Redditor aita-babyfomulae is a 25-year-old husband whose wife of the same age believes his curiosity would be the death of him.
The couple has a 13-month-old baby girl, and while preparing for a road trip to visit his in-laws so they could meet their daughter for the first time, his curiosity got the better of him.
When his wife discovered what he had done, she was none too pleased and was unable to let it go when they arrived at her parents’ house.
Unsure about how out of line he may have been, the Redditor visited the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit and asked:
“AITA for tasting my baby’s formula?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“So this morning curiosity got the best of me and my wife is now pissed so wanted to come here for some different perspective to see if what I did was really an a**hole move?”
“All this btw, happened at like 6 am.”
“So we (me-25m wife-25f) have a baby girl (13 months) who had been drinking formula, not so much now since she’s 13 mo and it’s recommended by our doctor that we can start using other means to give her the nutrients she needs.”
“This morning, my wife was prepping a bottle of baby formula since we were going to visit her family in the next state over (I took a couple of PTO days since I wanted to be there for our daughters first time meeting wife’s family about a 4 hour drive)”
“I’ve always been curious as to what formula tasted like, don’t know why, but I’ve always been a pretty curious dude.”
“So I picked up the bottle and did the thing you have to do to test the temp by putting some on my wrist, but instead of just wiping it off – I just licked it, and instantly started gagging.”
“That stuff is like really gross, if you hadn’t tasted it before I honestly wouldn’t even recommend it. My wife comes into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was and asked me what was up (since I was retching really hard – seriously, it’s gross).”
“I told her that I tasted some formula and it was like next levels gross and then commented that it’s wild that daughter just laps this stuff up.”
“Well, my wife became pretty annoyed at me and asked why would I just drink some of my daughter’s food, I told her it was just like a little taste and not like I downed a whole bottle.”
“But she said it’s weird and that my curiosity will end up killing me one day (won’t deny that as I’ve been in some pretty vicarious situations due to this curiostiy) and called me an a**hole for ‘taking food from daughters mouth'”
“(Even tho those few drops would’ve been wiped away anyways? – didn’t say that as I didn’t want to further argue – but did tell here exactly how I tasted the formula)”
“We got to my in-laws place maybe an hour ago – after saying our hellos and letting the grandparents meet their new granddaughter, my wife told her mom what I did earlier in the AM.”
“To which MIL (bless her soul) said that it was normal to be curious and it’s not weird that I tasted a little of the formula – and then said ‘it’s not like your father who wanted to taste the source and I breastfed you’ which made me burst out laughing and FIL just had a grin and wife was just standing there shook.”
“My wife still thinks I’m TA and I’m currently outside with FIL as he grills typing this, but I wanted to know – AITA?”
Strangers online were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not the A**hole
- YTA – You’re the A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everybody Sucks Here
Many Redditors thought there was nothing wrong about the OP wanting to taste the formula. They also saw humor in the in-law’s reactions to what upset his wife so much.
“NTA – I am in tears at what your MIL said – she sounds cool.”
“and yea, I’d say it’s pretty normal to want to taste the formula – although I’ve never done it, and will take your word for it that it’s gross.” – ttoastii81
“Breastfeeding mum here. I tried. I don’t like it. It’s pretty normal to try. My husband tried pumped milk too.” – Turbulent-Ad-480
“I think it smells a bit weird so I wouldn’t taste it but that’s just me, I don’t think it’s weird to want to taste it though.”
“NTA and your MIL sounds hilarious.” – QuarantinisRUs
“NTA. your wife is weirdly upset by that. most married men taste their own wife’s actual milk. it’s totally normal lol.” – ryeli123
The OP responded to the above comment with:
“Thank you – sometimes I question if it’s just my curiosity – or if it’s a normal thing to be curious about …. i’d be a liar if I said the thought never crossed my mind.”
Others continued weighing in.
“I was a weirdly curious parent too and tested all kinds of stuff my kids use so I offer this as a word of warning – do NOT pour the No More Tears shampoo directly into your eyes. You WILL have tears, LOTS of them, if you do.” – tikanique
“It’s not weird at all to want to know what the food that your own child drinks tastes like! I tried my own breastmilk and formula.”
“And yeah, formula is pretty gross tasting. Glad my babies didn’t mind it since I didn’t make enough breastmilk.” – jea25
“NTA, once I got curious about what my dog’s pupperoni treats tasted like. Not my smartest move but definitely didn’t make me an a**hole.” – Almost-an-Airbender
“Lol, dude totally NTA. Your post cracked me up. Formula tastes worse than it smells, if that’s even possible, like dirty pennies covered in salt with a clay aftertaste.”
“I had to know, regretted it instantly. But I have good news for your curiosity, that won’t be the last time you get to taste-test foods for the kiddo. Temp checks, spice checks, you’ll get to have it all.”
“Is your wife maybe just sleep-deprived? Or was she anxious about the trip out to the ILs?”
“Because it sounds like she comes from a well-humored family and she married you knowing your curiosity ‘quirks’ so I’m guessing she doesn’t usually get so worked about small sh*t. So maybe she needs a solid night or a morning to sleep in or something.” – Tralfamadorians_go
Redditors continued reminding the OP there was nothing unusual about his curiosity for tasting the formula as many attested to doing the same thing and experiencing a relatable result.