5 Things Not to Say to a Sleep-Deprived New Mama

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Last Updated on November 17, 2014 by melissanreynolds

Here are five things that have been said to me, or are continually said to me and just bum me out! I have provided a tip for what to do instead…
  1. When my baby was young I just “got on with it” (oh, I didn’t think of that?!) – now is the time to sympathize.
  2. He’s just a baby (really?!) – let them have a wee vent, see above.
  3. Have you tried…x y z… – assume they know their baby and they have tried it or know that it doesn’t work for their baby in that moment.
  4. I did…x y z…with multiple babies and it worked – just because it worked on yours, doesn’t mean it is “right” or going to work on any other baby.
  5. He’s hungry – not every cry is due to hunger! Just refrain from commenting when the baby is crying.
I have learnt three immutable truths in child raising:
  1. No baby is the same. No mama is the same. No time is the same. Things change from person to person and generation to generation. There are also multiple factors in every outcome. One single component, does not generate a whole, happy, healthy, well-adjusted person.
  2. Mamas get tired. Even at six months old babies don’t always sleep very well in the night time.
  3. Mamas know their baby best.

0 thoughts on “5 Things Not to Say to a Sleep-Deprived New Mama

  1. I guess some things don’t change. I remember hearing these things (and feeling just like you) when my kids were babies over 20 yrs ago.
    I don’t know if you have older children, but the single best bit of advice I was given was “sleep when the baby sleeps”. For me this equated to taking a nap when they did part way through the day and it really, seriously did help with the tiredness. But it’s not so easy when you have older children, or if you work.
    But you are so right. No one knows their baby like the mom 🙂

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