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Please spare me the momsense
Burp right: A simple burp is complicated by well-meaning but strongly worded recommendations from one and all. Whatever your style, someone will tell you the best way is to do it on your shoulder, others feel it is best done by sitting the baby in your lap with her face turned away from you while you support her with a hand on her chest and yet others want you to put her face down in your lap. With so many options and no previous experience, your way is bound to be under attack and God forbid should he spit milk in the presence of someone else. Reading the poop: This is your introductory lesson to faecal science. Your bundle of joy gives you clues to its well-being not through a sign language but via every motion that he passes and your well-wishers will insist you keep your eyes and nose buried in the diaper. While some amount of concern is normal, there is no escaping watchful eyes which insist you analyse every diaper or nappy.
Bringing up brain food: As soon as you think that weaning the baby will probably wean you off all the advice, there is a fresh lot of comments that await your attention. While you deliberate between starting with a mashed banana or a suji kheer, there is someone who will wax eloquence about the wonders that almond milk or fish could do while rubbishing anything doctors warn you against serving to a very young baby. Sugar seems to be the favourite sabotage weapon when you child is visiting his aunts or your friends that starts with a knob of barfi and dollops of ice-cream which put any chance of the baby developing a liking for regular home food to rest. To lap or not to: It is one of those conundrums where deciding to do or not to do a certain thing brings equal criticism. If you keep your baby snug in your lap, you are being overprotective and are surely going to spoil him silly. On the other hand if you let him play in his crib, you just don't care and are advised to encourage physical contact as it boosts the mother-child relationship and gives the child a sense of security. Out of the frying pan and into the fire; either way, this one is sure to bring on a lot of ire.
Catch-up on shaping-up: Start a walk as soon as the baby can sleep for an hour at a stretch and you are being impatient but if you sit by his side and sing him to sleep, you are going to be a fat cow for the rest of your life. The doctor and the younger lot will warn you against panjiri but the elders will drive you up the wall if you do not tow the line. Fitness or not, you are ready to throw an angry fit at any moment. Whatever the advice, be open and receptive, or at least pretend to do so as most advice comes from those who are genuinely concerned. Brush aside all that you do not agree with or check with your paediatrician and follow the tips that are beneficial without compromising the health of the baby in any way. Illustrations by Sandeep
Joshi
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Everyone
from your granny, neighbours and maids to colleagues and even the
cashier at the store where you buy the diapers, has a gem of advice to
offer. If managing a new born was not a tough call in itself, you have
to go through bouts of self-doubt inflicted by well- meaning advice
that points towards the direction opposite to the one you are already
taking. If you identify with any of the following, relax in the
knowledge that you are not a bad mom but a victim of momsense.
Pay
heed to how you feed: Whether
your baby should be breast-fed or bottle-fed, breast milk or formula
milk. Everyone seems to have an opinion which is always contradictory
to what your paediatrician will tell you. When a mother of two healthy
teens starts suggesting something, it is indeed hard to argue. Even
timing your feeds is a science. From choosing between feeding at fixed
intervals to feeding as frequently as the baby demands, there is
simply no right way to please everyone around you.
