“AITA For Banning My SIL From Babysitting After She Put Breastmilk In My Child’s Ears”

A mom normally can trust another mom to babysit for a short period. Indeed, there is probably no one better than a fellow mother to look after your kids. Unfortunately, some folks have rather unorthodox ideas about everything from bedtime to “natural” remedies.

A mother wondered if she was wrong for banning her SIL from the house after she put her breast milk in OP’s kids' ear in an attempt to help with an infection. You read that right. Readers were in disagreement about everything from the severity to the SIL’s “medicine” and to OP’s reaction when she learned what happened. We also got in touch with SILbabysit to learn a bit more.

Bored Panda got in touch with SILbabysit  who made the post and she was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. We wanted to know if there was any follow-up to this situation. "My SIL started an argument with me over this at Thanksgiving. Rose and I ended up leaving early because of her," she shared with Bored Panda.  "I agree with the NTA vote," she added, indicating that she still wasn't convinced by this "remedy." At the same time, the SIL wasn't the only person who believed in this method. "My mom recommended it when Rose started getting ear infections," SILbabysit added when we asked about the concept in general.

To get the elephant in the room out of the way first, there is no evidence to support the idea that breast milk directly in the ear can and will help treat an infection. While breast milk has some antibodies that do help the baby deal with infections, we don’t normally apply these sorts of things directly to the area in question.

Furthermore, if this folk remedy worked as well as some people seem to believe it does, why would we not use it on adults? This is a purely academic question, seeing as just this idea might make some folks deeply uncomfortable. However, medical treatments tend to be worth their weight in gold, so the lack of a mass market for breast milk-as-ear-treatment is enough of an indicator that it simply does not work.

If anything, the effects will be the exact opposite. Breast milk has a lot of fat and sugar, a fantastic diet for bacteria, and is the last thing you want to be stuck in one’s ear. For this reason, OP was perhaps justified in her anger since her SIL’s idea wasn’t just misguided, it was potentially harmful.

While we don’t know the age of OP’s children, ear infections in kids can be serious enough to warrant antibiotics. While this isn’t commonly needed, children are more susceptible to ear infections in general, so creating an ear buffet for bacteria is the last thing any reasonable adult should do.

It is, of course, possible that the SIL has gotten mixed up along the way. Doctors do recommend breastfeeding sick children (when feasible) and perhaps the SIL got this part of the instructions mixed up. That being said, even with good intentions, she should have still asked OP about it. In the age of messenger apps, phones, and texting, it’s easier than ever to get a hold of someone quickly.

In fact, breast milk in certain parts of the body is already risky enough. One study found that even breastfeeding a child who is lying down carries risks, for example, the milk can get into the eustachian tube, which connects the nose to the, surprise surprise, ear. This has a measurable increase in the risk of infection for the child. SO ultimately, OP’s anger is justified, as the SIL was putting the child through an unnecessary risk.