May 5, 2023

Mom Upset After In-Laws Suggest Toddler Sleep in Separate Room

A woman is fuming after her in-laws requested her 2-year-old sleep in a separate building during their upcoming family vacation.

The frustrated mom turned to parenting forum Mumsnet to vent and seek advice for her situation. She explained she is going on vacation with her extended family in June, and the accommodations include a “large villa with additional connected apartments,” each with its own separate entrance.

The “current proposal” is that everyone with young children under the age of 3 take the apartments, while those without kids sleep in the main house.

“I have said, OK, makes sense but obviously either [my husband] or I will effectively go to bed with [our toddler] each night because I don’t want to leave her by herself in a different building (separate entrances) with potential hazards around (un-fenced pool, one apt is up stone steps with a balcony, what if the air con catches fire),” she wrote via her post.

However, her in-laws think she is being “totally unreasonable.” They told her nothing will happen to her daughter and that “it’s no different to her being asleep upstairs in the house.”

Mumsnet users tried to comfort the concerned mom in the comments section, with many validating her feelings.

“You should do what you feel comfortable with, you’re the parents,” one person wrote.

“I wouldn’t leave my children locked in an apartment and spend the evening in the main villa. I wouldn’t lock my child in my house and go sit next door for example so it’s not OK because you’re on holiday. This wouldn’t stop me going though. I’d either put the children to sleep somewhere in the main villa or get a travel cot if she still fits in one and move her when you leave,” another shared.

“I wouldn’t be comfortable with my 10-year-old sleeping in locked accommodation away from me, and she’s a perfectly level headed and risk adverse child (who would also sleep through a tornado). No way on earth would I be happy with a small child and that set up. It’d be my hill and I’d be building a fort alongside my picnic blanket!” someone else commented.