ABCDEFGHI
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What is the best parenting advice you've ever gotten? Who was the source of the advice?
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You want to be responsive -- not immersive -- for your kidsspouse's therapist
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"You're probably gonna drop your baby at some point. My baby fell off my lap when I fell asleep on a chair. It was fine."Friend
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Even if you're in a creative/flexible profession, you should get 40 hours a week of childcare. Otherwise you will drive both your employer and your family insane. My boss, but in a friendly capacity
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Cover your baby boys' peepee as soon as you take off that diaper! mom
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Just do what feels right. My spouse.
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Pick your battlesFriend
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Splurge for a few nights of a night nurse in the first few weeks after having a newborn.A friend with kids
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Take a weekend away with your spouse *without* the children at least once a year. Even if just to a local hotel. You must remind yourselves periodically that your relationship as partners is a priority. An older couple who were happy empty nesters.
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Keep track of baby wake windows to help ensure baby isn’t overtired / undertired (have 1 year old) Taking Cara Babies
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"I wouldn't worry too much about it"This is what our pediatrician says about everything: teething, rolling over, etc
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Accept every offer of help extended to youBinder of information from hospital
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Don’t be an idiot. Changed my life.The Office
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Fed is best! Breastfeeding doesn't work for everyone and that's OK.My hairdresser, of all people
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Love what your child is right now; don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how great it was when your child was younger or how nice it’ll be when your child is older. The Internet
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Everything is a phase! A friend
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Drying after diaper changes with rags from soft cotton T-shirts prevents diaper rash.Mom
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It's perfectly OK, and smart even, to let the baby sleep in the nursery (if the hospital has one) or nurse's station after giving birth. Mamas need to recover and the push to have baby sleep in the hospital room isn't necessarily conducive to that. My labor and delivery night nurse, my own personal angel.
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For kids, more daytime sleep actually leads to more nighttime sleep. "The Good Sleeper."
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You should feed your baby in the laziest way possible so you have the time and energy to enjoy parenting--for some people that's breastfeeding, for some that's formula. Your baby will benefit most from a mom who is not killing herself just trying to meet their basic needs.A random mom in a Facebook group
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Enjoy the good moments and the bad moments. The kids will eventually grown up and you’ll miss it and say to yourself it wasn’t so bad. I took the idea from a video I saw online.
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Kids need 3 things from parents and other caretakers: nurture, structure and latitude, different amounts in different moments, for different kids. Latitude is the hardest and the one you're probably providing too little of.Rob Evans, Family Matters
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“This will pass” (about any difficult stage/behavior your baby or young child is going through), and “Say no for any reason -you are the parent and don’t owe a explanation.” Our daughter’s very wise early childhood teacher, who helped raise hundreds of toddlers over decades.
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Don't look for patterns. Infants are the most reliable random sequence generators the world has ever known. Don't get triumphant when something works; don't get despondent when the same thing doesn't work tomorrow. In truth, it was a fluke that it worked today. Just relax, enjoy today's experience of being with your child and relish the deep, empirical insight you're getting into the chaotic nature of the universe.work colleague
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Days are long, years are short, babies are like plants, you can only water them but not fully shape themFriends
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Babies are loud sleepers.The internet! Embarrassing - and free advice is often worth what you pay for it. But GOSH, my life has changed since I read that.
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there is good enough parenting. you don't have to be perfect, and your children will not be either. that's okay. my therapist!
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“Wear them out!” (advice on raising boys)Female colleague, mother of two sons
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Work hardGrandpa
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3 things:

1. Pick your battles/don’t mess with a good thing. If kid is sleeping in a weird spot or position, leave kid be! If kid wants a fruit roll up for breakfast, do what you need to do to get out the door! (Friend who became a mom of two before me)
2. You absolutely must take real care of yourself, too. You can’t pour from an empty cup. (Therapist)
3. Just know from the start that parenting will NEVER be “fair” for moms. So much of the responsibility falls on moms, so going 50-50 may feel like failing. Do what works for *your* family. (Friend’s mom) 		1. Wise friend who became a mom before me; 2. My therapist; 3. Dear friend’s mom
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From my CBT therapist: kids will always ask for more. It’s up to the parent to set the boundary. This goes for time, attention, etc. it was freeing to know that I didn’t have to (and should not) spend 100% of my time and energy trying to please and fulfill my children My therapist :)
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This too shall pass, aka "it's just a phase" and your kid will likely grow out of it. As a lifelong worrier, this helped a lot with sleep regressions, potty training, tantrums, hitting, etc. Friends, therapist
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Get mom and baby outside. It's good for baby, and it's good for mom's mental health.
