This is a father-in-law thing but I just have to share it (and didn't want to start a whole new thread)! I have a 13 mo old, who has never been cared for by anyone but me or DH. I have often felt like I'm overprotective, or paranoid. My parents and in-laws have begged to baby-sit, or, if we're staying over at their house, to "sleep in the baby's room" while I get quiet sleep in another room. I never felt comfortable with it, so I never agreed to.
Well, my sister-in-law just had a baby, he is 5 or 6 weeks old now, and she went to stay at her parents' house (my in-laws) for Mem. weekend. Sure enough, her father convinced her to let him sleep in the room with the baby (baby in pack-n-play) while she slept in another room. She had a monitor so that she could hear if the baby got inconsolable, and she left her father with a bottle of pumped breastmilk and bottles of formula as a backup if the baby was still hungry.
What did her father do? Well, he started by unplugging the monitor, to gallantly let his daughter get sleep without being disturbed. The baby went to sleep at 7pm, woke at 10, and he gave the bottle of breastmilk. The baby woke again twice more (at 1 am and 4 am is my guess), and he did not give any more milk/formula, because the baby "didn't want it enough -- didn't cry very hard and eventually went back to sleep." Baby woke for the day at 6 am and my father-in-law has bragged all day about what a good night it was.
Yep, I guess it's a good night when you starve a newborn and completely disregard the wishes of your adult daughter.
::sigh::
