My husband’s friends wife came to visit when baby was newborn and was very over the top. I know people have this urge to hold newborns, but most people that visited just held him very carefully and barely moved. This friend was getting up and down, moving him in different positions, handing him to someone else. The second time she came she was stroking his tummy to relieve trapped wind, doing bicycle legs, lifting him up and down, winding him and was basically as confident as if she was the mum. Baby didn’t care, I was nearly crying.
Was I being silly? Honestly?
Husband thinks I was but it made me feel so strange and stressed. I’ve only seen her once since but she kept offering to come and ‘look after’ our baby. I said I didn’t need anyone else to look after him.
Should I have said- please can you hold him still, as it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable that you’re so confident moving him around so much?’
I just wonder if I should say something next time we see her or just let her do what she wants? Or when we have another baby. Seeing her at the weekend so I’ve been thinking about it again 😑
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Sounds like you're a first time mum in which case the anxiety is totally normal. By the time you've had a second or more you tend to relax and not be so uncomfortable with people doing this. She probably thought she was being helpful and didn't understand that it was making you uncomfortable or anxious. If she does something that makes you uncomfortable do say to her please don't that makes me uncomfortable and anxious when you do that. If she respects you she will respect your feelings. Personally I wouldn't bring up the past, if she asks why she hasn't seen you in ages then explain what she did made and how it made you feel but I wouldn't mention it otherwise

Your feelings are completely valid and you’re not being silly. It’s in our nature to be protective over our babies especially post partum where our hormones are elevated. And when someone does things like that it makes us think they question our judgment and they think they know our baby better than we do. I would just make excuses to avoid any awkwardness. Nappy changes, putting baby, down for nap, feeding. Or you can get your husband to say something to his friend. Just let him know you guys don’t feel comfortable with the way she’s handling baby and he can deal with it from there. You have every right to ask for your baby back it’s literally torture watching things like this happen😭