Why Woman Called Police on Her Sister Who Was Babysitting Cheered

A new mother has been praised online for the bizarre reason why she reported her sister, who was babysitting her five-week-old baby at the time, to the police.

The woman took to Reddit to share that she'd walked in on her sister, who had given birth to her own son two weeks before she had hers, breastfeeding her child without telling her in advance. The Redditor explained in her post on the social media platform that her child is only bottle-fed with powder milk.

The Redditor found out that her sister had "thrown out" all of the shop-bought milk that she was feeding her son, which she called "garbage." The Redditor's sister, who had been babysitting her child while she was in hospital, went on to tell her that she was going to pump and donate milk to him instead.

"I was kind of in shock so I didn't react straight away but I went to the bathroom and called the police on her. Apparently what she did wasn't a crime, and the child is being fed so they couldn't even do anything about it," the woman recalled online.

"My sister then blew up at me, saying it was completely wrong of me to call the police on her when she was just trying to help. I told her that she had dumped 14 cans of formula without even consulting me and that I currently had nothing to replace it with."

"She ended up storming out, and blocked me on everything. Our parents were able to replace 2 of the cans she threw out but can't do much else. They also think I was [in the wrong] for calling the police on her because getting a record could affect her job," she added.

Expert Verdict: The Redditor's Sister Should Respect Her Choices

Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist based in New York, told Newsweek that the Reddit user's sister has no right to push her own views on someone else.

"The older sister obviously feels very strongly about the importance of feeding babies with breastmilk instead of formula, but she has no right to enforce her views on someone else.

"Calling the police was a bit of an overreaction, but it is understandable that she would be very upset if she couldn't afford to pay to replace the formula. There are places she can reach out to for help, including friends, places of worship, the Red Cross, a pediatrician, or a food bank."

"The main focus of attention should be the baby's health and safety, so if food and other supplies are scarce, then she may want to consult with social services as to the options available to support the baby," she added.

What Do the Comments Say?

Since it was first shared on August 15 by u/Economy-Writing-332, the Reddit post has been upvoted by 94 percent of the users who engaged with it and commented on more than 3,100 times. The majority of the Redditors engaging with the post shared their support for the woman who chose to call the police on her own sister.

"If someone walked out of a store with 14 cans of formula, the police would in fact be called over it," one user wrote.

Another user added: "The police might have been able to charge her if the sister called about the formula instead of the feeding."

The Reddit post can be seen here.

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