Couple Considers Cutting Contact with Mother-in-Law After She Insists on Renaming Granddaughter

Choosing a baby’s name is often a meaningful and carefully considered decision for new parents. 

While suggestions from family members are common, most parents expect their chosen name to be respected once it’s official. 

One couple, however, is facing repeated resistance from the baby’s grandmother, who continues to call the child by a name that was never agreed upon — one closely tied to her own.

“Within 10 minutes of finding out I was pregnant with a girl, my MIL told me we should name the baby after her,” a user wrote in a Reddit post. “We obviously didn’t do that.”

However, four days after the baby was born, the grandmother started using a different name for the newborn — a hybrid of her own name and the one chosen by the parents. 

“I corrected her on the spot,” the mother explained. Unfortunately, the corrections didn’t stop the behavior. “She did it several more times, and each time we corrected her and asked that she use the baby’s given name or a shortened version of it.”

After what the poster estimates was the fifth or sixth instance, she and her partner decided to take a firmer stance. “We confronted her very firmly and told her she will use the given name or the shortened nickname, and nothing else.”

The grandmother’s response was emotionally charged. “She said we refuse to let her have any joy,” the post reads. “Apparently the only thing that brings her joy is renaming our baby.” 

The grandmother then “reluctantly agreed to follow our rules and use the name or shortened nickname we chose.” But her promise was short-lived.

During a recent interaction, the grandmother “used another slightly shorter version of the combo name from before.”

“I doubted myself in the moment and wanted to convince myself I misheard, so I didn’t confront her this time,” the new mom explained.

However, now she is “back on alert.”

“Next time it happens (because of course there will be a next time), we will have to have yet another confrontation,” she wrote.

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The comment section was in full support for the Reddit user. “Why is she incapable of feeling joy unless she gets to rename someone else’s baby? Thats a bizarre problem to have,” one user wrote. 

“You’ve told her time and time again what the name is, and she still insists on calling baby another name,” someone else commented. “At this point, it is time for consequences.”

The parents emphasized they are not opposed to typical affectionate nicknames like “sweetheart,” “sugar,” or “peanut.” However, their frustration stems specifically from the use of variations that resemble the grandmother’s name. 

“Not renaming the baby shouldn’t be a boundary that even has to be articulated,” the mother wrote. The ongoing conflict has left the family feeling strained. “We’re getting very close to going low contact.”