So you’ve just entered the glorious realm of motherhood. You and your baby are getting to know each other. You are in the newborn bubble. And then you get visitors, or people see you out and about with your new bundle of joy, and you can be guaranteed you will be asked at least one of these questions. If we really sit back and think about it, they're pretty useless… and how exactly are we supposed to answer them?
Is he/she a good baby?
What exactly is the definition of a good or bad baby? Babies are babies. If a baby wakes up through the night, or cries to express their needs, does that make them evil?
Does he/she sleep?
What baby sleeps? Asking this question just deflates new mums who are probably operating on very little sleep themselves. This question may make a new mum feel like her baby SHOULD be sleeping, when the opposite is almost always true. Babies aren’t meant to sleep for long periods of time. Let’s not set a new mum up with unrealistic expectations. And if you had/have one of those fabled babies who DOES actually sleep… you might want to keep that out of a conversation with a sleep deprived mother.
What 'useless' parenting questions have you been asked?