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That sounds really, really frustrating. I can't say if the tension is upsetting H, but I will say, my father is the same way. He's really loud and just forgets. My sister and nephew are staying at my parents house until they move into a new house, and my dad has woken my almost 2 year old nephew up a bunch of times, doing really stupid things. He keeps "forgetting" and "isn't used to having a baby in the house".

Only one more day and things will get back to normal!

ETA: Things like this make me a teensy bit glad that we don't have an extra room for guests to stay with us!

Ugh that is so annoying. I wouldn't want my BFF staying with us for 2 weeks, let alone my in-laws. I have no idea if babies can sense tension, but I am sure it can't be helping. I know it's a little late and they're leaving tomorrow, but do you have a white noise machine or white noise app you could put on while she naps? Maybe it would help drown out some of the noise from your FIL.

For my inlaws' first visit after we had our LO, they were extremely loud and disruptive. They didn't stay with us, but would camp out at our condo for the entire day like 12 hours with all of the lights up bright and loud. It was impossible to get LO to sleep during their visit. When MIL visited later, she was less disruptive than his family as whole. Though, she stayed in the nursery right when we wanted to transition LO to his crib. I spent nights on the couch with LO during her visit.

Their visits were very disruptive to our new routine and the new norms. These are the same IL's who make me feel like a guest/servant in my own home. Our LO definitely sensed the tension both times.

@PrincessBaby: that's a long time for any visitors!! Oy especially disruptive ones. Hope you can squeeze out one more day of suffering- maybe have a pressing errand come up this afternoon so you can escape!!

Omg I know *exactly* how you feel. My MIL has been visiting us and its been three and a half weeks... with another two and a half weeks to go. I am losing my mind and I think my LO can sense how stressed out and tense everyone is. I can't wait until I have my house back!

"Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days" - Ben Franklin

two weeks is a LONG time! glad it's almost over! Are they there 24/7 or do they have other things to do during the day like visit other family/do touristy stuff?

Oh my word, no one is allowed to be a visitor in our house for two weeks, especially my ILs. DH is the same way as yours, he gets so stressed having them here. Just one more day!

Maybe you could say you need to go "grocery shopping" and get out of the house for a while and drive the baby around so she gets a nice quiet nap and you don't have to deal with the IL's. I'm impressed that you've had people (especially ILs) visiting for 2 weeks and you're still sane. I'd max out at more like 2 days, lol.

@sunny: oh God, Nigerians are do that too. Thank goodness we live in such cramped quarters in New York that this seems to dissuade them somewhat.

@MsLipGloss: Omg! I feel for you! How far away does your MIL live? Mine is from Europe which is the reason for the excessively long visit.

I have the same feeling about wanting my baby and husband to myself... especially since MIL loves to hover. Even when I do a diaper change in the middle of the night, I never know if she's going to pop out of her room. She means well, she wants to calm the baby, but her "helping" causes me more stress.

@princessbaby: Yes, she is here to help with the baby. I do appreciate the effort but its also driving me bananas.

Sounds like they're leaving soon, but have you tried an iPhone White Noise app? There's one linked here that's awesome, and when the house is loud then we actually have 2-3 devices on with the (free) app:

http://www.hellobee.com/2012/05/23/top-12-most-used-products/

@PrincessBaby: That doesn't sound boring, that sounds amazeballs!

And fwiw, BabyGloss has been fussier since MIL's arrival. I try to keep my cool as best possible, but sometimes I just get so annoyed/stressed/drained by the seeming lack of situational awareness being exhibited by an adult woman with two children, I am sure some of it spills over to BabyGloss. And that makes me a seriously sad panda.

@PrincessBaby: we had the same scenario around here before he turned 11 weeks fortunately it seems to have passed! I hated being the only one who could put him down for naps!

I dont get it. Did our parents not have to be quiet when we were babies? Do they not remember that having an overtired baby is not a good thing? I have yelled at my stepdad before because LO was crying and I was trying to get her down for a nap and he insisted on laughing at her and making jokes. Frick. Ask a tired mom how she feels about that. You have every right to be angry and hopefully they will be out of your hair soon!

Awww! I'm happy they are leaving soon. I think DH feels this way when my parents visit...and they usually only stay for less than a week! He is always so relieved when they go home...they like to keep the baby up when she clearly wants to sleep and they don't take NO for an answer.

Aww:( he probably threatened then with the duct tape!

@Lindsay05: You know I wondered that too. I think some of it is that they aren't around babies for so long that they forget. My parents have been super helpful over the years with my nephews and niece. My mom's a former kindergarten teacher too, so she's well versed in kids especially young ones.

With my MIL, being around a baby was an excuse to talk all the time about DH and BIL's babyhood. It was really truly annoying. She didn't offer advice or empathy. It was just "oh my babies." DH turns 35 this year, so yeah , she's far removed from kids.