What is the best piece of parenting advice that you have to share?
I appreciate all the help and advice I can get when it comes to raising a child to save me from going nuts on the way! There's just so much to learn and figure out with your first child, and the information that's out there can be hard to navigate. I remember feeling so lost (& angry!) at the world those first few weeks at home with Baby Wild that so much of being a parent could come as such a shock! Why had nobody warned me how hard it would be to get a baby to sleep somewhere other than in my arms? Why was breastfeeding so damned tough? What products actually worked to help my body recover? Surely the world could have supplied me with advice and warnings before hand?! Why is no-one as honest as I need them to be?
I often think that raising a child can be made even more terrifying in today's world as many of us don't have the parents and family close by who generations ago could have been heavily relied upon for help and advice in raising a family.
So I'm asking you for your thoughts and wisdom, be it passed down from your mother, grandmother or just plain old learned the hard way! Lets put all this wisdom together in one place & make it available to other first time parents and maybe try and make their first few months a bit easier. Let's be a bit bolder than others dare and tell is like it is!
I'm constantly adding to & encouraging your comments on the following topics :- hospital bags, baby's first week, recipes, toddler taming, games to make & play and many others... But I need your comments both on the blog posts and by submitting below!
I'm steadily adding a few tips of my own to this blog post, but really I want to hear your thoughts and ideas. Thank you for your contributions & please, spread the word.....
After chating to another toddler owner, we decided that one of the best presents for a new mum may well be a carton of Formula, possibly ready mixed, and a self steralising bottle. No matter what her plans for breastfeeding or not, it's always essential to have an emergency stash somewhere to fall back on when it all gets too much / you run out!! I remember Daddy Native rushing to the 24hr Asda at 2am when I realsied I simply could not handle the breast feeding ONE MORE TIME and enough was enough!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
i have definitly learnt to speak whats on your mind no matter what it is. some women may feel embarrassed to ask questions as if everything comes natural when you click your fingers. A lot of things did for me, i got an immediate bond with Torin and the love i felt seeing his face for the first time i cant even put into words. Although i remember lying in bed at night when i was pregnant and terrifing myself with thoughts like " what if i slip and fall holding my baby......" and my first few nights with my baby when we got back from hospital i couldnt sleep or eat, i forgot about my own needs and watched his every move. Suppose you become obsessed and always ask yourself can you be doing things better or differently. thinking back i was just going through what every first time parent goes through. My son is now 7 months old and his first few days passed in a blur, i enjoy everyday and learn something new, being a mummy is definitly the most amazing thing i have experienced, its hard......but so rewarding!!!
ReplyDeleteMy best tip in week 1 was given to me by a very kind midwife who saw how exasperated I was trying to get the baby to sleep alone in her basket. She advised us to wrap a t-shirt that one of us had worn for a few hours in a hot water bottle and place in under her blanket in the moses basket. Sure enough, baby was immediately fooled that her warm bed was daddy's chest and slept for hours content that we still near by. A blessed relief for us meaning we could finally get some sleep in a proper bed for the first time since her birth!
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