I’ve been genuinely struggling with this situation and I’m hoping for honest feedback. I’m 26 and don’t have children, but my close friend “A” recently had her second baby, “R”, who is now 4 months old. Her older child, “T”, is around 7 and has been having a hard time adjusting to the new sibling. My friend felt guilty and overwhelmed, so I told her I’d happily babysit “R” anytime she needed one-on-one time with “T”. She knows I grew up surrounded by babies, so she trusted me.
On Halloween, she asked if I could keep “R” overnight so she could take “T” trick-or-treating and continue a family tradition afterward. I adore “R”, so I didn’t hesitate to say yes.
She dropped the baby off at around 4:00 PM, and everything was fine. But after an hour, she started FaceTiming me to check on him. Then again 45 minutes later. Then again… and again. She kept calling every 30 minutes to an hour, even during trick-or-treating. Whenever she reached an area with weak internet, the calls dropped and she would immediately call back repeatedly until the connection worked.
By the time they finished their activities, it was around 10:00 PM. I was getting ready for bed, the baby was trying to sleep, and she was still calling nonstop. I gently suggested focusing on “T” since this was supposed to be their special time together. She insisted everything was fine and continued to call.
Eventually, the repeated calls kept waking the baby, and it was becoming harder to settle him. I didn’t want to put my phone on silent because I was responsible for her newborn. After several more late calls, I finally decided the best thing was to pack up the baby and bring him back home, thinking it would ease her anxiety.
But my friend was upset. She felt I shouldn’t have returned the baby early. “T” was already asleep when I arrived, so I didn’t interrupt their tradition. I truly thought I was doing the right thing by bringing her baby back to her instead of letting her stress all night.
I’m not a parent, so maybe I misread the situation… but was I wrong for bringing the baby back home?