Hi there! I’m so excited you came back for more!
Today I want to share a few things about my parenting strategies. I will preface this by saying, I believe every parent has different strategies that work for THEM. What I do may not work for you and what you do may not work for me. I love to learn from other mamas and daddies and get tips and tricks, because we all experience it and just gotta share!
In the first few days of having my baby home, I was bought into the fact that if I wanted to have a successful breastfeeding journey, I would not let my baby have a pacifier. Y’all are probably laughing, and rightfully so-it lasted 4 nights of using ME as a paci to give in. And guess what? We had a great 8 months of Vito living off mama’s milk and only at that point did I have to start supplementing with some formula. I was glad to provide at least 1 bottle of pumped milk each day until 1 year old!
I made all my son’s solid baby food. I did what I felt was healthiest for him, and yes I worked 50-60 hours a week while finding time to prep baby food. My husband helped a lot, and we froze in little ice cube trays and heated up when he was ready to eat. I loved doing it, it made me feel so good!
We limit TV and screens. My son will be 3 in May and he loves to watch TV, because it is such a rarity! We replace that time with family play and reading! I’m a believer in the fact that if you want your child to do something then you should practice what you preach. We try limiting what we watch as well so it helps.
Spare the rod spoil the child. I hate spanking, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. I won’t say much more except that there is a time and place to spank, and some kids need a personally tailored punishment, like taking away a special toy or trip instead.
I love to teach my child and take every opportunity to make a lesson. The other day my husband was pulled over by a police officer while me and my son were passengers. Although the officer let him off with a verbal warning, we took the time to thank the officer before he left. We talked about why daddy had to pull over and that the officer was trying to keep us safe and following the rules of driving. I feel it’s important to talk it out and explain the WHY.
We go to church and we talk about the bible. This is an important foundation in our lives and again is important to teach our children what we believe and show them God’s kindness.
Imagination sparks through play. Watching my son’s personality develop is amazing. We encourage him to play and pretend and grow that little mind of his. I really cannot wait to see how different and awesome this next child is!!
Really that’s just the beginning. There is so much more, but a lot of it is still being figured out along the way.
Comment below with what your favorite parenting tactic is!! I’d love to know 🙂
Talk Soon,
Alyssa
