When I was pregnant I got a lot of advice, and a lot of "sleep when the baby sleeps", (obviously they are coming over to unload my dishwasher and do the laundry), but somehow you are NEVER prepared for motherhood!
I did however get some great advice from a few mom's in the trenches. Here are my top three:
1. "Get That Baby On A Schedule": best advice ever. I am not a kookoo pants nazi about the schedule, but to have a baby who sleeps at a regular time frees you up tremendously. Being at the whim of an infant is hard enough, give yourself a little time.
2. "Let Him Cry": Of course there are bedtimes and nap times but don't drag it out. A few books and good night. We can now put Landon to bed with little fuss because we ignored his crying fits from the start. We aren't evil, we just knew he was safe and clean and fed and just needed to sleep. Now he's asleep before his head hits the pillow.
3. "He's Not Going To Crawl To College": Landon was the last one (it seemed) to walk. He was standing up at 7 months and taking steps at 11 months but for official walking? Not until fourteen months. I remember getting caught up in the time with whichttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifh Landon "SHOULD" be doing things. I was panicking. Then someone said "he's not gonna crawl to college" and I just laughed. He wasn't going to crawl to college. I needed to CHILL OUT. Now I've learned Landon is not the first to do things but not the last either. That's cool with me.
Okay mommy bloggers! What's your best advice? Lay it on me? Put it out there for us all to share. In the meantime I tag: Magnolia Mama, Kenady, and Pink in a Sea of Blue (just to out a couple of people). The rest of you! Speak up! Don't lurk when you can share great advice!!!
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17 comments:
I know what you mean. My first daughter walked at 9 months so that's what I assumed was "normal" for my "offspring"... Well, with BabyGirl, 9 months came and went, 10 months, 11 months, then(gasp!) 1 YEAR! Oh my gosh, what is wrong?!
14 months! That's when BabyGirl decided to walk. You'll be shocked how blaise you are with all these kinds of things if you have another one. It's like night and day the things you worry about!
I don't have much mommy advice, but I do agree with #2. I baby-sat a lot during college, and saw the results of either choosing to let the child cry and go to sleep or choosing to coddle them. Years later some of the parents were still struggling with bedtime after coddling their children as babies.
I am looking forward to seeing what advice everyone gives.
Enjoy your day!
All great advice. Amelia did not walk until almost 15 months, so you are not alone with that one!
I think that the best advice I got was that giving her a bottle was not going to kill her, nor was it going to stop her from breastfeeding. I worked myself up so much into thinking I was the only one who could feed her, when in reality, I had a lot of people who could.
The other advice is that laundry, dishes and crafting gourmet meals and achieving the perfect blowout can all wait. It IS possible to sleep when the baby sleeps! All that other stuff will be there tomorrow, just do one thing at a time.
Some of the best advice I received: "Give yourself 6 weeks to get used to breastfeeding - it gets much easier after that." While it is totally "natural" there are so many variables & it took quite awhile to get the hang of it.
Also, "This is temporary." All of the tantrums, stomach bugs, biting, potty accidents, etc. are all such a relatively short part of life. And the same with all the fun stuff about having a baby or toddler. It's a cliche but it's so true - it goes by so FAST! You have to be able to laugh about the crummy stuff and savor the wonder of it.
Some of the best advice I received: "Give yourself 6 weeks to get used to breastfeeding - it gets much easier after that." While it is totally "natural" there are so many variables & it took quite awhile to get the hang of it.
Also, "This is temporary." All of the tantrums, stomach bugs, biting, potty accidents, etc. are all such a relatively short part of life. And the same with all the fun stuff about having a baby or toddler. It's a cliche but it's so true - it goes by so FAST! You have to be able to laugh about the crummy stuff and savor the wonder of it.
This is not advice that was given to me, rather what I learned the hard way: Take selfish time for yourself. I am a better mom because I take the time to train (that just happens to be my selfish thing) and focus on myself for part of the day. My husband and I took up triathlons as something that we did together that had nothing to do w/ our kids. It was and is our bonding 'thing'. Now our kids are old enough they participate too!
I'm not a mom yet, but I just wanted to comment on how cute the pic of Landon and the kitty is! I have a cat that looks very similar and I can't imagine her having the patience to sit like that. Adorable!
"This too shall pass..."
"Learn to laugh and go with the flow..."
"Don't wait too long to discipline."
Ok, I'm done. See my blog. However now I like Sweet Pea Chef "Don't wait too long to discipline!" Good one!!!
I'm not a mom yet so I don't really have any everyday hands on adivce. I have been taking care of the same three children for 11 years and I have learned you MUST follow through on consequences and be consistant about it.
Also the picture of Landon and your oh so cute kitty cat is TOO CUTE!
Taking notes, here! ;)
Landon is too cute with that kitty! Great advice. I am all for schedules as well...truly, I think they need it just as much as we do:) I completely agree with the let them cry a little. Hunter used to cry when I put him in his crib when he was an infant (hello, duh!) and I started taking him on "snooze cruises to get him to nap...and I'm still doing it. Ugh. Hey, whatever works I guess but if I do this again, I've learned my lesson about letting them cry in the crib a little.
I'll get on this soon!
My best advice is to remember that your husband is capable of this parenting thing too. It was very hard for me to realize that mommy's way was not the only way. So what if the kids have an afternoon of processed foods or miss a nap while spending an afternoon with daddy. When I stopped correcting my husband and let him have his relationship with our kids, the more I could enjoy my motherhood and stop being a martyr. It only takes a few missed naps for dad to "get it" and you aren't the heavy.
I think consistantcy is the best advice I could give! If I give in to a tantrum one time, my daughter will throw them to get her way every time!
I came over from Kenady's site.
Great topic!
My biggest one is to trust your gut. YOU know your baby better than your doctor or your mother or any expert on the Internet. Learn to follow your instincts. Last year, both my kids had a nasty stomach virus and my baby's temperature topped out at 103. When I mentioned to her doctor the next time we saw her, she asked, totally aghast, "Why didn't you call us?" Umm...because it was just a fever. I gave her some Tylenol and it went away.
I totally agree with the commenter who mentioned giving breastfeeding 6 weeks. It can be hard. Stick with it and it gets easier.
Finally, when you have another child, resist the impulse to compare him/her to your first. Every baby is different. My first child took his first steps at 10 months. Baby number 2 didn't even sit unsupported until 8 months and walked at 15 months. However, she talks more than her brother ever did and started putting words together before the "average" age.
I'm schedule challenged as I'm sort of a go by the flow gal but my kids thrive when they know what to expect. Add a day of downtime to the scheduled mix and they do really well! Wish I did the let it cry thing earlier though, we have visitors in the night!
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