Too much competition...

[envy27]

Why is there sooo much emphasis on what babies should do by certain ages?? Its a well known fact that each baby develops differently and at different stages. Yet we all feel that our babies should be doing certain things by a certain time... me included. Why? Some babies get their first tooth at 4 months, others not till 10 months or even after 1 year. Some babies don't ever roll over, others do at 3 months, some walk at 12 months, others don't till 2 years. The time each baby takes to develop is so individual and can vary so much but we still stress... why? Too much information? I am just interested in why we worry so much about something which is natural and individual and can't be controlled. There are toys/chairs/products out there to encourage development of certain skills like walking, sitting etc ... but yet again how much of the world population has access to these toys/products? Do they really help or is it just marketing, playing on the stresses and pressures that many new mums feel. Just interested in thoughts.

because those moments are special and mums like to feel comfort in that there is nothing worng. Especially new mums. i personally had a early developer and felt cheated out of the baby baby stage. ds never had one and whilst he did his mile stones early he was very frustrated by the fact that his peers werent at the same level he was. I once had another mum say when i see x next to y i feel x is rather backward. I had to remind her that she had the normal child and i had the freaky developer.

And for the record the only thing that we had, that might aid his walking, was a baby walker and that was to keep him upright when i couldn't hold him stood anymore and lasted him 1 month as by that point he was walking.

forgot to say - by time they get to starting school it has pretty much balance out and it doesn't show who sat/walked early and who didn't (exceptions do occur, i'm talk on average)

Def. agree it's because mums want that reassurance that everything is 'ok' and 'normal'...

And then, of course, you have to factor in that to 99.99% of new mums, their baby is the most important thing in the world - the thing they eat sleep and breathe, the thing they worry about constantly, (the thing that is the reason they are still awake at 2:10am because they had a slight temperature and the PFB mummy doesn't feel she can sleep until the thing is well contented and asleep)

So, what mums like talking about best of all is their own baby... the best way to achieve this is to surround yourself with other mums who are all talking about their babies... I'm not sure how much we really all listen to each other!

Right, I'm off to check my PFB again.