Before becoming a parent, it was important to me to finish my university education (my hubby and I married while I was still in school, so we waited to start our family until I graduated). From those four challenging and satisfying years, I learned that information is out there: good, bad and otherwise; you have to assess the quality of the information you find.
As parents, the one thing we receive most from those around us is advice. It is never-ending. Sometimes it's sought after, sometimes it's offered up freely (if not forcefully). In my short (11 months) experience of being a parent, I've learned that parenting advice is like the daily mail; you have to sort through it. Some of it is like bills, you have to give credit where credit is due, and some are pieces of interest while most of it is just junk.
Yes, there's advice from family and friends, even strangers and then there's advice from the "professionals" a.k.a. BOOKS. Countless books on every imaginable parenting topic, it's literally overwhelming. Which book do you choose? Who do you believe? Start with knowing yourselves, your views on what you think is best for your child. Find authors who fell the same why and offer advice with those same beliefs.
Throughout my trails and tribulations of breastfeeding my little Mister, our lactation consultant taught me that information leads to knowledge and knowledge is confidence. If there is one thing every parent needs it's confidence!
Bottom line...Research is key. So, if you've got a question, or are facing a challenge, it never hurts to ask around, talk to professionals, and do some reading.
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