As a parenting journalist for over 10 years, I have written thousands of articles on feeding, baby’s sleep, waking up… But as a mother, the advice I give to parents is not are not so easy to apply on a daily basis. And sometimes, it’s even a hassle!
As a parenting journalist for over 10 years, I have interviewed numerous specialists such as sleep experts, nutritionists and pediatricians to advise expectant and new parents on pregnancy, baby’s sleep, diet, awakening and much more. “What time does baby go to bed”, “what foods to give him so that he eats a balanced diet?”, “how to manage his emotions?”… So many practical and interesting articles which have been very useful to me in my life as a child. Mom. But in practice, I must admit, some of the advice I give to parents is not so easy to apply on a daily basis with my two and a half year old son.
In terms of diet, for example, I pay very close attention to ensuring that he eats everything and that his meals are balanced. I think I managed the food diversification stage well, by preparing small homemade purees for each meal… Until my husband wanted to please him by making him taste chocolate. Since then, my child doesn’t want to know anything: in the morning, he only drinks his milk with industrial cakes, eating only the chocolate. And when I prepare him a yogurt cake with chocolate chips, he doesn’t taste a bit of it and asks me for “a real tola”! So, to counterbalance, I remain vigilant about the rest of his diet (sweet cereals, sweets and sodas are banned).
For sleep, it’s even worse! My son slept through the night from 4 months old, but then he woke up around ten times a night for over a year. I had to get up and stay with him until he went back to sleep, but I was exhausted, I couldn’t get back to sleep and when I did, he called me back. I ended up breaking down and making him sleep in our bed (the thing not to do I would have advised the parents). But from then on, he slept full nights without waking up, and so did I! Since then, it’s been impossible to get him to accept his room, he’s afraid to sleep alone even though we’ve decorated everything and bought a big bed… Also, all the articles I’ve written on the importance of rituals, on the ideal time to put him to sleep or the amount of time he sleeps are important and I know exactly what the specialists recommend. But once again, in practice, it’s quite the opposite: my son doesn’t fall asleep before 10 p.m.!
As for the screens, we said to ourselves that he wouldn’t touch our phones, but we fell into a trap that we didn’t expect. If we have always refused to show him cartoons to “calm” him down by always offering him fun activities to keep him occupied, children inevitably take our smartphones in hand to talk to grandpa or grandma on video. As a result, with his tiny fingers, he already knows how to zoom, scroll, and loves to “hang up on grandpa” as soon as he says “hello”.
In summary, parents can reassure themselves and feel less guilty. A sleep expert I met and mother of three children admitted to me that she too had difficulty putting them to bed. No parent is perfect, and we do what we can, as long as we take responsibility for the situation and our children grow up happy, fulfilled and healthy.
