Ugh. I am a very proud happy mother to a gorgeous little 5-week old girl ... I am loving everything about it EXCEPT the way people comment (disapprovingly) on what you do and how you do it!! I personally think I am doing pretty well in that I have managed to do everything that I said I was going to do during my pregnancy - ie, I said I was not going to use any pain relief in labour, and I didn't. I said I was going to use cotton nappies, and I am. I said I wasn't going to use a dummy, and I don't. I said I was going to breastfeed, and I am. I said I would continue working, and I have (I work from home, so it's totally feasible for me)
Obviously I would have been open to abandoning any of these intentions if necessary - like if I had a very sucky baby, fine, I'd probably try her on a dummy. But I'm not going to give her one just cos she cries occasionally. She;s a baby! That;s what babies DO!! Or if she never slept and I was totally sleep-deprived, I would have ditched the idea of working
So - all through my pregnancy people seemed to delight in telling me that I'd "never manage" to do the things I intended to do - that I would HAVE to have pain relief, HAVE to use disposables etc etc.
And now that I've proved all the naysayers wrong, they are telling me that my choices are wrong!! That I am "depriving my baby of intense joy" (that is an honest to goodness quote) by not giving her a dummy. That breastfeeding is a bad idea because "it does not satisfy your baby and that is why she feeds so often - because she;s always hungry" That "cloth nappies mean that your baby will get nappy rash" (she hasn't had a speck of rash, mind you) And so on!!
FFS!! Is this normal!?? It's really bugging the hell out of me, Why can't people just say "well done" My baby is bonny, healthy and thriving so surely I am doing something right???!!!
Thanks for letting me vent.