You’ve spent nine months receiving tons of advice, compliments, hearing beautiful and frightening stories, especially those labour and delivery stories that you didn’t ask to hear, and then finally, your beautiful baby arrives.
Oh the joys! Oh the advice you will receive in your baby’s first year!
Whether you like it or not, people will give you unsolicited advice. Although some of the advice may be helpful, some of it will be questionable! I remember with my two boys, there were some great parenting tips but also THE worst tips I received in baby’s first year.
One comment I heard that was just utterly ridiculous was from a fellow mother who eyeballed me for holding my baby too much. “Oh you shouldn’t pick up your baby all the time – they need to learn to be independent.” At five months? Come on! Yes, I’ll just let my baby not depend on me at all – he should be able to change his own diaper too, right?

Here are the top 10 worst tips you received in baby’s first year:
1. Tooth pain? Your poor baby is teething. “Put Ouzo on his gums!” Oh yes, this was some advice I received from a Greek relative.
2. Baby can’t sleep? “Add some cereal in your baby’s bottle!” Sure at three months old, I should be adding some rice cereal to my baby’s bottle. Your baby only needs breast milk for the first six months – that’s it.
3. “Substitute milk with juice at six months.” Ah yes, juice is the perfect substitute for breast milk. Just add it to the bottle and let your baby’s teeth rot from the crazy amounts of sugar. No thank you!
4. “You should give your baby water, not just breast milk.” Breast milk simply can’t be enough – my baby needs water because he is thirsty. Again, breastmilk is all baby needs in the first six months. Breastmilk has 88% water anyway!
5. “You can’t get pregnant if you’re breastfeeding.” Hmmm, I wonder how many women took that advice and were in for a total shock months later!
6. “Give your baby (4 month old) Dimetapp!” Yes because giving my baby antihistamines and decongestants (brompheniramine-PPA) are totally safe – NOT. These ingredients have not been shown to be safe or effective in children younger than 6 years.
7. “You shouldn’t sleep with your baby in the same room.” Because they’ll become too dependent. In fact, room sharing for the first six months (when the risk of SIDS is highest) helps your baby sleep safely and lowers the risk of SIDS.
8. Danielle @DanielleASigne says the worst piece of advice she received was, “Just let her cry it out.” If you consider sleep training, it shouldn’t even be a thought until six months at the very least. Only the baby knows his or her level of need and you as the parent will be able to read your baby’s language the best. Go with your instincts on this one – I couldn’t let my babies cry it out and ended up co-sleeping after they outgrew their bassinet.
9. Christine LaRocque @CoffeesCommutes says her worst piece of advice was, “Don’t hold your baby too much – it’s spoiling him.” You can’t spoil an infant who needs mom and dad’s love and attention. That closeness will help babies become secure and independent as they grow.
10. Mikki Rocha @missmikki tweeted, “Wake the baby every 2-3hrs to feed. Unless baby woke on his own, I wasnt waking him up!” Unless it’s the first few weeks when baby is regaining weight and you’re getting your milk in and settling into a schedule, there is no need to wake baby up so often. Most babies will wake on their own; it’s also best not to wake babies at night so they find their own schedule.
And lastly, here’s some food for thought. Lorraine Sommerfeld @TweeetLorraine tweeted the worst tip she received in baby’s first year:
“It gets easier”… (mom of 22 year old and 19 year old)
Gah!!!!