If you’re a new parent, you have or will experience a lot of unsolicited advice from family, friends and acquaintances. You’re probably wearing a more than a bit of exhaustion on your face and that perceived vulnerability triggers others to come to the rescue. As we aren’t formally schooled in parenting, parents who have already been through it become overzealous in taking on the role of expert.
We’ve compared notes on the most common, irritating pieces of advice – and we’re sure that you can can your own, but here’s our list of 10Worst Parenting Tips for Babies:
10. Your Baby Can Just Cry Himself to Sleep: This is better advice for babies over six months old, as its true that by that time they may have figured out the cause and effect nature of their cries. But under six months, they haven’t put all of that together yet and they simply react to their discomforts, so its best to pay attention to what they are trying to tell you.
9. Don’t swaddle your baby: This idea stems from the very nature of swaddling – which is to wrap baby tightly in a blanket to restrict movements. It may seem well-intentioned to think a newborn should have more freedom, but especially during the first few days at home, swaddling helps keep the baby warm as her internal thermostat slowly kicks in. It also provides a similar sense of comfort as the womb did during her development.
8. Rub a little whiskey on teething baby’s gums: Surely this must sound archaic to most of us at this point. There certainly is some credence to the fact that alcohol does have a numbing effect applied topically, but more importantly, this same alcohol is toxic to newborn babies. Medicine has come a long way since Grandma’s days of parenting. Visit your local pharmacy for a better solution.
7. You need to bathe your baby every day: This is absolutely untrue. Babies do not get sweaty and stinky the way adults do. And daily bathing may dry some babies skin more than others (though easily cured with moisturizer). The true rule of thumb is simply to keep your baby clean and comfortable. Every 2-3 days may be fine for your baby.
6. Babies sleep best in a room that’s silent and dark: This may be true for some, but it may be more to your advantage to get your baby used to a little background noise and low light as you can’t always control your environment.
5. When infants are running a fever , rub them down with alcohol to lower their temperature: Terrible advice! This cannot lower their fever, and alcohol (toxic) is absorbed by the skin… not to mention it dries out the skin.
4. Babies should be woken up in the night for diaper change: No. Certainly always do the smell test to ensure baby’s diaper is not soiled, but do not wake up a peacefully sleeping baby to change the diaper otherwise – you may simply be subjecting yourself to a crying, uncomfortable baby thereafter.
3. Never apply sunscreen to an infant under 6 months of age: You definitely want to keep direct daytime sunlight to a minimum during peak daytime hours. But the AAP says that applying a minimal amount of sunscreen to small areas, such as a baby’s face and the back of the hands is fine should it be needed.
2. Putting rice cereal in your infant’s bottle will help him sleep: No! Research shows that babies should not be introduced to solids before four months and that babies that are, do not sleep as well as those fed formula only. There is also a link to obesity later in life.
1. Babies need to be on a strict feeding schedule: Much like the above point, this schedule can introduce the baby to eating habits that lead to obesity. A baby’s desire to eat is keenly driven by instinct. Further, a baby may burn more calories and expel more of the food at some times more than others. So simply being in tune with your baby’s cues is the best way to go.
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We hope that you found an inspiring tidbit or two here and don’t hesitate to share it. We bring you lots of baby and kids news, tips and tricks, so check back often at PersonalBabyProducts.com and PersonalizedKidsPlates.com
