Best parenting tip you ever got?

[giantwaterbottle]

Obviously I'm not being unreasonable to ask 🤷‍♀️

Mine was from some friends who had older kids.
Always double the sheets/plastic sheet in baby/toddler bed.

It's saved us in the middle of the night on countless occasions.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

The baby vests with the "envelope" necks... you can pull them down after a poonami instead of trying to get them over the head.

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

From dm, there is nothing wrong with putting him in his cot for 5 minutes to make a cup of tea when you get worked up. Safer in his cot alone for a couple of minutes than in an upset stressed mummy's arms.

She was given that over me by a midwife and my god, those few minutes away from a baby who you've done everything you can for are lifesaving.

[Pikachusbutt]

Focus on the shit on the shovel, not the heap.

[topwings]

Don't try to make a happy child happier.

[sesquipedalia]

A child joins a family, it doesn't make a family.

And at the end of the day, all fed, no one dead. Success.

[TH22]

Don't get involved in your kids playground arguments!

[TwoLeftElbows]

Not to pay too much attention to advice of people whose children are grown, because we all forget the day to day reality of life with babies and toddlers faster than we realise.

It freed me up a bit to ignore my mum's judgemental comments better.

Oh, and cold water sterilising is by far the easiest.

[MrsPerfect12]

Always put a baby down to sleep.

[Blossomtoes]

Enjoy every age as it happens and don’t keep longing for the next one.

[GoodHairDay86]

Pick your battles

[Gladiolys]

You can only parent the baby you have.

Repeating that mantra has saved me from countless stresses over why my baby doesn’t sleep through the night / crawl at 6 months / enjoy playing independently / like being put down etc. There’s no one technique that works on every baby, sometimes what works for your friend just won’t work for you!

[Just10moreminutesplease]

Lower your standards. Sometimes it’s ok to cuddle your baby and ignore the housework.

[giantwaterbottle]

Really loving these!
I remember finding out about the best hack too, so handy!

Especially love not trying to make a happy child happier and a child joining a family! Wish I'd thought of those two earlier. Though mine are toddlers so maybe still time to implement

[TwoLeftElbows]

@Pikachusbutt

Focus on the shit on the shovel, not the heap.

[Hellvelyn]

If you threaten some kind of punishment always, always go through with it if necessary. I was thinking about this the other day when I heard a parent in the supermarket say "I'm going to put you to bed if you don't behave" You become powerless if your child knows your threats are hollow.
Also, if you're telling a child not to do something let them know what you actually want them to do instead. They might not know.
Last good tip was don't tell a child off if they don't realise what they've done is wrong. Explain to them so they (hopefully) won't do it again. I did my best to do this when dd decorated our hallway walls with crayon. She thought we'd be delighted with her redecoration. I calmly ( we'll - quite calmly!) told her why this wasn't a good idea and she didn't do it again.

[brittleheadgirl]

At the end of a tough/long/etc day with kids, ask yourself 'is every fed, nobody dead?'
My mum gave me this little gem to ask myself when times were hard.

[Calvinlookingforhobbes]

‘Concern yourself with how much laugher there is on your house.’

Love this

[brittleheadgirl]

@sesquipedalia

A child joins a family, it doesn't make a family.

And at the end of the day, all fed, no one dead. Success.

Ah, you beat me to it!!!

[idontlikealdi]

When they were babies in nicu a nurse said to me 'they're not eggs, you won't break them that easily', that stick with me for a while.

Now they're older I go by pick your battles, some things really aren't worth arguing over.

[livingthegoodlife]

When punishing your kids, don't punish yourself.

Eg hard long day, you punish by taking away TV time, means you no longer get 5 minutes peace and a cup of tea etc.

[SorenLorensonsInvisibleFriend]

A friend was told by some random priest that, "you may find it easier to lower your expectations and raise your tolerance" when she had her second child. She got a lot from it!

My doctor is lovely and, when I was worried about my second child being so very different to my determinedly overachieving first, "well, they all walk their own path" - that has made me appreciate both their childhoods more!

Also, the mumsnet classic of 'all fed and not dead' has seen me through many tough days in the early years, and offered comfort and a smile to my friends!

[MissChanandlerBong90]

For better or worse, nearly everything with young children is a phase.

[CanIGoHomeNowPlease]

Old lady in the supermarket on seeing I had a new baby boy. Run him like a dog… I.e keep him busy and physically active and it’s definitely been excellent advice.

[UKhun]

If you bottle feed get them used to drinking room temperature or cold milk from a young age so you aren't reliant on bottle warmers all the time.

[DSGBT]

My friend told me when I was pregnant that the first 3 months were just about surviving. She was so right! She also said that people have strong parenting views and advice because they want to think they have done the best for their child but there is no right answer just one that feels right to you. Helped me so much with the solicited advice!