Skip to main content

Don't google it.

My #1 advice to new mommy's - as if I'm in the position to give it, ha - is to not google it.  Just don't.  Not only because you'll find totally contradictory advice out there on topics such as:
  • Crying it out (CIO)
  • Where/when/how to nap
  • When to feed
  • How to feed
  • What to feed
  • Starting solids and baby led weaning (BLW)
  • Sleeping through the night (STTN)
  • Cribs vs. bassinets vs. baby sharing vs. rock n play (RNP)
  • Exclusively breastfeeding (EBF)
[note - anything with an acronym is exceptionally well documented on the internet, so much so these acroynms are ubiquitous.  Did I forget anything mommies and daddies?]

But also because it is not helpful.  Notice I didn't even begin to put medical maladies on here - these are simply procedural day-to-day items that get our knickers twisted.  You'll find something to justify whatever you are doing, eventually (even if it takes hours of searching).  But you'll also be convinced that whatever you are doing is wrong, that you need to buy something else to solve the problem, and that there is a better option than whatever is working for you at the moment.

This will drive you crazy.  It's driving me crazy.  See  - rock n play to crib transition for almost six month olds.  I'm trying to get you to avoid my mistakes.

I got three solid pieces of advice on troubleshooting in the first six months of my child's life:

I've succeeded if they stop doing [insert whatever bad habit/practice] by prom.
Do what works for you, now - the baby will grow up regardless.
Are they happy?  Healthy?  Smiling?  Then its working.

While I'm still learning to accept that not everything is in my control, I'm googling (and worrying!) less.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My birth story

I guess I'll be a cliche, a first time mom starting up a baby blog.  Given that I've decided not to return to work until the next school year, I need a little something other than my LO (that's little one for you new to the baby board lingo) to occupy my mind, certainly not my time though! I've started blog posts for weeks now.  But "we're" only just getting good at napping now [read - mom realized baby has a major case of FOMO and will not nap on her own].  So I've saved the drafts and closed them, unsatisfied with what they said and how I said it. So I decided during this current nap to give it a final go, try to get this blog up and running by writing my basic birth story.  It likely won't be quippy or cute but it's nice to just get it down on paper so to speak. LO was due on December 14/15.  At my 40 week appointment the nurse told me little other than I hadn't made much progress since week 39.  She didn't tell us the size of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On crying it out

Right now my girl is napping in her crib in her room for the first time.  6 months into her life.  And there were no tears (this time) - she just passed out the minute I put her down. I am far from an expert.  I'm a first time mom.  But when people reference crying it out, I cringe.  Our LO never cried it out.  She screamed it out, she shrieked it out, but she never cried herself to sleep successfully (in the traditional CIO sense). As new parents in a co-sleeping arrangement (not bed sharing, room sharing), we made sure not to touch the baby until she started crying.  We let her grunt, moan, make all kinds of noise without our interference.  No one told us to expect or do this, we just went on gut.  She really didn't need us until she cried, right? This was at night - naps didn't come so easy.  We tried everything to get her to nap independently.  We held her until she was dead asleep and put her in a little bassinet from the...
Post a Comment
Read more

These are a few of my favorite things...

In addition to listening to do-re-mi and Lonely Goatherd regularly, I (and the LO, by extension) have some favorite things we have discovered in the process of getting to seven months old.  In no particular order, here are the things we could not live without. 1.   Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppy .  This is the first toy LO played with and she is still in love.  It does not really sustain her drooling on it, but she still lights up when she hears itsy bitsy spider.  You can set it to autoplay too, especially helpful when you need 5 minutes to do anything. 2.   DK Noisy and Pop-up Books (especially the Sophie the Giraffe and Animal ones).  Okay, maybe we are teaching our girl that all books have sounds.  But she is really getting into opening the pages and seeing what is behind each of the little peek-a-boo flaps.  We actually sit down and read together with these books - we've been doing it for months! 3. Convertible Woombie .  ...
Post a Comment
Read more