My husband's uncle is ~55 and started a second family with his new wife, who is in her 40s herself. At the age of 4, he is still not potty trained, occasionally is fed infant formula, and generally is not expected to control himself at all. I truely think that they purposefully infantisize him to feel younger about themselves. Meanwhile, Uncle's twenty something son from his first marriage still lives at home and Uncle drives him 1/2 hour to the train station every day because this "man" has never learned to drive.

Do parents hobble their children's growth to feel better about themselves? They certainly hobble growth for some reason.