So as your baby doesn't come with a manual.....

[KittyWalker]

......where do you get your parenting inspiration from? Esp if your own childhood wasn't one to base your parenting style on.

Friends (and a sister) who had kids a few years before me..

People I've seen dealing with their kids really well in public places..

A few books (not any of the routine ones )

I also believe that I've modeled some things on what I've seen and liked and others where I've thought "Well, I'm not doing that..."

Doing the exact opposite of what my mother would have done!
That should just about make it the right way to raise a child!

Start the day with a bit Gina Ford,
abandon that by early afternoon,
try a bit baby whispering followed by what my last conversation with another mum was.

Have lunch

Get onto MN - ask them

then when Im really desperate I do something my mum suggested.

By tea time I give up and hope DH has some better ideas....if not we just have a wee row instead .

Babies come with lots of manuals. Just look in any bookshop.

Trouble is, they've all got conflicting information...

I've taken the 'wing it' route! I have a well balanced 14 yr old, so I must be doing something right!

I've got the oldest child of all my friends, so although they can suggest, it's quite difficult for them to really know what it's like, so I listen to my head and hope for the best!

We actually get a manual here (Ireland), from our HV.

You get a 0-6 months one, 6 months - 2 years and 2 years + (if I remember correctly)

I did laugh when I could tell my family in England that I got an instruction manual with my baby especially as it came with my second!

I agree with wing it. Main thing I try to do is not let how I am feeling affect how I react to ds, so he gets consistent answers.

Also I do not respond to nagging, in the same way that I only put the cat's food out when he is out of the house. Then miowing for it is irrelevant.

What choices you make and how you do things is really your business.