If there’s one thing for certain about new parents, it’s that a baby’s name is a very precious, personal and sensitive thing.
Nearly nine months of painstaking back-and-forth goes on, trawling through name after name before settling on the perfect one for the perfect baby.
So what happens when you’ve settled, are happy, the baby comes, the baby is named and then – and only then – does your mother-in-law come along and do her best to meddle with said name?
Would you lose it too?
One mum has taken to online parenting forum Mumsnet to share this exact debacle, explaining long with her partner they had made a decision about their baby’s name “before he was born”.
“Today, in the car on the way to register the baby, his mum is on the phone to him, he’s being very quiet so I guess it’s something he doesn’t want me to know about. Next thing I know when we’ve got out the car I’ve got texts on my phone from her saying naming the baby is a big thing and please don’t rush into anything.”
The post, which appears to have since been deleted and it’s legitimacy unable to be confirmed by Mamamia, went on to say her partner’s mother sought to change the baby’s middle name at the very least. The new mum wrote her mother-in-law wanted the name Christopher, and as a means of meddling even more, had the entire extended family on side.
This Glorious Mess discuss: Please Don’t Name Your Baby Jakxxson. Post continues…
“This name has literally never been mentioned by either of us before and I still have no idea where it came from or why the hell they as a family are sitting there discussing what my baby’s name should be when he is already here and had that name for six days.
“Now he has ended up with Christopher as a random bloody middle name, which would’ve been fine if it was my [partner’s] choice but I know it’s not – it’s hers!”
What do you think? Is it ever okay for grandparents to weigh in on a baby’s name?
Top Comments
It's not okay for an extended family to sit down and talk about your baby's name without you, however, the wording of "My MIL tried to change my baby's name" is misleading. the MIL never really had a legal say. You wrote down what you want your baby's name to be. If it's on the birth certificate, YOU wrote it. You didn't have to write it, unless your husband also liked that name. But YOU wrote it. Besides, it's just a middle-name. Barely anybody even mentions those anymore.
No it's not OK for in-laws or grandparents to meddle this way.
This is one of several issues that have nothing to do with them.
I'm always shocked when I observe how "hands-on" some grand-parents are , how much they intrude on their kid's married lives and the privacy of their homes.
One of the special privileges & pleasures of bringing a child into the world is in creating that child's name ( even if they decide not to use it ).
Married couples have to set the rules right at the very start.