Hi, I’m Hannah, and I’m a first-time mom to a 7-month-old girl named Ellie. Parenthood has already been a wild ride — no doubt the hardest, but also the most rewarding experience of my life. While I’m only seven months into this journey, sometimes it feels more like seven years 😅.
Being a first-time parent is a gigantic learning curve…one that seemingly never ends. I’ve already discovered so many new things in the past seven months, and I’ve made tons and tons of mistakes. But as I look back on the past weeks and months, a handful of lessons really stand out.
I am certainly no expert (see above, re: 5 bajillion mistakes). And by no means do I have anything figured out. I’m just a mama taking this whole parenthood thing step-by-step. So I wanted to put together a bunch of the things I’ve already done wrong and what I’ve learned from these mistakes. Maybe you’re a parent who can seriously relate, or maybe you’re an expecting parent just trying to feel a little bit prepared. Hopefully, the following makes you feel a little more supported in your journey!
1.
Not giving myself enough grace in the throes of the newborn days.
2.
Worrying that I was “spoiling” my baby.
3.
Fixating so much on naps.
4.
Comparing my baby with other babies.
5.
Obsessing over my baby’s sleep (or lack thereof).
6.
Paying way too much attention to milestones.
7.
Trying to thrive instead of survive.
8.
Not paying better attention to wake windows.
9.
Overthinking and weighing too many opinions.
10.
Not going with my gut.
11.
Buying way too many baby clothes.
12.
Spending too much time on Google.
13.
Blaming myself when I couldn’t soothe my baby.
14.
Being afraid of my baby crying in public.
15.
Stressing too much about a “schedule.”
Now I’d love to hear from you! What were the mistakes you made as a first-time parent, and the biggest takeaways you learned from them? What do you wish you could go back and tell yourself the day you brought your baby home? Tell us about it in the comments or drop it into this Google form.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahloewentheil/first-time-parenting-mistakes