my MIL and it's breaking our hearts