New parents should know that there are a lot of myths and false information that will be given to them. But they should also know that the journey of parenthood is never the same for all parents.
One thing is sure, parents who make choices from a "place of authenticity" and gentleness and love make the better choices, creating a solid and intimate relationship between parents and baby and between mother and father. This kind of parenthood journey needs to be celebrated in this day and age.
Tracy Gillet, wife, mother, and founder and writer of the blog "Raised Good," shared many myths and false information that she received before and that other parents usually receive. Through experience, other parents' testimonies, and research, she gathered information on baby sleep, breastfeeding, and new parenthood, which she defines as "BS!"
If you hear these statements, they are BS!
- Babies need to be trained on how to sleep through the night.
- Babies who want to be picked up always are trying to manipulate their parents.
- Babies cry for no reason if they are fed, warm, and dry.
- Babies who vomit in their cribs because of sleep training need not be acknowledged.
- Parents need to have "the guts" to sleep train their babies.
- Babies need to be weaned from breastfeeding at any random age.
- Mothers are "martyrs" when they are breastfeeding beyond infancy.
- Parents shouldn't celebrate breastfeeding.
- Mothers should be able to do it all.
- Medical professionals know what babies need better than parents do.
- Parents need to choose between their needs and their babies.
Here are the truth bombs
But here are the beautiful and liberating truths that every parent should know about baby sleep, breastfeeding, and new parenthood from experts and mothers who have compared their experiences and who have observed and taken notes of the better ways to parent their baby and to take care of their selves as well.
- Sleep training cannot decrease night waking. It can even result in the baby waking up more at night, making it a lot worse, according to Dr. Pamela Douglas, an Australian GP and a leader in caring for mothers and babies.
- Go to your baby, said the founder of Little Sparklers and the online movement, The Beyond Sleep Training Project, Carly Grubb. There should never be a time when parents need to ignore their baby's cries.
- Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame, who has written extensively on issues of character, moral development, and human flourishing, stated that when parents try to mistreat babies by ignoring them or thinking that they are manipulating, it is as though they are putting rocks on their babies' souls that need to be cleared out before their spirits can freely soar again.
- Danielle Facey, known as the "Breastfeeding Mentor," would like to remind mothers that breastfeeding is a privilege, a selfless act they give to their babies. She shared that she knows that her breasts will not forever solve her son's problems, but as long as they can, and as long as breastfeeding still works, then she will keep on doing it.
- Thus, Facey encourages husbands, family, friends, and circles of mothers who want to continue breastfeeding to empower them and support them for as long as they choose.
- The mother's body is magic for the baby, declared Dr. Sarah Buckley, a believer in gentle birth and mothering.
- Dr. Nils Bergman, a believer in skin-to-skin contact and co-sleeping between mother and baby, said that mothers should never be nurtured in isolation. They should never be alone. A mother's regulation is co-regulation, which should become embedded in the family.
- There is so much space between looking after the parent and the baby. Parents need to do both and not just merely choose. According to Fiona Weaver, mother, social worker, and founder of Mama Matters, it should be done as a whole family.
