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

[PoppyMumsnet]

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

I wish I had known how quick it goes, one minute it's birthday parties and poo skids. Then turnaround they are out of the door, car packed to the brim off to uni - you cry your heart out - but they come back. The sweetest thing my dad (as a single parent) said to me is your children are not yours, they are just on loan to you. I love every minute now - even when they are driving me crazy!

I wish I knew the overwhelming feeling of love that you have for your child, there is no other feeling like that!

I wish I knew before my 1st DC to relax and just enjoy everything and to trust in my own instincts. I guess these are things you learn as you go and by DC 2 and 3.

Your instincts will tell you more than any book, trust them and follow them.

That having a child with the wrong person can be much harder than doing it by yourself

I wish I'd known that no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you love them, they have the capacity to break your heart without even knowing!

The main shock to me as a parent was the loss of not being able to just go out as now it takes ages to get all the equipment required just to leave the house. :D

I wish I knew to believe everything my mother told me. Everything she went through with us I have gone through with our children. But as always when she spoke to us about when we where young and foolish I didn't take heed of what she said and went ahead and did exactly the opposite.

i wished i knew how hard it is, but so rewarding

Wish I had know about keeping to a routine! :)

That no matter what the topic or situation, everyone else will always have an opinion or comment on it and that you should just completely ignoore them and do whats best for you and your child because no one else knows you both better!

How little sleep that you need to function.

I wish I'd been able to relax and enjoy it a bit more. I spent alot of time worrying and crying! If I'd been in a relationship with the right person though I think things would have been different!

How much lack of sleep affects you, especially as you are older

That you'll be exhausted all the time...for at least a year.

Everyone else knows more about rearing children than you do, and they're very keen to tell you when you're going wrong!

I wish I had trusted my gut more and had more faith in my own abilites as a parent.

I wish I'd known about how anxious postpartum and breastfeeding hormones make you. No one told me!! I had to turn off Fantasy Homes By The Sea because the music sounded a bit ominous and I got scared.

I wish I had known how difficult breastfeeding was and that it doesn't come naturally to either mother or baby. It was a really stressful time and I wish I had had more support although I did manage to breastfeed DD for 3 months and DS for 9 months.

I wish I knew not to worry about the "small stuff", enjoy every moment and don't let other people make you feel bad about how your child is doing (i.e. mine is reading/walking etc.)

I would have liked to have known that it's important to sleep when the baby sleeps - our DS used to go to sleep at 7.30pm and sleep until after midnight when he would waken to be fed. We quickly learned to go to sleep at 7.30 pm too. I wish I had known that a mother's instinct is so often right and thus had more confidence in decisions I made in the early days. DS cried pitifully if put down at all during the day for his first six weeks - I carried him around all day ignoring suggestions I would spoil him. He then turned into the happiest, easiest, most contented baby I could have wished for proving me right. I wish I had known how difficult the early days of breastfeeding can be - I did persevere, thank goodness, but it would have been so easy to give up and miss the joy of it when it works.

Learn to not compare your child to other children or siblings. I feel that some people try and make everything about raising children into a competition. Children will walk, talk, potty train and read eventually. Relax and enjoy not compete.

I wish I knew that my boobs would never be perky again . Probably best to wear a bra at all times, even bedtime!!

I wish I'd have known how little support we'd have. Our families were all mouth and no trousers, as we say. I love them dearly, but my MIL insisting she would look after my first DS when I returned to work, then changing her mind at the eleventh hour was not a pleasant experience.

In a nutshell - I wish I'd have assumed we'd be doing absolutely everything on our own from the start. I think that way now, so if we do get any help, it's gratefully received, rather than having too-high expectations and feeling let down when the promises don't materialise.

I wish I'd have known how much childcare really cost and saved all that money I wasted on alcohol in my twenties!