(I relearn this lesson at least once a week)		My pediatrician
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You're doing a great job.It's a mantra from a podcast called 'One Bad Mother'
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Whatever phase your baby is going through -- whether fun or not so fun -- probably won't last very long.Chief counsel for the company I work for
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The only fracture that can't wait until morning is an elbow--so if it ain't an elbow, and the child is comfortable, no need for ER at nightPeds ortho
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Don't try to do all the night wakeups just because your partner has gone back to work. My husband
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Drop the Ball
(Decide what's important to you and what you're good at - do those. Look at the rest, and decide what you're just... Not going to do. Drop those balls.)		Tiffany Dufu
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What’s cute as a puppy isn’t cute as a dog; nix bad habits early. Mother in law
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Set no breastfeeding goals beyond the next feeding. "I just fed my baby and my goal is to breastfeed her the next time she eats." That's it! Don't make a goal for how many days, weeks, months, years you want to breastfeed.Myself! I had a terrible time breastfeeding my newborn and my cousin told me not to feel bad, she only breastfed for 12 weeks. She said it to make me feel better but 12 weeks seemed impossible so I started setting extremely small goals for myself and ended up making it a year.
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Phrase things in a positive rather than a negative to avoid oversaturation of the word “no” and “don’t” and to give an actionable thing for them to DO rather than NOT do which is harder for little ones (I.e. “please use your fork for eating” rather than “don’t bang on the table with your fork”). Think it was the book No Drama Discipline
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(1) It's just a phase and it will pass, she's not used to being out in the world (when the baby would just cry from 9pm-midnight every day during the first few weeks) ; (2) start as you mean to go on (specifically as to where you put your baby to sleep, crib vs. on you)(1) the GP; (2) the book "the baby whisperer"
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Put your screaming child in a safe place for a few minutes when you're about to lose it so you can cool downFriend
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My just-shy-of-18 month old son (our first, otherwise perfectly healthy) was still only crawling. I expressed real concern to a nurse. She at looked me with a mixture of kindness and exasperation and laughed, "He's gonna walk." Which, obviously, you don't see people crawling into meetings at work! And that's when I realized all the development milestones were just suggestions. (He started walking two weeks later)a nurse at the pediatrician's office
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They don’t have a clockMy aunt and doula
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Bring extra ziploc bags everywhere you goMom friends
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Don't make things harder for yourself as a parent. Usually what's good for the parent is good for the kid (viz. Food, sleep training, etc)Siblings
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“They grow up anyway” phew!A family friend of my husband’s parents (he officiated our wedding)
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“ Sleep when the baby sleeps. Clean when the baby cleans.” - it made me realize how ridiculous parenting advice was and I felt like less of a failurehttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-read-all-the-baby-sleep-advice-books_b_3143253
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Whether it's feeding, or tantrums, or medical decisions, or whatever, make whatever decision you feel is best for your family and ignore the noiseParents
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Don't worry about milestones until the doctor is worried about milestonesFriend
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Find professionals you trust (obgyn, pediatrician, hospital, teacher), and LISTEN to themMom
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Not so much advice, but something I find myself saying all the time: The days are slow but the years are fast. Gretchen Rubin- author
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Give yourself some grace (easier said than done)A friend
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"Disobedience is not an issue if obedience is not the goal." Not exactly advice, but when my daughter was a toddler, I found this idea liberating. It gave me permission to interpret her "disobedience" differently, to ask myself what IS the goal, and thus seek more productive ways of addressing her behavior.http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/obedience-is-not-goal.html
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The first three months are terrible, but they end.Cousin
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Kids are always changing (e.g., if your baby is sleeping well now, she may not be next month, but if she's not sleeping now, she could be next month!) Remember this to help you ride out the rough times and savor the good times (because they might not last!)Friend
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Starting your newborn on a wake-eat-sleep schedule (with flexibility of course), and integrating a nighttime routine asap.A friend who has three kids
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Children are physically exhausting when they're young and emotionally exhausting as they get older. It helped frame the demands of parenting and what the child needs as they grow.Dad
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Don't be afraid to do sleep training. It can be a bit stressful but the benefits for you and your child in terms of your wellbeing and their behaviour are enormous. Like many parents we wish we'd sorted it out a lot earlier than we did (we did a method called "controlled comforting").Health visitor, friends, Emily Oster!
