It’s natural for mothers to be very protective of their newborn babies, but they are also too weak to set personal boundaries and too likely to feel inadequate when they do, especially with close family members. On Reddit, someone warned about a SIL and how their relationship changed quickly while she was pregnant, to the point where the SIL wouldn’t even let her see her baby.

What was going on?

My sister-in-law can’t have children of her own, but she adopted a daughter eleven years ago. She put a lot of pressure on her husband to adopt another child a few years ago, but he wasn’t interested. Around 5 months into my pregnancy, she began to criticize me after I got pregnant.

She would often invite me over and worry that I wouldn’t be able to take care of a child because I had a history of depression. The things she said about me made me doubt myself and upset me a lot. She said more mean things as my due date got closer, like, “I might have to fight with my brother for custody of the baby if something goes wrong” and “I will take custody if you can’t handle it.” I foolishly thought she was just caring and not trying to get what she wanted.

When my daughter was two weeks old, my sister-in-law came to see me after giving birth. My baby cried while she was in her arms, and I tried to take her away, but she wouldn’t let go. Instead, she bounced her until she fell asleep. This event made my postpartum depression worse. I went to therapy and found out that my sister-in-law was trying to get me to give her custody of my daughter.

My sister-in-law recently asked to take my baby for a snuggle, but I said no because I didn’t trust her after how she behaved during my pregnancy and after the birth. She told me I was overreacting and that I was having a manic episode. Even though I blocked her, she isn’t talking to my mother-in-law or making problems for my husband.