10 lies parents told themselves before having a baby

Before I became a parent, I’m ashamed to admit it but I judged my friends. I couldn’t understand why their kids had to nap right in the middle of the day. If I wanted to meet up with them it had to be early in the morning, or I had to wait around all afternoon until their child woke up from their nap. 

One thing was for sure. When I had children, they absolutely would not be taking up our whole day napping.

I cringe whenever I think about this now.

Thankfully, I’m not the only one who lived in a dream world before having kids. 

We asked the mums in Tell Me Baby’s private Facebook group “What are some things you swore you would do differently to other parents? Or what did you find out out to be not true about raising kids?”

Here’s what they said.

10 lies parents told themselves

1. “No dummies ”

Lots of parents go into parenting with the mindset that they’re not going to give their baby a dummy. That is until their baby won’t stop crying and they will try absolutely anything to help soothe them. This was a common answer!

2. “I thought breastfeeding was a given and would be easy”

Many mums mentioned breastfeeding as something they wished they were more prepared for.

“I thought breastfeeding was a given and would be easy,” said one mum. “But my daughter was fully formula fed after eight agonising weeks of trying and trying to breastfeed.”

3. “If they sleep in your bed they will never sleep on their own!”

I get told this any time I mention that my son slept in our bed overnight. However, the next night, he goes back into his own bed. It’s not always as you’ve been warned!

As all parents know, and as one mum said, “Some nights you just need to do what gets everyone sleep and it’s not the end of the world.”

4. “That you have to read all the books!”

“I was given books from friends and after finishing work I was too exhausted to even pick them up. I thought I’d failed before our little girl was here,” one mum admitted.

“Now I’m relieved I didn’t read them. I spoke with friends who read multiple books and the stress they had from working out which book to follow as they all contradicted each other …”

5. “Sleep when your baby sleeps”

This one is hilarious. First of all, you have to have a baby who actually sleeps. And if they do sleep, it will be the only few minutes you have to yourself all day – spend them wisely.

As one mum wrote, “Sleep when your baby sleeps. Yeah right! Not when you have dinner to cook and a house to keep clean and washing!”

6. “That a baby will just sleep when it’s tired”

Imagine living in a world where babies just pop themselves to sleep when they are tired. Lots of parents also believed that putting your baby down drowsy but awake for bed would be a piece of cake.

One mum said she learned this lesson “the hard way”.

7. “Size of clothes does not equal age of child!”

“A big one that I didn’t think of until I had kids – SIZE of clothes does not equal age of child!” one mum said. “My son doubled his weight by 2 months old and has just remained above the ‘average’ child. I now have a healthy 2-year-old in size 5-6 clothes who is the size of the child and not a toddler. That one still blows my mind when he plays with his petite friends in their size 2 clothes. I had no idea.”

8. “Going from 1-2 children is hard but 2-3 is a piece of cake (sure!)”

No matter how many children you have, this mum says it’s all hard. “Just had babe number 4 & it’s still bloody hard. Also the whole ‘oh, it’s your 4th, they raise themselves by this point!'” Um, nope.

9. “My husband and I both said we would make noise while the baby slept”

“Before baby, my husband and I both said we would make noise while the baby slept so she got used to sleeping with noise,” shared one mum. “Little did we know we would have a baby that hated sleep, particularly during the day .” No noise it is then.

10. “I’d never want anyone to babysit”

When your baby is so tiny and new, it’s hard to imagine ever being apart from them. But as this mum says, eventually you will need a break.

“I always said I’d never want anyone to babysit and that I’d want to have my baby with me all the time. HA! I was so wrong… this mumma needs a break!”