What's the worst piece of advice you have ever been given re parenting?

[grumblingirl]

Mine include:

1. Strapping ds2 into his cot by tying a sheet tightly round the mattress and base so he can't wriggle about at night. My reply 'A bit like a straight jacket for babies eh?'

1. Putting my newborn in a (used) furry soft dog house as a playpen/sleeping basket (offer of 'giving' us the dog house included)

1. Stick a dummy onto LO's face with sticky tape so it doesn't fall out at night - This one was a joke though because I was moaning about lack of sleep (again).

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets this crackers kind of advice?

someone told me to bit my ds really hard so it hurts him to teach him a lesson for biiting others!

my gp said I should bf baby on one side for 10 mins then the other side for 10 mins. Job done. I was too to say anything

"Just ignore him, he's doing it to get a reaction, he'll soon stop"

Hmm...then he'd just bite you back surely spooky!

Why don't you give her a nice drink of Ribena instead of all that milk? (MIL when dd was less than 6 weeks old.)

Jux!

Add biscuits to her milk in the bottle.

sugar on gums to ease teething

lol grumblingirl he bites because he knows it hurts. Its just a phase he is going through and like you say he would just do it bk.... slightly hypocritical of me to punish him for biting by biting him bk. He is only 16 months he would be confused.

Not advice, but just this week after dd had vomited up everything she eaten for the past two days, my mum says to dd 'Want a chocolate sandwich?'

Not advice, as such, but when I was telling my mother about the night-time sea crossing to France we were taking, she said she supposed we'd leave the dds (both babies) asleep on the car deck! Er...no.

Someone suggested making dd smoke a pack of fags if i ever think she might smoke to put her off.

LOL Bitoffun - how old is your dd?

12- showing no signs so far thankfully!

From MIL when DD1 was 3 weeks old and we needed to go out in the car: "seems a shame to wake her. Why not just put her in her moses basket on the back seat?"

Baby rice in the bottle, cut the top of the teat off to allow it to flow.

It is ridiculous feeding her so often - she should only be fed every four hours - MIL on my six week old exclusively breastfed baby whom she then attempted to forcibly remove from the room to stop me feeding her.

The 2nd one is so much easier. Er, no. The 2nd one was an absolute nightmare.

I was also told to bite DS1 when he started biting.

wessex

my MIL and FIL were big fans of let them cry - and notfor a bit but through a whole posh supper with them. MIL used to sigh when I would refuse to leave DS1 any longer and go and get him.

We were talking 6 weeks old....

'Just use your instinct. You will know what to do.' Err - no, I didn't!

It should have been - Just log on. I know this great website where lots of parents are exploring the best way of doing things too!

I second that littlestrawberry. They all lied! DS2 is nightmare child.

arcticlemming- it's a generational thing I think. When was a kid it was quite normal to strap the carrycot to the backseat, and all sorts of things that would horrify us now! I suppose most of us lived to tell the tale though...

I hate that pagwatch - the sighing. Surely it can't be pleasant for them to sit there listening to it either?

give her a spoonful of whisky, that'll help her sleep all night

from my mother about my 3 week old first born

If you cuddle him too much, he'll be gay.
If you breastfeed him, he'll be gay.
If you let him have a doll, he'll be gay.

For some reason my Aunt is obsessed with being gay.