Hundreds Of Moms Weighed In On A Grandmother Who Refuses To Put Her Grandchild In A Car Seat When She Babysits

Raising a child, as they say, takes a village, and being able to lean on grandparents for childcare is a huge blessing for busy parents. Of course, parenting styles don't always line up, but that usually means grandma slipping some extra sweets to the kids — not putting them in unnecessary danger.

One mom, who goes by mayipleaseehavebread on Reddit, recently took to r/Mommit to share her frustration about a guideline for her mother when babysitting her son that has gone ignored more than once.

She wrote: "I'm livid and won't be letting her take him out again but needed to vent. My parents look after my son for me now and again, he loves them, and they love him, but my mom is really testing me. Twice now she has had him in someone's car without his car seat."

She continued: "The first time it happened, I didn't let her see him for a month. I knew they were taking him out and had left his car seat for them, but she didn't use it as they were only 'going around the corner.' I screamed and shouted about her putting my son at risk. She tried to backtrack and lie her way out of it, but at the end of the day, she disrespected me."

"That was almost a year ago; yesterday, she had him as I had work in London, and hubby was at work; she said they were taking him out and promised she would use the car seat. I stressed at her how she won't see him again if they don't use and guess what, they didn't use it."erday, she had him as I had work in London, and hubby was at work; she said they were taking him out and promised she would use the car seat. I stressed at her how she won't see him again if they don't use and guess what, they didn't use it."

The end of the post reads: "I'm livid, I'm going to see her today to shout and give an ultimatum, why don't people listen?! 'Oh, he was fine. We only went two streets away. You're being dramatic…'"

"'Dramatic' when there's an insane storm going on, and anything could have happened. [She] won't be having him again. I feel like a dick for trusting and believing her. Can't even trust my dad as he's such a pushover he lets her shout him down on anything."

Nearly 200 comments poured in from other moms. Some recounted the awful things that can happen when caregivers don't take the simple precaution of a car seat (or when adults forego seatbelts).

One user wrote: "A couple of years ago, there was an accident outside my friend's work, where two cars, including a truck, collided. There was a toddler, not strapped in, in the truck, and they were thrown out and died. Not on the freeway. Just at a random light. Why even take the risk? Why."

Another wrote about a life-altering accident in her family, warning the original poster: "She is playing Russian roulette with your child's life. Stay strong in this decision."

One mom relayed a story about how safety measures in the car can save children's lives: "Last winter, my husband was working and had an accident happen close to him. He watched a car seat fly out of the car. [The] car seat wasn't buckled properly, but baby was buckled into the car seat. Baby didn't even have a scratch. If he wasn't buckled into [the] car seat, the situation would've had a much more tragic ending."

It's well-documented that children should be in car seats to prevent serious injury and even death as the result of a crash — not to mention that it's the law in about 60% of countries.

That's a relatively new development, though, and older generations might remember riding without seatbelts as kids and figure it'll be fine for their own children and grandchildren. As the author of the post writes, her mom shirked it off, justifying that it was a short car ride.

The true difficulty, though, is deciding where and how to draw the line with your own parent. The post author considers giving her mom an "ultimatum," demanding that she put her grandson in a car seat or not be able to see him, but as another user pointed out, she had already wavered.

They wrote, "Didn’t you already issue an ultimatum when you 'stressed at her how she won’t see him again if they don’t use [the car seat]?' At this point, it’s time for consequences." The poster responded that she perhaps naively expected her mom to listen:

She later wrote in an update that she had kept calm, confronted her mom, and would be keeping her away from her grandson for the time being, and then would only allow her to see him under supervision.

What do you think? Would you give her another chance, or would this be the end of her seeing her grandchild? Let me know in the comments.