As anyone with a small child or two will tell you, people just love to stick their oar in and offer parenting advice where none was requested.
Random strangers on the street tell you that you’ve bought the wrong buggy, have your child wearing the wrong thing, they look over-fed, undernourished, happy/sad, up/down and whatever the weather it’s probably your fault because…well, because you’re the grown up now.
Oh yes, welcome to parenthood.
Because we so often hear from other parents about all the times they have been on the receiving end of some inappropriate advice-giving or other, we thought we’d ask you precisely what is the WORST bit of parenting advice you have ever gotten?
1. Not necessarily parenting, but I get A LOT of (from parents) “oh so both of your boys are autistic?? Ah sure they’ll grow out of it as they get older” – Nathalia, Dublin
2. Just because you had a C-section, doesn’t make you any less of a mother – Barbara, Dublin
3. Lying on my couch with a 5-day-old baby cuddled up and sleeping on my chest; “you’ve that child ruined” – Emily, North County Dublin
4. “You’re overreacting, it’s just a sweet” as they feed my child marshmallows. The child that is allergic to eggs! Thankfully I had antihistamine to hand and a car to get to hospital – Clodagh, Co. Louth
5. PND chat…”no such thing as that in my day, you just have to pull yourself together & get on with it” Older and younger generation in the same conversation! – Tracy, Co. Dublin
6. Worst I got was from an uncle saying to not pick up my (3 week old) baby every time she cries, as she has to learn to settle herself. I gave him the stink eye and told him that advice went out with the 70’s and that I wouldn’t leave him crying alone so I certainly wasn’t about to leave my precious little baby crying! – Ciara, Celbridge
7. Someone (who’ll remain nameless) told my sister to put her sons shoes on the wrong feet to fix his fallen arches. “That’s what they did in my day” was the reasoning – Eleanor, Co. Kildare
8. 20 years ago when Jamie was 3 months old & not on solids yet, I was advised to give him a bar of white chocolate to suck on as “it’s good for him. The same person advised me to give him a packet of Snax with his dinner when he was 2 as its “the exact same as vegetables” – Gray, North County Dublin
9. “Why are you breastfeeding sure can’t you afford the formula?!” Was also asked by a manager to leave a restaurant because breastfeeding my baby discreetly in a booth was upsetting some customers who happened to be nuns sitting on the other side of the restaurant – Yvonne, Dubai
10. “Feed ten minutes on either side, wind and then nap” it’s just that easy apparently! – Sophie, Dublin 4
How about you? What’s the worst bit of parenting advice you’ve ever received? Let us know in the Facebook comments.
