My Best Advice for First Time Moms
As a soon to be third time Mom, I have received countless advice from all kinds of sources. Some good, some bad. Some helpful, some useless. Some things I would have never thought of and I am so grateful to now know, to others that are completely outdated or not my style. You’ll get advice from seasoned and experienced parents, to people who simply know someone who once had a baby. It becomes a lot of noise after a while.
When you are becoming or have become a first time parent, you almost want to embrace all the advice and knowledge coming your way. We read books and search the internet for all kinds of methods and answers to anything and everything ever published based on raising a child. And to be honest, while some of it can be useful or at the very least guide you in the right direction, a majority of it is nonsense. And this is coming from someone who writes a Mommy Blog!
The best advice I can offer a first time mom is: Trust your own instincts over any advice.
You are your best source of information. You will know, deep down inside, when something doesn’t feel right and you may need to seek out medical advice or other sources, or when to wait it out and see how things progress. While it never hurts to double check, or ask more questions for your own comfort, not jumping to a conclusion someone else who is not a medical professional is offering, is likely the best route. If I had listened to the “maybe it’s this” or “it could be that” suggestions thrown my way while raising my babies, they would constantly be on antibiotics or lathered in unnecessary ointments or who knows what else.
While I love to offer advice after learning so much as a Mom along the way, and my children are still very young, I always offer it with an open mind. This is what has worked for me, or I’ve seen others try this. I will never label parenting as a one fix for all. We are all doing our best. And our best, more often than not, is trusting our instincts on our children’s needs.
Melanie xoxox