AITA for yelling at My Nephew to Stop Mocking my daughter?

A 27-year-old mother recounts a frustrating experience involving her 10-year-old nephew mocking her 10-month-old daughter’s behavior. The baby is currently in a phase of happy screeching, which they are working on managing with gentle tones.

However, her nephew repeatedly mimics her daughter’s noises, encourages her to screech louder, teases her with toys, and has even taken her bottle away during car rides. Despite several polite requests to stop, the nephew persisted.After a minor fall, her daughter fussed, and the nephew’s mocking made the baby more upset.

The mother patiently tried to explain the situation, suggesting that he use headphones if her crying bothered him. Later, the baby had a more serious fall on wet tiles, leading to real distress. From another room, the nephew responded with an exaggerated scream, making the situation worse.

At that point, the mother lost her patience and yelled for him to stop. Her husband, the boy’s biological uncle, criticized her reaction, saying it was out of line. Now, she’s wondering if she overreacted. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for yelling at My Nephew to Stop Mocking my daughter?’

Hello I(27F) have a 10 month old daughter. She’s been going through a happy screeching phase and we have been trying to work on soft tones. She is starting to understand. She also does fuss sometimes if she makes a tumble now that she cruises on furniture.

Usually if we don’t make a sad expression or negative reaction she’s perfectly happy after a brief few seconds. However, my nephew ( 10M) just spent the night after a full day of birthday festivities with us. He has mocked her screeching even louder and has even tried to get her to screech.

He also will tease her with toys and put them out of reach and twice I caught him taking her bottle away in the car. I told him at least 3 times to not mock her like that and she copies so she will drone on. When she fussed after a minor fall yesterday, he did it again and she cried more than the few seconds she usually would.

I tried once more to reason and say “I’m sorry if the noise bothers you, I know baby crying is frustrating but can you please leave the room or put on headphones next time. She will stop crying after about 10 seconds once she knows she’s safe” .

Today she face planted on the tile because her dumb mom, me, didn’t realize the floor was so wet after cleaning her highchair. She started screaming much more than normal so I could tell she really was hurt and then my nephew chimed in with an even louder scream.

He was in another room when this happened. I yelled ” <NAME>, STOP” from the other room. My husband (29M) and also his biological uncle said I was way out of line. AITA?

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

ProfessionalEven296 −  NTA. What was husband doing to help fix the (continual) situation, apart from putting YOU down? He needs to man up and tell the 10yo to shut up.

mlc885 −  INFO. Where are his parents? Who is supposed to be watching him to make sure he doesn’t steal the baby’s toys?

Specific-Syllabub-54 −  I mean if you raised your voice and said his name and to stop I don’t really classify that as yelling unless you went into a full blown rant yelling at him

prairiemountainzen −  What was out of line about telling your bratty nephew to knock it off? Sometimes, kids need that exact kind of very direct instructions. You tried several times to explain why he needed to stop mocking your baby, he clearly did not care to change his behavior, so you gave him a very simple yet stern instruction to stop.

NTA. You didn’t hit him, you didn’t b**ly him, you didn’t act in any kind of unreasonable way. You were stern and very clear. There’s nothing wrong with that.

bythebrook88 −  However, my nephew ( 10M) just spent the night after a full day of birthday festivities with us. I hope he enjoys the last sleepover he will be having. Poor guests do NOT get invited back.

Having-hope3594 −  NTA. You told this kid over and over to stop mocking her and gave him other ways to cope with her screeching. I don’t think your husband realizes how much his darling nephew has been pushing this. 

JellyBelly1042 −  Naw 10 is old enough to know you don’t harass babies. NTA, but the dumb man you have for a husband is for not correcting his nephew. I wouldn’t have him back over and if he came I’d take my child and leave the demon with his uncle every time. I’d watch him around my child because taking food from a baby while eating just to make them cry isn’t normal behavior.

[Reddit User] −  NTA – *you tried asking your nephew multiple times to stop teasing your daughter*, and when she got hurt, his actions just made it worse
*Yelling wasn’t your first choice, you tried talking to him*. It’s only natural to want to protect your daughter, and while your husband might think you overreacted, setting clear boundaries with your nephew is crucial

Final_Figure_7150 −  NTA. You have tried telling him several times, to stop b**lying a baby – it didn’t work. The harsher and louder warning was warranted, as he clearly wasn’t going to listen to you otherwise.

If I were you I’d tell his parents now, before he goes to them with his crocodile tears though. Also kinda worrying your husband just shrugged off a 10 year old making his baby daughter cry?

_Roxxs_ −  Why is no one asking why a 10 year old is mocking a baby? That seems a bit odd to me, and is showing b**ly tendencies.