Is the fact I'm laid back with my 7 month old a bad thing?

[CrunchyHippieMum]

I've noticed recently whilst talking to other mum's with a baby my age that I seem to be less worried about little things and not watching his every move as much as others....

Don't get me wrong, I always make sure he is in a safe space where he can't hurt himself. I pick him up and comfort him every time he cries. He is always clean, fed and comfortable, gaining weight and hitting all his milestones.

But I don't obsess over everything he does.....

I mean, take weaning for example. Other mums I've spoken to are weighing out food, making different and specific meals (without salt etc) for their babies and taking a much more gradual approach.

Whereas we just give him what we're eating (within reason, no vindaloos for the baby lol. And we dont use much salt in our cooking) and let him eat however much he wants. Mostly just by plopping the plate in front of him and letting him go to town! Same with his formula.

We also have him in slightly higher togs for sleep than the recommended as he seems to run a bit chilly and is much more settled this way.

I'm also a believer in letting them play on their own regularly. So quite often, if I have things to do, I plop him on the playmat, make sure there's nothing within his reach he's not supposed to have and let him play/move around. I let him be frustrated when he can't do things (like crawling) and sometimes this results in crying, but I let him try and figure things out before jumping in.

He hasn't been unwell yet, but I dont stress about it as its going to happen at some point so I just feel i'll deal with it then. And I dont mind who holds him (obviously not strangers) and he plays supervised with our dogs.

I feel like i'm just following my intuition and if he's happy and healthy, then job done. But talking to other Mums and reading blogs etc is making me wonder if i'm too laid back?

You sound like a bog standard mum with an easy baby doing what most of us do, that watches too many influencers and reads too many ‘blogs’. The dog thing is weird at 7 months, hard to see how they’d play together at that age, but if you are sat right with them then that’s your choice.

Never heard of anyone weighing out food for weaning

Yeah keep an eye on the dog thing - I think people who (understandably) love and trust their dogs let their babies go to town on them a bit too much. Dogs aren't toys.

Otherwise crack on - sounds like it's working for you! We always found the tog ratings (and recommended temps for baths) to be a bit too low too, for what it's worth.

I was more or less the same. I got exhausted by the obsession with monitoring how much milk they drank, what colour their nappies were, wake windows.

To clarify with the dogs, when I say supervision, I mean I am right beside him to avoid any grabbing or tail pulling. They just love licking his feet and dropping their toys to make him laugh. I love my dogs but would NEVER trust them on their own. Dogs are dogs, not babies 👍🏻

You’re worried about not being worried 😂
Keep staying chilled out, much better for your baby apart from obvious health and safety hazards!!

You sound like an average parent with an easy going baby. I had the same with my first baby, my second was a different child entirely then my third was again pretty easy. You parent the child you have.

Very similar to me with my first other than the weaning thing, I got really into this but I love cooking and enjoyed it. He was a super easy going and happy baby and totally lured me into a false sense of security! My second was a tremendous shock to the system when she came along

Weighing food for the baby? That’s fucking mental.

You sound as though you’re doing everything right OP, I wouldn’t worry at all. Just smile and nod and the crazies

Kind of feels like you’re asking for a medal!

Do keep him away from the dog. For the dog’s sake as much as his.

So much fussing by some mothers! Too much advice has led to too many mothers not being able to trust themselves or use what we like to call intuition. You're thinking about the things that matter: food, warmth and safety. I was laid back too. DD started having powdered rice at five months at a time when six months was the 'approved' time. Why? Because she obviously needed more than being EBF.

Yep.