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Everything is a phase. Good or bad.My mum
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"This too shall pass." A good reminder that the tough stages of development that all kids go through won't last forever.mother-in-law
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When your child is upset or sick or rashy or whatever, before intervening ask yourself this: Is this bothering them or is it bothering me?Not sure but their doctor has always has this philosophy about fevers. He says it matters more how the child is acting than the number itself.
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It's cliché but SO TRUE:
Pick your battles, not everything is worth a fight, but some things definitely are.		my mom
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Nothing is permanent, everything will change for better or for worse. Don't despair during a difficult phase but don't get too comfortable when everything is great. Friend who's child is 2 years older than mine.
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Sometimes you're going to regret becoming a parent. That's normal. In those times focus on doing the next right thing until you're out of the funk.Friend
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It's not pragmatic advice, but something to remember to better appreciate life when being a parent is its hardest -- "The days are long, and the years are short."A friend who is a parent, when we were expecting.
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Most parenting challenges are a phase…some things won’t be solved, sometimes you just need to weather the storm Friend
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Parenting recommendations can be informative, but remember, you know your child better than any one else doesFellow church member who gave the advice at a baby shower for our first-born
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If what you're doing works, keep doing it until it stops working, then try something different.friend of a friend
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You control *what* they eat; they control how much.Pediatrician. My follow-up question was, "How old when they grow out of this advice?" (expecting 3-4 years old). Ped's response: "14? 15?"
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It's just poop.My boss (and friend)
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Kids need schedules and routines. Books, doctor, other parents.
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Don't listen to advice from people who have never had twins.Another twin parent
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When your does something wrong, do not yell, get angry, or lose your temper. Calmly express your disapproval. Even if you have to do it a thousand times.My wife (who happens to be a child & adolescent psychiatrist)
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Don’t overthink it. My mom.
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"It will get better". When my first baby was born I was not prepared for what it would actually be like. This advice was much more helpful than "treasure the first moments"... My best friend who had her first baby 9 months earlier. I try to pass this message on to all new mothers out there. Almost everyone needs to hear it, and it's a good way to open up a line of communication in case they have more questions or just need to talk
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There will be a period of time after the baby comes when you hate your husband with a passion. It is due to stress and sleep deprivation and it will pass. Ride it out.My mom and a coworker both said this. Was very helpful in navigating the first year. I felt less alone.
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It’s hard because it’s hard Anna Mathur
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Pick your battlesBest friend
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As long as they’re eating something, they’ll be fine Mom
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You will eventually sleep again A friend
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Don’t stress about the kids diet on a day-to-day basis. Think of it on an 6-month-average basis. If they’re getting enough protein etc on average over 6months, so what if they only eat crisps on one particular week Colleague
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Distraction is KINGCommunity mothers programme
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Animals sleep with their young… why do we have such an issue with it being ‘appropriate’…?Aunt
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Almost all parenting advice you receive is terrible.
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Love Kids the most when they don't deserve it.Postcard at grandmas kitchen.
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It is more important for the baby to get enough food than it is to exclusively breastfeedMother in law
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Some kids release tension through crying; some escalate tension through crying. It really helps if you can figure out which bucket your kid falls into.An article I read.
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A good enough parent is a great parentA colleague
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You gotta breastfeed the way you want others to be able to breastfeed, even when people give you griefMom
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When your kid is acting like a jerk (toddler tantrum, teenage rage etc.) and the last thing you want to do is to show him your love, do it anyway. Give him a big warm hug.Mom blogger
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Everything is a phase. The good and the badFriend
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You want your kids to behave well so that you will like them, and you'll therefore be a better parent.
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“Aim for yes.” As long as it is not some serious rule breaking or something that is dangerous, let them just experiment.Believe it or not, the Cup of Jo blog. It’s really stuck with me and reminded me not to be an old grinch.
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Sign up for the - Taking Cara Babies Baby Sleep training classesMy wife (and mother of our daughter)
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If your kid is engaged in some activity, leave them beother parents
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Cosleeping will make sleep struggles so much easierSister
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Babies bounce (aka hard to "break")Dad