My partner and I recently moved to his home country (Australia) from abroad and are living with his Mum while we apartment-hunt. Yesterday MIL (a former social worker) came home and declared an intervention. She alleged neglect and "will be calling Family Services (Australian CPS) if some things don't change around here." The complaints:We "ignore baby and leave her on the floor to play alone while we talk for hours". Yes, we talk for hours while chilling out on the floor (rug/playmat) with our 6month old. We interact with her intermittently but yeah, we're not constantly up in her face. We offer toys, coo over cuteness, and chat while she plays. We also take her to library playgroup, the park, do sensory play etc so it's not as if she doesn't get hours of good, quality interaction.We bathe her every other day rather than daily. Baby gets an extra bath if she does something messy, otherwise it's every other day.I'm still breastfeeding. Allegedly because I "don't want to bother giving her solid foods" -- actually because, uh, she's 6mos old and I plan to breastfeed until she wants to stop. I've introduced some purees but kiddo doesn't seem too hot on them yet and I'm not forcing it.Needless to say I think these complaints are pretty bogus but I'm terrified of CPS interventions - I've heard horror stories about them in the States, and I have no knowledge of how intense they might be in Australia. I'm especially worried by the fact that MIL is a former social worker, so perhaps her complaints will be taken more seriously than others. Neither of us will be working for another month (we have adequate savings and jobs scheduled to begin) and while we are actively seeking a rental, we haven't found one yet. I imagine we could look like layabouts to an overvigilant worker.Does anyone have experience with Family Services in Australia? Do you think I need to fear for my daughter being taken away? I'm literally looking over my shoulder every moment expecting the knock on the door and have considered moving into a hotel without disclosing the address. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2sGfWz7
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