Go with the flow

I have heard many many times "This is how you are supposed to do _____________" and "This is when you should ______________".

You fill in the blank, because if you are a parent I'm sure you have heard many of these kinds of statements, whether it be from your doctor, your mother, your mother-in-law, your friends, other parents, etc, etc.

First off, I want to say that I am NOT telling you to not listen to your doctor or any other advice you may receive from any number of people.  I AM telling you that you should not just do "what the doctor says" or  do "what your mother did" without putting any thought into it or questioning the reasonings.

Why?
BECAUSE EVERY BABY, EVERY CHILD AND EVERY PERSON IS DIFFERENT!

What may work for your baby, may not work for your friend's baby.  What works for your first child may not work for your second and so on and so forth.  Just wanted to get that out there.

On the other hand, other parents are GREAT resources at times.  Sometimes we can share amazing little tips and advice to each other, and really, who else better understands why we are wearing pajamas at 5pm and haven't showered or eaten yet today?  I'm sure we have all (well most of us) have been there before.  It's natural to be curious what other people are doing or not doing with their kids and we do learn from each other.

When people ask me for advice or I share what we do with Tyler, I always remind them that this is my kid.  Your kid may not like "xyz" or it may not work with your kid.  If you just listen to your child you will figure it out.  If you want advice from your doctor or other parents just ask!
Some parents like to discuss everything with their doctors and follow their instructions to a T.

For our family, we have really just done most things "baby led".
When Tyler was no longer soothed by his bottles, we introduced cereal.  When he seemed tired, we put him down for a nap, when he was sleeping well in his swing we moved him to his crib, etc.

All babies are different, all moms and dads are different - some things work for me and some things work for you.  I may look at you kind of crazy when you tell me what works for you but that doesn't mean that you are wrong and you will probably think the same thing about certain things we do.  I think we all just need to learn from each other, be supportive and be thankful for what we have!

Listen to your child and listen to yourself