“There are ways to go around everything. Everything.”
A mum-of-five has been praised for her open letter calling out the unsolicited parenting advice that random people give mums.
Constance Hall gave birth to her fifth child, her first with her husband Diem Cooke, in May of last year – and says that she still gets random people giving trying to give her parenting advice.
While she doesn’t mind some of it – in fact, she says that she “bloody loves it when people are genuinely trying to brain storm ideas that might make life with a baby easier” – there are some instances that bother her.
She began by asking all the first time mums if they get un for advice from random people.
View this post on Instagram
She continued:
“Well let me tell you something: This is my fifth baby. Yep fifth. And I’m still getting it.
“And do you know what? I love a bit of advice, a bit of a ‘try honey on a dummy?’ Or ‘what about a dream feed?’
“I bloody love it when people are genuinely trying to brain storm ideas that might make life with a baby easier.
“What shits me is when people condescend or put mother’s down. ‘Hon, maybe the babies crying because of all the coke you drink. It gets into the breast milk’, ‘Please do not sleep with your baby. I’m worried about him’.”
She urged people to take a step back and think about their advice, as “nothing hurts a mother more then having people ‘worry’ about her baby.”
Mum-of-five Constance, who also is a step-mum to her husband’s two sons, recalled how a “friend” had begged her to get her son out of daycare, as “evidence proves he’ll end up in prison if he’s in daycare”.
View this post on Instagram
She wrote:
“There are ways to go around everything. Everything. Ways of helping each other without flicking on the ‘your not capable’ flashing sign above head.
“So for all of you first timers out there who may have just had your heart crunched by a patronising comment about what you’re doing wrong, think of me. I have 7 healthy happy kids and apparently I still do everything wrong.
“You are capable. You are incredibly capable. Surround yourself with women who are concerned about you. Not making themselves feel like some baby whispering hero at the expense of your very sensitive self esteem.”
The post, which was shared on Wednesday, has already gotten thousands of ‘likes’ and almost 400 shares.
Hundreds of people have flocked to the comments to praise Constance for her honesty.
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