[Justice2]

Lord...I am getting so tired of this statement. He needs solid foods, or he'll starve

. He needs his own bed

. He needs to cry a bit

. Why can't people simply let ME decide what my 8 month old baby NEEDS. I am his mama. I can determine his needs MUCH better than anyone else on this planet. I know that this sounds so very rude, but I wish that people would just BUTT out of my life and shut up about my parenting decisions

. Huff...sorry for the rant...thanks for listening.

 

[jeca]

Everyone knows more than you because they either have more kids than you or have children older than yours tehrefor they "know these things" or at least that's the crap I keep hearing.

 

[Gentlegreen]

Well, I do have older children and I do know about these things. The comments will most likely drop off over the years as these people see your son grow into an independent, loving, secure, and expressive human being. Time is your best ally. Trust me, many of those comments will evolve into compliments on what a good job you have done. Some folks will always find fault, I guess, but you can just say "I believe in myself and trust my ability to parent." Criticism can hurt, but do your best to stand your ground as you will be pleased at the outcome of your attentive and thoughtful parenting.

 

[eilonwy]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the "time will tell" argument. But I can't say I've had to deal with too much criticism. I never said "I'm going to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months", I said "Babies who aren't breastfed have more ear infections, allergies, and asthma than babies who are nursed. I want my son to be healthy." It went like that for everything. The people around me would get a whole dissertation before I'd even said "I intend to do this", so that by the time I got there, they were like "Of course that's what you'll do. It's self evident, isn't it?" :LOL I'm so sneaky!

 

[WickidaWitch]

My mother was nice enough to tell just the other day how "bad of a mother" I was to my first son and I am way to easy with my second.
I very simply and loudly told her, "I was young and stupid enough to believe that all the advice I was given by her and everyone else was good".
NOW I KNOW BETTER!
I did make sure she realized most of the advice given was by her"because everyone else know best" so it would be her fault if she really believed I was not a good Mom.
Told her I do what I want to do and don't listen to anyone else and hung up on her.