History Main / BroughtHomeTheWrongKid

* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' had a family actually ''move'' with the wrong kid. They got their kid back [[ParentalAbandonment (but didn't switch)]] about half a season or a whole season away, [[AnachronicOrder depending on how you look at it.]]

* On the first FamilyGuy StarWars special, Peter mentions that he and Lois got halfway home with the afterbirth before going back to the hospital and swapping it out for [[ButtMonkey Meg]].

* One episode of ''{{Friends}}'' had Joey and Chandler worried they'd done this to Ben (they left him on the bus by accident as well) but it turned out to be the right kid in the end.

* ''TheOffice'' episode "The Delivery" has a variation of this where Pam, while spending the night in the delivery room, ''breastfeeds'' the wrong baby(!)

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' went one step beyond this, with a fantasy where Turk somehow mixed up his (imaginary) son with a ''pumpkin''. Which he and Carla then proceed to raise as their own.

A rather common plot in sitcoms is for a babysitter or neglectful parent to take the child (or more as sometimes happens) out to the park or somewhere for the day, usually a place where there will be plenty of other children around. Through FinaglesLaw or the laws of sitcom universes, the parent will accidentally bring the wrong child home only realising this when it's too late. The rest of the episode will either have the minder trying to find the original baby or else just trying to conceal it from the parents. For obvious reasons this only happens with babies and extremely young toddlers. While it is common for the neglectful babysitter to be both male and female, if it is an actual parent bringing the wrong baby home, it would always be the father. Do not confuse with SwitchedAtBirth.

** As a child, Moist von Lipwig was TheNondescript to the point where his mom often came home with the wrong kid.

* An episode of ''DextersLaboratory'' has Dexter invoke this when he find an IdenticalStranger with parents who are science geniuses like him. They swap temporarily and the parents never know the difference (despite the kids looking quite distinct from each other).

A rather common plot in sitcoms is for a babysitter or neglectful parent to take the child (or more as sometimes happens) out to the park or somewhere for the day, usually a place where there will be plenty of other children around. Through FinaglesLaw or the laws of sitcom universes, the parent will accidentally bring the wrong child home only realising this when it's too late. The rest of the episode will either have the minder trying to find the original baby or else just trying to conceal it from the parents. For obvious reasons this only happens with babies and extremely young toddlers. While it is common for the neglectful babysitter to be both male and female, if it is an actual parent bringing the wrong baby home, it would always be the father. Do not confuse with SwitchedAtBirth.

!!'''Examples:'''

[[AC: Literature]]
* {{Discworld}}:
** As a child, Moist von Lipwig was TheNondescript to the point where his mom often came home with the wrong kid.
** In ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', an Ankh-Morpork fisherman and a Klatchian fisherman stumble on the newly-risen island of Leshp at the same time. When the two men realize that they can't lay claim to it for their respective nations unless they get home first, each grabs for his boy's arm and rushes back to his boat ... and then returns, lambasting the other man as a kidnapper, to swap for his own boy.

[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* From ''TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' Carey gives us this little anecdote.
---> '''Carey:''' "I was mad when you came home from the playground with the wrong twins".
---> '''Dad:''' "It was an easy mistake to make".
---> '''Carey:''' "They were girls".
* In ''HopeAndFaith'' there's a variation where Faith starts using a baby doll to get an experience of what it feels like to be a mother. She takes the doll to the park and ends up coming home with a real baby. [[DumbBlonde Being Faith]] she initially thinks the doll came to life.
* In ''CoronationStreet'' Rosie Webster took her baby brother Jack to be in a photo shoot and ended up bringing home a girl baby.
* One episode of ''{{Friends}}'' had Joey and Chandler worried they'd done this to Ben (they left him on the bus by accident as well) but it turned out to be the right kid in the end.
* In ''GoodLuckCharlie'', the teenage son hits on a girl with an identical baby carriage. Charlie is a girl, but this girl was carrying a boy with her. You can imagine what happened.

* ''TheOffice'' episode "The Delivery" has a variation of this where Pam, while spending the night in the delivery room, ''breastfeeds'' the wrong baby(!)

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* One episode of ''{{Rugrats}}'' where Tommy and Angelica are staying with Didi's parents has the babies up in the attic but Grandpa Boris rushes outside and brings back in two obviously different children (two boys and much older as well).

* Inverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Grandpa is meant to babysit Bart and Lisa and goes to the Flanders' house by mistake.
* An episode of ''DextersLaboratory'' has Dexter invoke this when he find an IdenticalStranger with parents who are science geniuses like him. They swap temporarily and the parents never know the difference (despite the kids looking quite distinct from each other).

[[AC: Real Life]]
* Charles Schulz, of {{Peanuts}} fame, when he was young, was often mistaken for other children, so this was a common occurrence for him. According to the Fiftieth Anniversary Peanuts Collection, Schulz based Charlie Brown's physical appearance on his mental image of himself as TheNondescript.

A rather common plot in sitcoms is for a babysitter or neglectful parent to take the child (or more as sometimes happens) out to the park or somewhere for the day, usually a place where there will be plenty of other children around. Through FinaglesLaw or the laws of sitcom universes, the parent will accidentally bring the wrong child home only realising this when it's too late. The rest of the episode will either have the minder trying to find the original baby or else just trying to conceal it from the parents. For obvious reasons this only happens with babies and extremely young toddlers. While it is common for the neglectful babysitter to be both male and female, if it is an actual parent bringing the wrong baby home it will always be the father. Do not confuse with SwitchedAtBirth.

* In a ''{{Flintstones]]'' where Fred was supposed to be watching baby Pebbles, he and a fellow poker player each grab up the wrong infant when they see their wives pass by, heading home; naturally the men aren't there. The incident is rather brief, but somehow Fred grabs the wrong kid, a very loud crying boy, ''twice'', as he frantically deals with child and an angry Wilma.

* In an episode of ''{{Community}}'', Chang attempts to get on Shirley's good side by picking up her kids and showing he can be a good dad. Too bad he picks up ''someone else's'' kids.

** In the Moist von Lipwig books, Moist was TheNondescript to the point where his mom often came home with the wrong kid.

* In ''Hope & Faith'' there's a variation where Faith starts using a baby doll to get an experience of what it feels like to be a mother. She takes the doll to the park and ends up coming home with a real baby. [[DumbBlonde Being Faith]] she initially thinks the doll came to life.

* Good Luck Charlie, the teenage son was hitting on some girl with an identical baby carriage. Charlie is a girl, but this girl was carrying a boy with her. You can imagine what happened.
* In an episode of {{Community}}, Chang attempts to get on Shirley's good side by picking up her kids and showing he can be a good dad. Too bad he picks up ''someone else's'' kids.

* One episode of ''Rugrats'' where Tommy and Angelica are staying with Didi's parents has the babies up in the attic but Grandpa Boris rushes outside and brings back in two obviously different children (two boys and much older as well).
* Inverted in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' where Grandpa is meant to babysit Bart and Lisa and goes to the Flanders' house by mistake.

* In the {{Discworld}} Moist von Lipwig books, Moist was TheNondescript to the point where his mom often came home with the wrong kid.
** In ''Jingo'', an Ankh-Morpork fisherman and a Klatchian fisherman stumble on the newly-risen island of Leshp at the same time. When the two men realize that they can't lay claim to it for their respective nations unless they get home first, each grabs for his boy's arm and rushes back to his boat ... and then returns, lambasting the other man as a kidnapper, to swap for his own boy.

** A dramatic example came when Claire was suffering from post-natal depression and she was convinced that she had brought home the wrong baby. She was wrong.

!!!'''Examples:'''