The fact is there is no easy way to parent and while there are parenting books to help first-time moms, an expert said that they should just ditch this entirely. Mothers can become better parents if they hone their instincts instead of relying on outside help.
Parenting expert Nanny Robina told Huffington Post that first-time mothers who digest a lot of information from parenting books won't be able to build their confidence as parents this way. Tips and advice are on-hand and readily available even on the internet and mommy groups online, but there's a tendency to over-parent if mothers regard this as their Bible to parenting.
"They forget to follow their gut instinct," Robina said. "They automatically switch off when the help is coming from somewhere else."
The expert also said learning from one's mistakes helps moms develop better parenting skills. Failures in parenting give moms ideas what can and cannot work for their children.
Olga Mecking via Brain Child Magazine, however, learned that instincts aren't foolproof. Instincts do not always bring the best solutions. There are mothers who get it right once and there are mothers who go through the process slowly and perhaps even painfully.
Moms need to look deeper into the way they were raised to tap on their parenting knowledge. Oftentimes, the things that parents learn from their own parents are good starting points to following their instincts.
Moms also need to consider that each child is different. Thus, a successful parenting approach for one child might fail with his sibling.
Moms need to make adjustments for each situation and no parenting book will be able to tell specific solutions. The mother has to trust herself. According to Acculturated, even parenting experts actually do not have it all figured out.
What are your thoughts about this moms? How much of your approach is based on parenting books or do you stick with what you know in your gut? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
