Mom faces backlash after ‘demanding’ people use baby talk with her child: ‘You are ridiculous’

A woman is upset about her sister’s way of communicating with children.

She went on Reddit’s “Am I the A******? (AITA)” forum for help. Her sister babysits her daughter once a month, but the sister doesn’t use baby talk when speaking to the 3-year-old. The mom thinks if her sister can use a baby voice with cats, the sister can use it with a baby.

“My sister looks after my daughter maybe once a month or so,” the mom wrote. “She’s kind of me and my husband’s backup backup babysitter since she’s not really a kid person.”

“I know she loves and cares for her niece, but one thing that’s always bothered me is that she speaks to my daughter like an adult. Doesn’t baby talk with her at all. I brought it up with her this weekend that it bothers me, but she brushed me off, saying she’s treating her like a person.”

The sister didn’t find it necessary to change her communication style with her niece. Now the family might be down one babysitter.

“She speaks to her cats in a baby voice all the time, and when I mentioned this, she told me her cats are never learning how to speak, so it doesn’t matter for them,” the mom explained. “I feel like she’s dismissing my feelings as a mother and is prioritizing her cats over her niece.”

“She thinks I’m being crazy and said that if I feel that strongly about it, to find a different babysitter. My husband thinks that I should have dropped the subject because now we don’t have an emergency babysitter if we need one.”

People thought the mother was being unreasonable.

“Baby talk is not required. Read some books about it; you are ridiculous,” a user said.

“She’s [the a******] for demanding other people do this with her child,” another wrote.

“Speaking in proper sentences to small children is WAY BETTER for their development than baby talk,” someone commented.

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