Mum gives family secret parenting test before they're approved to babysit her newborn

A mum has sparked a debate after admitting to putting relatives through a secret parenting test before they’re allowed to babysit.

When you become a new parent it’s only natural to worry about leaving your baby in someone else’s care.

But one mum has taken things to the extreme to revealing she gives family members a test before they’re allowed to look after her baby daughter.

Posting on Reddit's "Am I The A*****" forum, the new mum explained that she's recently given birth to a baby girl and has received countless offers of babysitting from family.

Rather than just accept the help and see how they got on, the new mum “decided on a simple ‘test’ to see who's ready.”

She went on to explain that she would ask her family to watch the baby while she went and did something in another room.

“Sometimes it goes bad, like my grandma turned off her hearing aid so she wouldn't be bothered by the baby crying,” she wrote. “But other times it goes fine, and we've got a trusted new sitter.”

Though it might sound extreme the woman was grateful of the test after her husband’s siblings offered to babysit and didn't last long before coming to find her for help.

"I figured that meant they failed for now and just aren't ready to babysit a newborn yet, but we can try again when the baby is older,” she wrote.

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But the situation took a turn for the awkward when the woman's sister-in-law asked why she wasn’t allowed to babysit and much to the new mum’s horror her husband told his sister about the test.

To the couple’s surprise his sister hit back by saying they had failed their own test by not asking anything about their lives since welcoming their daughter.

Confused by their response the new mum asked other users for their opinions on the subject, asking whether she was right not to trust family with her baby and if her family should “cut a new mum some slack?”

Some users were of the opinion that the whole secret test was on the extreme side.

“This whole idea of testing a family member is just weird,” one user commented. “If OP [original poster] didn't ask them specifically to watch the kid, then returning the baby to his mum makes the most sense.

“Also some people need more time to learn and get to know kids before babysitting. Trial runs and family trips would be better tests,” the user added.

“You can't 'trial run' people without telling them,” another user agreed. “Personally if I were visiting my friend who has a baby, and she asked me to watch her for a bit while she did something in the house, I would have done exactly what your SIL did and called her when something happened.

“I wouldn't presume that, as a guest, she was actually expecting me to change her baby's diaper for her. If she asked me to babysit, I absolutely would. You're being super weird with these 'tests'.”

“Babysitting is not rocket science and you are being extremely demeaning to your family,” another user commented.

“Of course you can choose who watches your baby and who doesn’t, but this “testing” loved ones without telling them is ridiculous and rude. Just hire a professional if you really feel like your baby is so much more fragile than every other person who has managed to survive infancy.”

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But others could totally see where the new mum was coming from.

“This whole thing is madness,” one user wrote.

“Firstly, why are people determined to babysit a newborn? A baby that is 4-6 months old sure, but a newborn?

“It's completely normal for the two parents to be the only ones that look after the child until it's so many months old..

Your tests are completely normal in my eyes, if they have no experience looking after a newborn/baby then they obviously cannot be left alone while you leave the house - that's how mistakes happen.”

“You're allowed to vet anyone who will be taking care of your newborn including family,” another user agreed.

“I do think you could have been more open about testing you're family. There's no need to try and be sneaky, but it's clear that some of your family members are NOT prepared to babysit a newborn.”

Others explained that she wasn’t being unreasonable in wanting to get a sense of how people would care for and react to a newborn.

“A newborn is not easy for anyone, especially people who either don't have kids or have never interacted with your baby prior to sitting,” one user explained.

“However, I can see how making it an official test with a pass/fail can be quite jarring and upsetting, especially if you expressly tell them it was a test and they failed. But at the end of the day, you're protecting your child and they're throwing a fit about their own incompetence.”

In other parenting news a mum went online to reveal her shock after being asked to replace her cousin’s £1800 designer blouse after her newborn daughter was sick over it.

Sharing the dramatic story to Reddit, the poster asked whether she was right to refuse to cover the cost over the pricey garment since a big row had erupted following the incident.

Meanwhile another mum received praise from other parents for making kids ‘apply’ for jobs when they ask for pocket money.

In a post on Facebook, the clever parent- who runs the blog This Mom Means Business Inc - has revealed how she made job adverts for ‘Kitchen Manager’, ‘Lead Housekeeper’ and ‘Laundry Supervisor’.

Her kids had to fill in application forms for a shot at the jobs, with interviews being held in “mum’s room”.