Is Parenting All Down To Instinct?

I honestly thought that, as soon as I gave birth, having a baby would get easier. I mean, atleast, I would be getting help from my spouse or my in-laws when the baby is outside my body. While that is true that I probably get more help than a lot of women, I still am the primary caretaker for my baby. That means I have to figure out what the next step is for my baby.

Parenting is seriously one of those jobs that you won’t know the effects of something you did or did not do until much later in life. There are so many baby books and you can Google just about anything that isn’t in a book. It’s really confusing on what we are supposed to do for our children. There is advice in almost any direction you want. For example, early on, my husband and I decided that we didn’t want to have a schedule for our baby. We would let her figure out what she needed and follow her cues. Now if I looked this up right now, I’m sure I would get a lot of advice for and against schedules. I honestly couldn’t tell you what the right answer is even now that it’s been 7 months since our baby came into our lives.

I keep reminding myself that there is no right and wrong. We always do what we think is best for our child. So much of it is instinctual. You have to figure out your next steps. You can follow what your doctor says and you can follow books but in the end, it’s based on what you think is best.

For example, there is so much debate on whether you should let your child watch tv. Should you or should you not? Will it ruin their minds, their eyes, their learning curve? Will it help? Are there differences in the children that have watched tv versus the ones who haven’t? I honestly didn’t want my child watching anything on a screen but realized quickly that it wasn’t going to work out like that. So now we allow our baby limited screen time with educational shows like Baby Einstein or Ghotu Motu Ki Toli. We want her to at least be learning something.

Parenting is hard and we’ve only  just started. My instincts regarding my baby have to be strong. My trust in myself also has to be strong. That’s the only way I can raise my baby so I can be proud of her.

Read More On Baby