To dislike the term PFB

[TheBloodCountessBathory]

My reasons being:

The PFB threads on here strike me as stealth boasting about what a good mother the poster is ie. "oh I read the works of Shakespeare to my one week old, wove her clothes by hand and only fed her organic veg that I grew in my own garden - ha ha aren't I silly!"

It makes me feel guilty - I had a lot going on during DD's first year so I didn't really have time to worry about the finer details, and I would have left her with the local postie had he offered, just to get a break. I would say I have a very relaxed parenting style but when I read those threads I feel like I SHOULD worry more about the little things (not confessing my lax mother mistakes on here, unless someone else goes first!!)

I just stumbled through as well, dd1 is only 6 and I honestly can't think of one PFB thing I did - maybe tv, but I didn't have the Internet at home then

WilsonFrickett homemade baked beans

I didn't think I was a PFB mother until I had DC2 and 3. Now I know I was bonkers.

There was that funny list that someone linked to once. About your PFB and NSCs. I'll try and find it.

I'm definitely becoming less PFB as my baby gets older. Initially I made everyone was their hands before holding her, took her out somewhere every day and flashed black and white cards in front of her eyes to stimulate her.

Fast forward 4 months, we're both lying in my bed, neither of us dressed yet whilst she sucks her fingers and I'm on MN :)

I had a Dr Miriam Stoppard book and a Sheila Kitzinger one - I only really bought them because of the week-by-week guide to how big your unborn baby was, and the rather nice birth pictures (interesting to note - not a hairless armpit or fanjo to be seen)

We all received the good old Bounty pack from the clinic, which was 95% advertising and 5% vague articles and really shit illustrations like this

See Izzybiz post. I thought it was very funny (and true of course)

what does PFB mean? I've tried many times to figure it out and I just can't! I'm assuming it's something first baby?

Ah, I figured it was something like that. I could never figure out what the p stood for. Seems pretty obvious now! Thanks Maryz :)
And regards to that, I understand now why my mum laughed at me when I put a complete sugar and salt ban on DS until he was 1! He's 15 months now and loves ice cream!

hocuspontas - that thread is great; I have to agree with the photography bit.

Has there ever been a scientific/mathematical formula produced that accurately represents Number of photos taken of PFB : Number of photos taken of subsequent offspring

In my case it would be quite embarrassing. I'm surprised that DD2 has never asked "But where are all the pictures of me?"

I have a little book of photos I carry about in my bag. DCs 4 & 5 are not in it

Poor little NSC

On the plus side they get to watch loads of tv.

I agree with the above as well. It's term used to describe overly precious about their offspring Mums (parents) not what the OP thought.

I also agree we all are to some extent PFB - you never have your 'first' again iyswim? and there's plenty of threads on MN about the things people said they would/wouldn't do and what they actually do.

But I think there's a huge difference between natural PFBness (homemade food baked beans, no TV (or contolled) etc) and the PFBness that get's ridiculed on MN. Natural PFBness soon disappears when people have DC 2,3,4 etc and the time to do all this disappears or in my case I started to realise a muddy pudddle was far better for DS than a homemade dinner! and you start to realise getting through a day is enough!

A couple of years ago I made up a baby photo album for dd1's 18th birthday. When I was sorting through the photos to use I was embarrassed to find that I had an individual photo of her being held by EVERY person we knew at the time of her birth. I'm going to have trouble filling a page let alone an album for dd2 and dd3 when their turns come!

talc you wait till she's older, i've taken (few) photos of both of mine as when i was about 15 i was distraught thinking i was adopted about age 2 as there were no baby pictures of me one day she will feel as i did lol

now mum of 2 i understand you dont have time/cant be bothered with subsequent children as much as you do/can with your first

Oh and just for laughs my sister who has spent DS' entire life telling me how I should raise him is due her first in 4 days.

Her PFB ideas pretty much match her ideas of how I 'should' be raising DS.

Incidently this is the same woman who gave my cousins DD (2) some chocolate cake (after she'd eaten enough crap for an army!) that my cousin said 'no' to - just because my cousins DD looked all big eyed and said 'ppppllleeeaaaseee'.

Love to see her hold out when it's her own child doing that.

Talc - too true! there are loads of pics of my big sis, and fewer of me, and very few of my little sis.

StaceymAloneForever - DD2 has reached the ripe old age of 17; however she has enough photos of herself on FB to sink a WWII battlecruiser (several hundred I think - perhaps she's just compensating )

Intensely, how the fuck do people think the human race got to where it is? Was it by parents who basically didn't do any looking after their children? So what if some people go a little ott, better that than the alternative.

WouldRatherPeopleWereABitOverProtectiveThanUnderTiggaxx

Until recently I thought I had no PFB qualities at all.

I recently looked back at DS's baby photos. I was convinced at the time that I was entirely immune to the 'my baby is so beauuuuuutiful' thing, and that the reason I thought he was unusually good looking was simply that he was actually an unusually beautiful baby.

He looked like a baby frog. Seriously. What was I actually thinking?

I was very PFB when my DD was first born, but my husband was much worse than me...he even had a thermometer hooked onto her moses basket everywhere it went so that he could be sure that the air temperature was no more than 20 and no less than 17c. Bless.