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MNHQ

Tell Asda about your pre-birth ideals versus post-birth reality - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

281 replies

AmeliaMumsnet · 16/01/2017 11:58

We're all guilty of viewing parenthood with thick rose-tinted glasses... before we give birth. Who amongst us didn't have lofty ideals - never putting your child in front of the TV, reading Shakespeare to it every afternoon? Maybe you thought that dummies were the work of the devil or that every bit of baby food would be pureed from vegetables grown in your garden’s organic vegetable plot. And then the baby is born and reality comes crashing down like a tonne of nappies.

What high-minded expectations did you have for your parenting before your baby was born? And how have they played out now you have the real thing? Share your pre and post birth comparisons below and we’ll enter you into a prize draw to win a £300 Asda voucher.

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

Tell Asda about your pre-birth ideals versus post-birth reality - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
finleypop · 23/01/2017 15:19

Happy to say that I stuck to all my ideals, no dummy, 100% home cooked baby food, only water to drink etc. I think it just requires a little determination, it's not down to luck

glennamy · 23/01/2017 15:33

Well DD was going to arrive via a water birth... well 2+ weeks overdue and not wanting to leave the safety of the womb, very little movement, it was snug put paid to that! The same can be said about nearly every other idea that we had, so just take it as it comes, sleep when you can and enjoy! :)

Ethan260908 · 23/01/2017 17:01

Before - Not being precious about anything other than the babies health.

After - how many times have I told you, to pick up your rubbish/tidy your room/brush your teeth properly/to say please and thank you.

Before - to not sound like my parents
After - well you can guess that one

nettymay · 23/01/2017 17:14

Thought I was having a little baby for years and years - I woke up and found I had a teenager sooo soon!

Eblessing · 23/01/2017 17:21

I had dreamt and prepared for a hypnobirth. I spent so much time going to classes and practicing my breathing and scripts... only to end up having an elective section as she was breech!

sbruin1122 · 23/01/2017 17:22

Ratbagcatbag 'I was brilliant parent until I had kids!!' i was thinking the same!

strawberrisc · 23/01/2017 17:39

Pre birth I used to watch those Nanny programmes on television and shake my head. I had an idea that I would be really strict (while still really loving) from the moment my dd was born. I couldn't understand how parents could be so WEAK. "That won't be me!" I used to think.

Fast forward 4 years on. I found myself a single, working Mum who would happily do unspeakable things for just 3 hours of quality sleep!

Sid98 · 23/01/2017 18:16

I would only give my child fruits and vegetables to eat and no junk food.
My child now likes eating junk foods

freefan · 23/01/2017 18:50

After watching tv show births and real life birth programmes, I planned all natural and relaxed with soft music playing.... reality was me screaming for pain relief convinced I was being ripped apart.... all instantly forgotten the moment I held my DD

samcornfield · 23/01/2017 19:15

I thought that I would get showered and dressed every morning - in reality mid-afternoon was a miracle

hmariez · 23/01/2017 19:38

Thinking Second babies birth would be easier and quicker, it wasn't, it was a similar length of time and a lot more painful.

Thinking I would be more organised - I'm not

stewaris · 23/01/2017 19:51

Everything would be lovely. I would breastfeed and be an earth mother and DS would be an angelic little cherub who slept constantly and only wakened up to be fed or smile. The reality was I had 5 months of hell. He wouldn't sleep, I had to give up breastfeeding because my milk flow couldn't keep up with him. I then got a breast infection and he went on to bottle feeding. All this time he wouldn't sleep at night. He actually screamed the place down before he was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant, explained the projectile vomit, and h was moved on to a different feed. He was better but, unfortunately behaviours had been ingrained and he is still a whiny, grumbling child but I love him dearly. He put up with so much until we found out what was wrong.because

twinklenicci · 23/01/2017 20:07

With my first baby i wanted it as natural as possible but after having to be induced 10 days late then after 2 days labour having to have an emergency c-section for a baby that was 10lb 1oz nothing went to plan !! My second baby a year later i didnt have any ideas in my mind but ended up having another c-section, and my last baby (having had 2 miscarraiges in between , one at 17 weeks which i had to deliver) i told them i wanted a booked in c-section. this was my only birth i felt i had any control over

cluckyhen · 23/01/2017 20:08

I was adament that I would be out at mum's coffee mornings enjoying my time with other parents and making firm friends but in reality as an army wife it was torture. We lived in a bubble where everyone knew everything and I hated it. Toddler groups just made me want to go home and hide in pj's!

I was also certain that I wouldn't become my mother

moneypenny66 · 23/01/2017 20:20

With my first child I refused to let him have a dummy come what may. This resulted in virtually no sleep during the day and not much at night either!
Needless to say I realised how ridiculously stubborn I had been and by the time I had my second son I let him have a dummy and everyone got much more sleep!

kittykomp · 23/01/2017 20:28

a baby who sleeps through v a baby who doesn't seem to ever sleep during the night!

pennwood · 23/01/2017 20:34

I remember stating that a baby would not change us as it would adapt to our routines - how wrong I was!

pennwood · 23/01/2017 20:35

I remember stating that a baby would not change us as it would adapt to our routines - how wrong I was!

Ikea1234 · 23/01/2017 20:46

Me then - patient, happy, kind, resourceful.

Me now - frazzled (from constant questions), happy (in a maniacal laughing kind of way), tough loving, all out of ideas 😂

MrsDramaQueen · 23/01/2017 21:22

I had looked after my sister quite a bit when she was younger so I knew that it was going to be hardwork. But I got quite a bit of advise.

Sleeping - I was told it only takes a few weeks to get the baby settled into a sleep routine. My son is 4 and still doesn't sleep through the night.

Babysitting - Everyone offered to babysit. But in reality my husband and I have only had 2 children free nights out.

Having two kids means they will keep each other entertained - When my son was first born, his sister wasn't over fussed with him, because he didn't do anything. When he started playing she liked it because she could control the play, then when he starting getting mobile they started fighting over toys.

Potty training - I didn't expect this to be so hard.

mave · 23/01/2017 21:35

That I would enjoy every minute and it would be a piece of cake...

That at times I craved a little bit of my old life! Parenting is such hard work, but rewarding most of the time!!

Cailin7 · 23/01/2017 21:53

we were never going to give any of our DCs a dummy but ended up giving in after about 3 weeks.

xcxcsophiexcxc · 23/01/2017 22:21

I'm due in two weeks so havnt got a post birth story , ideally I'd like to have a water birth and manage in gas and air and not been ripped in to two! If this isn't enough then to get out for some morphine. Seriously scared of an epidural though but never say never

OutandIn · 23/01/2017 22:24

That i might be able to do a part time job working from home "while the baby slept" - no chance at all was the reality!

lhlee62 · 23/01/2017 22:25

I was going to breastfeed and cloth bum, I managed to feed them 14 mths and 18 mths, but cloth bumming went a little bit out the window with the 2nd one. I managed not to give them dummies, but this was luck rather than choice as they didn't want them!

I have managed to do one thing I promised myself which is making their birthday cakes every year!