My In-laws Called Me Paranoid Until My Sil Almost Let My Baby Fall Out Of A Second-story Window. Now They’re Threatening To Sue Me For Cutting Her Off. What Do I Do?

The Honey Incident

The breaking point came when Lily was 2 months old. I had to use the bathroom and left Lily with Bridget for literally 3 minutes. When I came back, Bridget was feeding Lily honey from a spoon. Actual honey to a two-month-old baby.

“It’s good for her immune system,” Bridget said as I knocked the spoon away. “Plus it’ll help her sleep better.”

I rushed Lily to the emergency room. Infant botulism from honey can be fatal. The doctor was horrified when I told him what happened. We had to stay for observation while they monitored Lily for symptoms.

Bridget told everyone I was being dramatic about a tiny bit of honey. When we got home from the hospital, I banned Bridget from our house. She showed up anyway the next day with Keith’s parents.

“This has gone too far,” my mother-in-law said. “You’re keeping Bridget from her niece over accidents. She’s devastated.”

The Intervention

They staged an actual intervention about my paranoid behavior. Keith sat there letting them attack me while our baby slept upstairs.

“Maybe you have postpartum anxiety,” Bridget suggested with fake concern. “It makes mothers see danger everywhere.”

That’s when we heard a crash from upstairs. Everyone ran to the nursery. Bridget had gone up there while they were lecturing me. She’d taken Lily out of her crib and put her on the window seat to take photos.

The crash was Lily rolling off onto the floor. My two-month-old baby was on the floor screaming, but that wasn’t the worst part. The window was wide open. The window seat was pushed right against it. If Lily had rolled the other direction, she would have fallen two stories onto concrete.

Bridget stood there with her phone still in camera mode.

“I just wanted some photos with natural light,” she said. “Babies are tougher than you think.”

I called 911 while Keith finally, finally lost it on his sister.

The Paramedics Arrive

The paramedics showed up faster than I expected, rushing through our front door with their equipment bags bouncing against their legs. I was on the floor with Lily pressed against my chest, tears streaming down my face while her screams filled the room.

Keith stood over Bridget near the window, his face completely red, his hands shaking as he yelled at her about what the hell she was thinking.

One of the paramedics, a woman with short gray hair, knelt down next to me and gently asked if she could check Lily. I didn’t want to let go, but I forced myself to hand her over, watching every movement as the paramedic laid my baby on the carpet and started examining her.

The other paramedic, a younger guy, asked Keith what happened. Keith pointed at Bridget, his voice cracking as he explained about the window seat and the open window. Bridget stood there holding her phone still in camera mode and kept saying she just wanted photos with natural light.

Keith turned back to her and screamed that she could have killed his daughter. That Lily could have fallen two stories onto concrete.

Bridget actually rolled her eyes and said, “Babies are tougher than people think.”

The gray-haired paramedic was feeling the bump on Lily’s head while Lily cried, and she looked up at her partner with this serious expression that made my stomach drop. She told me the bump was concerning but that Lily being alert and crying was actually a good sign.

Her partner asked how far Lily fell, and I explained about the window seat height. Maybe 2 ft onto carpet, but then I pointed at the open window right next to where she landed.

Both paramedics looked at each other, and the guy asked if the window was open when Lily was placed there. Keith answered yes, his voice breaking, and explained that his sister put Lily there for photos.

The female paramedic very carefully picked Lily up and handed her back to me, then said we needed to take her to the emergency room right away. She explained that head injuries in babies can be really serious even when they seem okay at first, and they needed a doctor to check for internal problems.