What kind of parent are you?

It seems that these days the way that people parent is under way more scrutiny than ever before.

People begin questioning the choices you make before your baby has even arrived.

Questions I’ve been asked recently:

You are going to breast feed yes? – Yes I am hoping to but if I wasn’t is that really ANY of your business random woman at playgroup?

Are you going to use re usable nappies? No I’m not. I think fluff (real nappies) are massively cute and yes a very good idea environmentally etc. We even have council schemes that give your money towards your initial purchase. BUT it’s not for me. I’m not even sure why but its just not. We did seriously consider it on Iz and again at the beginning of this pregnancy but sorry its just not for us.

Are you going to co sleep? We are not intending to co sleep. Now I have nothing against co sleeping, in fact I can see totally how it can be an easier transition for the baby and also a wonderful experience for both mother and child but I am a born worrier. I know that I would spend most of the night worrying about the baby and so for us it just isn’t an option. The baby will of course be in our room snuggled up in a Moses basket close at hand.

Are you going to Baby led wean? Yes ..seriously I’ve been asked my opinions on weaning before baby even comes. Crazy. I said I wasn’t sure but I imagine I will do something similar to what we did with Izzy which is homecooked veggies to start (steamed and puréed) follows by softer foods and finger foods. We will give a wide variety of tastes and textures and hope she is another mini foodie like her big sis.

Will you go back to work? Unfortunately I have to. I hope to take off the full year and then reduce my hours on my return. Or win the lottery.

Are you going to sleep train? No. Maybe when my baby is 6 months old and I’m pulling my hair out I will change my mind but at the moment no. I feel quite strongly that sleep training is not an avenue I want to travel down. It took 13 months for Iz to begin sleeping well but now for the most part she is a fabulous sleeper (when not teething!) I think it takes babies a while to find their natural rhythm and also I couldn’t handle cry it out… I’m such a softy. Nothing against you sleep trainers/Gina Ford worshippers ..in fact I may even be jealous of the amount of sleep you get but we are all different hey.

Two more questions I’ve been asked by family/friends and even a PR lady which aren’t about parenting but a bit annoying are:

How will you lose your baby weight? At this stage I don’t know. At the moment I am concentrating on growing a human inside me. My weight gain and loss is not a relevant topic right now.

Are you going to have a natural birth? Who knows. I know what I want but who knows what will happen.

When did the way we parent become such an open topic for discussion? I love that we can share ideas and give advice be it on blogs/twitter and in person but give us a chance to try things and perhaps even wait for the baby to arrive.