I’m a bit late to the “Prompt” party here but this week I’m finally joining in with this new linky devised by Sara over at Mum Turned Mom. Each week Sara is throwing out a phrase, sentence or quote which can mean different things to all of us. This week she has given us:
Sweater, n. garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. Ambrose Bierce
I remember when I was pregnant with JJ we had one particular ante-natal session which involved handing round a life size baby doll which was programmed to cry like a real baby. The idea was that we each share an idea for what might be wrong and how to fix it. I guess it came as a bit of a surprise both how relentless a newborn cry could be and how many different things could be wrong!
As it turned out, JJ was colicky so there was no answer to be deduced or solution enacted for at least the first five months.
I do remember that one of the proposed reasons was “the baby might be too hot or too cold”. Later on down the line I often felt that surely he was freezing like me but every indication said the opposite and I often felt that my child was dressed in about four layers less than other new mums I spoke to. It wasn’t that he was a big or particularly chubby baby – his default setting just seemed to be ‘roasting’.
Ironically, now, age four, this seems to be the opposite – he eats like a bird and looks like a streak of lightning and often complains of being a bit cold – camping himself out in front of our little electric stove (even when the central heating is on!).
I think this ‘under-dressing’ for the prevailing conditions was one of the first times I questioned my own judgement as a parent because every other mother who was feeling a bit chilly was dressing their toddler in 6 vests, a woolly jumper and a snowsuit!
But ultimately I believe that old adage that a mother should ‘trust her instincts’ and, to an extent, follow her child’s lead and my child is certainly none the worse off for any decisions I may have obsessed over at the time.
And then the fun began... 
I too dressed my kids in several layers less than the ‘recommended’ – they were all always hot! Still are, if I can get the boys to wear PJs I’m doing well 🙂 But, as you say, you need to trust your own instincts, and I think this is a really important lesson as parents. Thanks so much for linking to #ThePrompt xx
Absolutely, always trust your own instincts. My kids are always warm – socks off at every opportunity, too!
So glad to know my child isn’t some kind of freak!
I agree – we should all trust our own instincts instead of worrying all the time but I guess to some degree that is part of being a mum. #ThePrompt
Absolutely and worrying is also a normal human instinct that was instilled in us at the dawn of time for a good reason!
Fifteen years ago (my mind is boggling as I write this) the absolute horror we were warned against was overdressing your baby! I am not sure what people are saying these days… I think it goes back to what you are saying about being in tune with uour baby’s needs and individual traits.
I seem to recall being given a long list of clothing you should have for your newborn and how many extra layers you should be dressing them in compared to what you need as an adult. It all seemed to be geared towards more rather than less…
That’s so new to me! Wow!
All changes so quickly right? I remember my sister having the awful job of deciding whether to get her kids the MMR jab because all that scaremongering about links to autism was going on at the time. I guess you must have had that too?
Oh yeah! I’d forgotten about that! It did seem very real at the time, and although we went for the jab, I did wonder about it.
And my sister just told me that they are scrapping the GCSE and bringing back O’levels!! OMG! What goes around comes around!!