Pregnancy Peer Pressure- It’s up to you!

Having a baby has so much pressure attached to it and over thinking from your own body let alone from other mums. When I was pregnant I was asked so many questions on how I would feed, what I will use in the cot, pushchairs, baby monitors- the list goes on. This is a horrible feeling for a new mum to feel they had pressure of buying a certain item or looking after their baby in a certain way even before it’s arrived.

Some of the pressure I received where if I was to breast or bottle feed- I genuinely used to wonder what on earth this had to do with anyone and why they felt the need to tell me what is ‘best’ for my child. There was also a lot of ‘If you had done what I said this wouldn’t have happened’ which I think is cruel for any mother!!!

Another one I had was my health visitor ramming down my neck that I should not ever feed my child a jar or food- her reasoning for this was that she wouldn’t understand how to eat real food!!! Yeah right! I was fed jars of food so if I wanted to mix baby led and jars I will be doing!! Erin didn’t suffer from me choosing this way and isn’t a picky kid with her food, there was obviously no harm in me doing this- but in the health visitors eyes I was the devil!

Co sleeping- there is always a big debate attached to this and I myself have my opinions but they are nothing to do with a baby’s health it’s to do with a mothers sanity! I have been there- climbing into a cot at 3am just so Erin would shut up and go to sleep- after this night I did have a wakeup call and realised I needed to put my foot down and sleep train her (I will not get started of how many slating’s I have had for this, and being called hard and cruel- one thing I will say is she sleep from 6.30pm- 6am and she’s 4- so it can’t be that bad!!!) Again it’s up to you how you get your child to sleep- if you want to sleep with them then that’s fine, but if you want a decent night’s sleep too that’s also fine!!

There was so many more things that I was looked at like a gremlin for that I have lost count but others including- moving Erin out of my room at 6 weeks (lynch me now!), giving her Calpol and reflux medicine (I was supposed to let her be in pain instead rather than ‘poison’ her!) and giving her a dummy (how many times I was asked why… because I want to!!!!)

All in all this post was not only to rant (sorry) but also to tell you that there isn’t a right or wrong way and whichever way you want to do things that acceptable. Don’t listen to peer pressure at the end of the day you are the baby’s mum and the only person that should have any bearings on your decisions is the baby’s dad!