A loving mother in a peaceful suburban house struggled with an agonizing situation as her boyfriend’s 12-year-old son persisted in purposefully frightening their three-month-old daughter. The mother was driven to breaking point by the strange behavior, which continued despite sincere pleas and warnings.

An anonymous female member shared her distressing experience on the “AITAH” subreddit on January 11, 2024. She questioned the influence of her postpartum depression (PPD) diagnosis on her behavior.

For six years, the Original Poster (OP) and her boyfriend were together. For the last two years, he and his 12-year-old son Jake had been residing with OP. After over ten years of owning her home, OP was presented with an upsetting situation involving Jake’s actions toward their three-month-old kid.

Even while Jake seemed to love his sister, there was a concerning trend when he scared the baby on purpose. Jake used to come up to the baby and yell, “RA!” loudly, laughing at her terrified reactions. He would then pretend to be sorry and chuckle, saying he didn’t mean to frighten her.

Torn between her worries, the possible impact of PPD, and her need for a solution, OP turned to the online community for guidance after experiencing this unsettling routine at least four times a day.

Jake continued to behave in an uncomfortable manner despite OP’s repeated attempts to stop him, including warning him about the possibility of harm to the baby’s hearing and highlighting the lack of fun in his activities.

The tipping point was only three days earlier when OP confronted Jake and her partner out of sheer frustration. She gave a severe warning, threatening to have them removed from her life if they made any more deliberate scares.

The boyfriend’s erratic behavior led to the decision to take such extreme measures. He did step in from time to time, but he also wrote off OP’s worries as being exaggerated. He claimed that youngsters often find humor in a baby’s startle reflex, which served as justification for Jake’s conduct.