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.

Do the poppers up on a baby grow on alternate legs one popper at a time. This saves missing one and being stuck with having to start again.

Avoid bibs with days of the week on them. It is dispiriting to be using Thursday's bib on Tuesday and quite scary to find by some quirk of fate that you have actually managed Wednesday's bib on Wednesday.

Don't feel guilty if your child is in safe place (playpen, cot) and you go to the toilet or have a shower or make a drink.

Any punishment has to be immediately and linked to what has happened. Only then they realise what happened and why it is wrong. Also, always explain your reason, regardless how young.

It is better putting things like phones and remote controls away than always being at your child's back to see what they are up. to

My mum told me you can’t make them eat and you can’t make them sleep. This has allowed me to let go of a lot of stress.

Timefortheparty
Buy two identical Christmas stockings for each child so you can fill it in advance and just swap when they are asleep.

This is actually the best advice ever.

@Hellvelyn absolutely - a basic rule - don’t make idle threats, always follow through, My DD was fortunately really well behaved, most of the time, but I remember sitting her on the naughty step for a misdemeanour and I nearly cried to see her looking so forlorn, but I stood my ground! She never did it again.

Best ever though, is praise the good behaviour and ignore the minor bad. Children really want to be in your good books and home is a much nicer place if you can do this. Don’t sweat the small stuff - best advice for parenting and life.

Don’t get worked up over sleepless night. I spent my twenties up all night partying hard then showing up to work, why when you have kids do you suddenly need 8 hours straight.

In my 20s, I could catch up on sleep at some point! I could go home early and have an early night, I could sleep until mid-afternoon on a Saturday or a Sunday...

You don't have that luxury with kids, there's no catching up. You really cannot compare the 2.

Oh, and always put on your own oxygen mask first, ie make sure you are OK, as if you aren’t, they won’t be either.

Bit of an off piste one but be a united team with your partner. Back each other up. Discuss things away from kids. You were a couple before kids and you will hopefully still be together once kids have flown the nest. Too many relationships don't make it during the child rearing years, often although of course not always, uncessarily because of communication breakdown. I was told this by an elderly neighbour.

If there's a fire, throw a mattress or something and throw the kids first.
Don't jump and expect to catch them. Sometimes they don't jump.

Or so I have been told, and it really stuck with me!

Only one bit of advice necessary:

Example
Example

Example

@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.

Ah that's brill, wish I'd have done that.

Be confident in your decisions.

They are your children not anyone else's. Everyone dishes out advice but do what works for you and your family. And don't worry about being judged.

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.

Breastfed babies naturally drink warm milk, so I am not sure I agree with that one.

Buy lots of cheap face clothes - when you change a boys nappy, when the nappy comes off, cover his dangly bits with a face cloth. Saved me a few times from getting wet!!

Buy a sellotape dispenser. Then they can do craft/junk modelling without your input.

And also......Fed is best. I breastfed because it worked for us but the whole breast vs bottle feeding thing infuriates me. Again, do what's best for you and your baby.

As someone once told me "you can't tell the difference between those who were breastfed and those who were bottle fed when they start school"

Also little gubbins face cloths are way more
effective and environmentally friendly than wet wipes.

@Twattergy

Also...it's fine to mix breast and bottle feeding if both work for you...nct/nhs don't really talk about this, it's all a bit black and white one or the other

This is so not true. If you mix feed your milk supply will diminish. Feeding is a demand and supply. The more your baby demands the more your body supplies. Reduce the demand and the supply reduces.

@bendmeoverbackwards I don’t know why but that made me teary (and I’m not prone to tears). So so so important. How lovely of your mum and what a lovely way to remember your childhood. I’ve gone with the harder line but will remember this in the future. I try to be ‘kinder than necessary’ but realise I’m probably not always living that mantra. My mum is the kindest soul to have walked this earth and I will always love and appreciate her so much for it. 🥺

@Bouledeneige I always always introduce myself as ‘a different story, xyz’s mum’ not just ‘xyz’s mum’. Every, single, time I have to do it - every call to nursery, school, to every other parent I meet. And it works. People say ‘hi a different story’ not just ‘hi’.

@Esspee
What about all the people (including myself) who successfully combo feed? We're not lying, you can't just say it's not true!

Sleep when they sleep. I was 19 when DS was born so I thought I’d use his sleep time to catch up on other stuff.... he woke up every 3 hours so I was naturally knackered and so slept when he did and it did a world of difference. Luckily he got into a routine by 3 months and slept from 10/11pm until 7/8 am straight through at night.

[quote miltonj]@Esspee
What about all the people (including myself) who successfully combo feed? We're not lying, you can't just say it's not true! [/quote]
I fully breastfed but that rhetoric that it’s all about the milk supply, don’t give a bottle of your milk supply will tank and breastfeeding will be over, i think, is incredibly damaging.

Mums you are more than your milk supply x

For teenagers, pick your battles and remember to be kind, no matter what.

Just in case it didn’t come across it @miltonj I’m saying I agree with you ❤️

I was struggling with feeling criticised by health visitor at baby weighing clinic as was breast feeding and DD wasn’t gaining as much as they thought she should
My DM just said - stop going and weighing you are doing fine! So I did - never looked back
With DS I went for vaccinations and development checks only
They are both adults now DD is still tiny at just 5’ DS is 6’4” and broad shouldered
There’s a lot to be said for following your instincts