With all of the crazy do's and don'ts for mom's and their babies, what are you supposed to believe? How are you supposed to handle them? Click here to find out.

Why I let my 8 Month Old Baby Choose to Wear Shorts in Winter (And Other Stupid Baby Warnings)

Everyone knows that babies at 8 months old have the cognitive ability to make choices on their own. Rather than hold my baby back from making those decisions, I have decided to allow her to unleash her potential by choosing what she wants to wear.

Only 20 degree’s out and she chooses shorts? No worries, she will learn and not do it next time. I am just fostering her ability to be confident in decisions later in life, right?

Don’t fret, I am full of shit and not really doing this.

For real though, I am sure this suggestion is probably out there somewhere. Yep, probably in psychologist backed article about how making too many decisions for our infants causes them permanent damage in the long run. We have all read those stupid baby warning articles, right?




This morning, I came across an article on Facebook about “Baby Container Syndrome.” (Yeah, get ready for this one.) It states that we as parents are now causing permanent damage to our babies by utilizing tools like swings, bouncers, and jumparoo’s.

Great stuff right?

Creating the Fear with Stupid Baby Warnings

Now the soon to be new mom is terrified to use anything in her registry because all of it will be detrimental to her child. Why? Because everyday another stupid baby warning is released that does not apply to the majority of the population. Yet this warning strikes fear in the hearts of new parents everywhere.

I mean, seriously, look around in the media. Now-a-days you are going to damage your baby in just about everything you do with them.

“Don’t hold your baby too much, but make sure you are holding them enough.”

“Do not place your child in “restrictive containers” but also make sure you put your baby down and walk away when you are overwhelmed.”

“Do not feed your baby any kind of solid foods before 6 months, but also don’t get diagnosed failure to thrive because baby is not gaining fast enough.”

“Breast is best and formula is poison, but your doctor wants you to supplement. ”

“Keep your baby close at night to promote bonding, but do not co sleep or room share because it will create dependency.”

How exactly do we expect new mom’s to not be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder immediately upon delivery?

Deciphering the Truth

So here is my dilemma.

It seems like no matter what we do with our children in today’s world, someone out there is going to call us on it and tell us that we are wrong. Those stupid baby warnings telling us not to do common sense things with our kids are all over everywhere. Super awesome when we have fragile, young mom’s out there who just need some support, right?

The problem is, while there is some truth found in the majority of these statements that are being made, a lot of this is overkill for your run of the mill mom. In all reality, putting your child in a bouncer for an hour to entertain them while you vacuum floors is not going to cause permanent damage so as you are mindful of your child. In order for your child to develop many of the issues that are being blasted all over social media, a great deal of neglect occur as well. Don’t want your baby to have a flat head? Do not leave them on their back or in a “container” all day everyday. Common sense right?

The way that the media has portrayed so many of these issues however, is that you must keep your baby in a “free to learn, free of danger, free of gluten, non GMO, pro breastfeeding, pet and dust free, all natural, organic, fully supervised but not too close environment” at all times so that you can raise your child to be the best person that they can be.

Come on moms. Let’s get real.

With the latest stupid baby warning out for mom's and their babies, what are you supposed to believe? How are you supposed to handle them? Click here to find out. #baby #momthings #momshaming #stoptheshame

 

To the New Momma’s: Don’t Believe Every Stupid Baby Warning you See

So while the majority of this has been a rant, now I will get to the skinny of it.

Momma’s, you can do all the research in the world about how to bring your baby up the right way, but all you are going to do is work yourself into a complex. Honestly, there is no one “right way” to raise a baby, and no one correct environment to keep them in. You are always going to find someone who can argue for or against your strategy, and that is ok. Really, even the latest stupid baby warning is not directed at you, but is more of something for your to ponder.

What you need to do is take a step back. Look at the choice you are making and analyze whether there really is a detrimental issue with what you are doing.

For instance, should my 8 month old be able to eat grass in the yard? No, probably not. But the one or two blades that she managed to put into her mouth while I was tending to her older brother is not going to kill her. If we keep our babies in this “plastic bubble” of a world in order to conform to all of the dangers that society tells us about, then our children are never going to have real life experiences.




I mean, come on, we ate dirt and played in contained play yards, and we turned out just fine, right?

What “Mommy Do Not’s” or stupid baby warning have you heard about recently that have sent your head spinning? Let me know below!

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13 Comments

  1. Everyone is going to have SOMETHING they claim is detrimental to your kid-from baby containers, to diapers, to freakin Santa Claus. If you look hard enough, someone is usually out to sell a book to tell you all about how (insert parenting thing here) is ruining your child….but you can fix it for 29.95

    Use your Mom Common Sense…they’ll survive 30 minutes in a jumper so you can mop. (Great post!)

  2. Haha this is so true, had to comment! Yes it is true there are contradictory arguments about raising a child everywhere, I am thinking there is some “commerce” involved in those findings too! πŸ™‚

  3. I hate that people think that spoiling a baby is a thing. It breaks my heart knowing that some people listen to this and not giving their baby the attention he/she wants and NEEDS. I’m not one to put my opinions out there, because you’re right, there is no right way to raise a baby, but that is one thing I will constantly say “you cannot spoil a baby!” I had my SO’s mom tell me to stop patting my daughter when I was holding her for THE FIRST TIME after giving birth to her because I was going to spoil her. Being a new, overwhelmed mom running on no sleep for 24+ hours and pushing out a baby, I listened to her. Then 5 minutes later caught myself doing it again, realizing that I was doing nothing wrong!

    1. Gah!!! I would not have handled that situation well. I am forever annoyed with the ever changing set of expectations that society has set on new parents. If they could give new moms a bit of space instead of driving up anxieties over common sense things, the postpartum rate may be a bit lower.

  4. I love this! Those baby warning are so stupid! I do everything we, as parents, are not supposed to do. Especially holding my baby β€œtoo much”.

  5. This is a great article! I am a mother of 5 plus one on the way. My oldest is 14 and I remember with having her reading things scared the mess out of me. You learn as a parent though to do what you feel is best and say whatever to people who think they know your kid better than you. You can’t listen to all that is said or you will drive yourself crazy. Just let the natural mother instinct kick in and you’re good to go. πŸ™‚

  6. What a great read! There is so much stuff out there that I read and it does scare me at first & then I end up convincing myself to just continue parenting how I always have and to just ignore it

  7. Ive always disregarded baby warnings because each child is different and no-one should ever dictate how a woman should raise her child. Thanks for sharing πŸ™‚

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