An Uncomplicated Life Blog: Mistakes I've Made In Parenting

Monday, March 23, 2015

Mistakes I've Made In Parenting

I laughed out loud when I filled in the post title on this one, and nearly added a "thus far..." to the title. Because Henry is only ten months, and I've just begun to make mistakes.

I've got nearly a year of experience in this whole role called mommy, and looking back, I've made some dumb choices. Some things I just didn't think (lack of sleep perhaps?) and some things I just didn't know.



For example, I could have breastfed a whole lot longer had I known that I could have mixed formula into the breast milk at night so that Henry would have stayed full for longer. The constant nighttime feedings are what killed breastfeeding for me. Nothing was worth being that tired, even to this hippie-holisitic-health parent who is well aware that breast milk nutrition trumps formula.

Enforcing nap time has been a recent learning experience. I'm not sure what I was thinking - like, was Henry going to turn to me and say, "Mommy, I'm tired now. I'd like to nap?" No! He sure wasn't. Has any child (especially one who can only talk baby babble) said that to his/her mom?! Nope! Not in the history of children.

So why I was letting him dictate his nap schedule (after the newborn period, when these little monsters dictate everything) is beyond me. He was cranky and I was cranky because I couldn't get anything done all day. I now put him down for morning and afternoon naps. He sleeps for longer at night AND I get stuff done during the day. I won't be making that mistake ever again!




At Henry's nine month appointment, his pedi asked how much formula and solids he was eating. I told her, and she stopped dead in her tracks. "No baby should be eating 40+ oz of formula!" I responded that he demanded a full bottle, even after two jars of baby food. She told me to start to water his formula down so it didn't taste as good to him. After just a few weeks of that, Henry transitioned to eating normal people food, and beat his "bottle addiction."

Who knew these little babies could form addictions that needed to be kicked, right? Babies are sneaky little creatures!

I haven't messed up everything with my parenting, but I have learned some valuable lessons in my short tenure as a mother. I think that's why they say your first is your experimental baby... You learn all your lessons and become a pro for the next one that comes around!

Have you ever made any mistakes that became painfully obvious to you later in life?

17 comments:

  1. You are such a great mom and all these "mistakes" are just part of the process!! xo, Biana - BlovedBoston

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  2. Love this! This is so beyond normal, and I think we've all made the nap time mistake!

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  3. Too funny! Although, I have to say...if these are your biggest mistakes, I think you're doing just fine ;)

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  4. oh my goodness - i didn't know any of these things. i feel like i have read so much about 'parenting' and no one ever told me this stuff - mixing formula with breastmilk so they stay full throughout the night? genius! and watering down formula to break them of their bottle addiction.. my friend's 2 year old still has a bottle.. several times a day (funnily enough, this is the one we were talking about the other day...).
    i feel like you need to do a mommy 101 post with everything you have learned... if only just for me when it's my turn haha.

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  5. Oh girl that's just part of learning. We all make our "mistakes." My biggest mistake: Letting A use my pinkie as a paci. Worst. Mistake. Ever. She couldn't go to sleep without it! She couldn't live without it! It was torture for me! Ugh. Now she sucks her thumb which is a whole nother problem for probably an entire post.
    You are a great mommy; mistakes and all. ;)

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  6. These are great! I love that realization when you go "Hey! I am the parent! I can make the decisions!" Great post.

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  7. All part of the learning process! I had no semblance of a schedule or routine when Joshua was a baby and it made my life SO CRAZY! Not having him on a solid schedule early on was my biggest mistake. When I finally enforced a routine for our day (feeding at roughly the same time, naps at the same time, etc) my life got so much easier and he finally turned into a good sleeper. It only took me a year...I'm definitely not making the same mistake with this baby!

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  8. You are a great little mama. Part of what makes that so is this:
    You follow your instincts and you also are not afraid to be wrong. You learn.
    You have a precious boy!

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  9. You want to know a secret? We all make these "mistakes" actually some of us make way worse mistakes. I love reading your blog and it sounds like you are doing a really good job so cut yourself some slack. The only perfect moms are the ones who don't have children yet lol #mondayformoms

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  10. I've made hundreds of mistakes that I end up learning from later. Hindsight is an amazing little thing. But seriously you seems like a fantastic mother and really no one is born knowing how to parent. I think Henry is a lucky little guy :)

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  11. Ok I would have NEVER thought of ANY of these things, I would have done exactly what you did! Bottle addiction?!?!?

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  12. Thanks for sharing. I am sure as parents we have all made mistakes, especially with the first child who seems almost like trial and error. The good thing that comes out of it is that we learn from the mistakes thank God.

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  13. Aww, these "mistakes" are totally normal. All of us make them... that's part of this parenting gig.

    Thanks so much for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).

    Wishing you a lovely evening.
    xoxo

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