Earlier this week my daughter Lauren shared an instagram post with me. Emily Oster (I am sure most of you are familiar with her) was calling on pediatricians, nurses and caregivers to send her their absolutely favorite piece of advice. But as I am instagram challenged, her post disappeared before I was able to respond.
Here is what I was going to submit.
What is the one best piece of advice that you would give to a new parent?
Here is mine:
I have been a pediatric advice nurse for more than 40 years and I love this question. I gave it a little thought and settled on one issue that rises to the top for me.
My biggest piece of advice is actually learning HOW to handle the barrage of opinions and advice that most parents get. There are actually fewer rules that are set in stone than you might think. No situation, baby or family is exactly the same. Parents, grandparents, friends and even pediatricians have their own ideas of what is correct or forbidden.
I tell new parents to expect this and not to be overwhelmed by all of the well intentioned advice that is coming their way.
Gather all the little nuggets. Put them in a little imaginary bucket. You and if you have a partner pick the ones that resonate with you. Your instincts matter. Did it work? Excellent! Did it NOT work so well? Okay, go back to the bucket and see what else is in there.
I actually did this with my own mother-in-law who had strong views of how to do things (understatement)!
This is how I handled her.
“Mom, thanks so much for your opinion, We will definitely put this on the list of things that we might try”
The key here is learning to communicate and work as a team with your partner. There is no better time to start.
Speaking of partners, my husband Sandy told me to add his one favorite piece of advice… Don't drop them! (don't ask why he wanted to add this one ;-) !
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