Please or to access all these features

Sponsored threads

This topic is for sponsored discussions. If you'd like to run one with us, please email [email protected].

Tell Asda what you wish you knew before becoming a parent - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

406 replies

PoppyMumsnet · 23/09/2016 10:25

Sometimes, we wish we had the benefit of hindsight– knowing what to have said, what to have done would have made the situation a whole lot easier. Asda would like you to tell them about the things you wish you’d known about before being a parent to a baby/toddler. Would being a new parent have run more smoothly had you known certain things before? What sort of things would you have liked to have known?

Here is what Asda has to say: “Here at Little Angels, we understand how daunting it can be waiting for the arrival of your long awaited little one. That’s why we’d love you to share your top tips on anything from being a parent for the first time or what’s different when you have your second.”

So what do you wish you’d known before becoming a parent? Time flies by so quickly - maybe you wish you’d known to take more videos or photos. Perhaps you wish you’d known that children are much more expensive than you originally thought, so you could have planned better. Maybe you wished you’d known about a support network that you could have spoken to from the very beginning. Or maybe you simply wish you’d known how hard it would be so you could have mentally prepared yourself?

Whatever your story is, Asda would like to hear about it. All those who post below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Asda voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard T&Cs apply

Tell Asda what you wish you knew before becoming a parent - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
multiplemummy · 26/09/2016 21:54

That you don't worry any less as they get older. My "big baby" is 23 now & had just moved in with her boyfriend. She drives & has a good full, time job. I still worry incessantly!! Are people being "nice" to her at work, is she sticking within the driving speed limit in her car & driving safely, is her boyfriend treating her well (he is...) The worries never go away!! They just get replaced with "new" worries. She finds it hilarious but she'll see for herself in years to come when she's a mum (not too soon though, I hope!!)

angiehoggett · 26/09/2016 22:13

I wish I'd known to trust my instincts

MummySetra · 26/09/2016 22:34

I wish I'd known that everything my baby was doing at different weeks was "normal" for that age.......
Be it how much they should be napping / sleeping, to how much they should be eating etc.
A week by week account like The Wonder Weeks prior to baby being here would have been useful!

user1470426914 · 26/09/2016 22:54

That you will adore and do anything for your children but that it is exhaustingly hard work, especially at first. Also, if your think your baby is unwell, trust your instincts, you know your baby better than anyone else. Also, you can never have too many helpers!

mo3733 · 27/09/2016 08:24

that there is never a need to worry about your childs progress because they all achieve at different times and paces

Mozarmstrong · 27/09/2016 08:53

I wish I had known I would not have time for me and that's not me being selfish but you know what I would not have changed any of it!

cookie09 · 27/09/2016 09:07

I wish i knew that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. People put on a front and behind closed doors no family is perfect. All families have flaws and everybody deals with these in different ways. There is no rights and wrongs and in the end you will look back and say, what was all the worry about.

TheSkyesTheLimit · 27/09/2016 10:04

That all the dark, difficult and tiring times with a refluxy baby were a phase to get through, it wasn't anything I was doing wrong and I needed to be kinder to myself.

Mindfulofmuddle · 27/09/2016 10:50

I wish I had known that feeling inept with your first baby is completely normal, and lots of other people feel that way too!
I was so worried about doing everything 'right' and comparing myself to other mums (who seemed to cope much better than I felt I did), that I was in a perpetual state of anxiety and felt utterly useless.
If I had known that we would be just fine after the first 6 months, and that nobody thought I was as rubbish as I did, I might have relaxed a bit more and taken time to enjoy my newborn.

LynseyH · 27/09/2016 10:57

I'm glad I learnt by myself to be honest.
The only thing I believe people should listen to is something we hear all the time but don't really believe until it's too late... Enjoy every second because time flies. Before you know it, they are starting school and are all 'grown up'!!.

AngryPrincess · 27/09/2016 10:58

I wish I knew how much free time I had!

ditavonteesed · 27/09/2016 11:01

I wish I had known that every body else is worried too, I always felt like I didn;t know what I was doing but everyone else seemed so confident.

kelli16 · 27/09/2016 11:49

to enjoy every minute and not worry about if the house is tidy or that i am doing it right. Just go with and see what happens

Sleepysausage · 27/09/2016 12:05

I would want to know that parent guilt is massive and hits you like nothing before. Who knew you could feel guilty for needing the loo! Nothing prepares you for that guilt about everything

liane77 · 27/09/2016 12:37

It's the most hard work, exhausting, most rewarding job you will ever do for free and it's forever, 24/7

Sammyislost · 27/09/2016 13:08

I wish I knew that hearing a baby cry would make my boob milk go MAD and i'd leak through breast pads, bra and t-shirt and milk would drip down on to my lap! Absolutely soaked! Thank goodness I was in a dark cinema!

MrsMarigold · 27/09/2016 13:24

I wish I'd known how important it is to have all your finances sorted and career on a positive child friendly trajectory before you have children. Life gets a whole lot more expensive and you need to be confident of your abilities at work, and fit itt arouns motherhood.

Yawnyawnallday · 27/09/2016 15:58

That post natal care was so poor.

marymanc · 27/09/2016 16:32

I wish I knew how painful breastfeeding can be. I wish I knew of how hard life it is with children.

phillie1 · 27/09/2016 16:33

THat they cost you more as they get older, rather than the costs going down once nursery etc has finished - school trips, school books, new trainers all the time and now the thought of Uni costs looming!

frikadela01 · 27/09/2016 16:43

I wish I'd not underestimated my dp. He really has been amazing and I know I would not have been able to get through the first couple of months with Ds without his support.
I also wish I'd have known about the 2 hours of crying my Ds does every single night, I have to mentally prepare myself for it everyday.

oliversax · 27/09/2016 17:20

I wish I'd known not to put so much pressure on myself to 'get it right'. There's no perfect way to raise a child. Relax more, enjoy more.

sarah861421 · 27/09/2016 17:51

sleep deprivation and spending money like water

sweir1 · 27/09/2016 19:43

I wish I appreciated how hard my parents worked when i was younger

Drbint · 27/09/2016 21:08

I wish I had known how absolutely brilliant it is and how much happiness being a parent can bring. Loads of people warned us it would turn our lives upside down and that we didn't know what we were letting ourselves in for. Quite a few said it was worth it, but then we had our DC and the sheer joy of it has been amazing. Even after sleepless nights, poo escaping, tantrums, and mad running around trying to keep them safe, it's wonderful. Nobody ever told us that!