23 Things I Swore I’d Never Do As A Mom, Until I Did

by | Jun 24, 2019 | Motherhood

Before I had my kids, I remember thinking about how great of a mom I would be and how I wanted to raise my kids differently than other parents. I wanted to be a natural mama who didn’t feed my kids any processed foods. Everything would be made by me with all organic ingredients.

This idea of mine followed up through my pregnancy as I started planning my perfect motherhood scenario. That is until I actually had my kids. 

After trying to be the perfect mom who makes everything from scratch and is always attentive, I literally burned out and needed to make motherhood easier so I wouldn’t go crazy. 

I truly believe that every mom is just trying to do the best for her kids and wants to make their world perfect, but then falls a little short when reality hits. And looking back now, I find it kind of crazy that I expected parenting to go so perfectly without any hiccups along the way. 

So here are 23 crazy things I swore that I would never do as a mom until I did.

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1. Have An Induced Labor

From the time I found out I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted an all-natural birth and wanted to wait for my baby to come when she was ready. And that all sounded good up until I was 4 days past my due date and my labor was not anywhere in sight. 

It was around that time that my doctor wanted to induce my labor. And it was my first pregnancy, so honestly, I thought it was probably best to go ahead and get things started. 

 

2. Take Pain Medication During Labor

Along with not being induced, I didn’t want to have any pain medication when I was in labor with my baby. My plan was to get up and move during labor so I could have a medication-free birth. 

Well, that went out the window as soon as the Pitocin (a hormone that can start or strengthen contractions during labor) started kicking my butt with horribly painful contractions. 

 

3. I Would Not Have A C-Section

Once again, keeping up with the natural birth plan, I never wanted a c-section. Even after having my labor induced and being given pain medications to help with the contractions, I was still sure that I was going to have my baby vaginally. 

But after hours of pain and no progress in my dilation, my doctor wanted to do a c-section to get her out safely. 

Since this was my first time ever being at the hospital, I was terrified. I came in thinking I was going to give birth to my baby one way and ended up having an abdominal surgery instead. 

 

4. Formula Feed My Baby

Even after having a labor and delivery that I didn’t expect, I was sure that I would still be able to breastfeed my daughter. And at first, I thought that everything was going fine, but then as I started having extreme pain when she was nursing, I realized that I wasn’t doing something right. 

But after going through a c-section and having everything that I had planned for my “perfect” birth, I was exhausted, so I gave her some formula that I had. And she slept for hours for the first time.

So from there I ended up giving up on breastfeeding and exclusively formula-fed her. 

 

5. I Won’t Cosleep with My Baby

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I heard all of the experts saying that you should never let your baby sleep in the bed with you. It was just dangerous. Babies get rolled over on and suffocate in their sleep. 

So needless to say, I was terrified to even hold my new baby in my bed because I was worried I would fall asleep.

But guess what! After having baby number two, I was exclusively breastfeeding so I was literally breastfeeding him all of the time. And one night, I just happened to have him in bed next to me while I was breastfeeding him and fell asleep.

It was the best night’s sleep both of us had had since he was born. So we kept cosleeping up until he was 9 months old. 

 

6. Give My Baby a Pacifier

Another thing I was told by others is that if you give your breastfed baby a pacifier they will forget how to breastfeed. Of course, I believed it and would not give my second baby who was being breastfed a paci until I finally could not calm him anymore. 

He took his paci and was so happy. He even continued to breastfeed without any problems until he was 15 months old.

 

7. Give My Baby Jarred Baby Food

I used to think that parents who fed their baby jarred baby food were lazy, but let me tell you I sure did put my foot in my mouth when I started trying to make my own baby food for every meal. 

Sometimes just having one less thing to prepare makes motherhood easier.

 

8. Nap During Naptime

Naptime is the most important time of the day. Well at least for me it is. 

I remember trying to get everything I could cleaned up at naptime when my first baby was a newborn. My grandmother would always tell me to rest while she is resting, but of course, I didn’t take her advice and would keep on cleaning.

Now that I have two kids, I NEED naptime. It’s not only the time for them to calm down but it’s a crucial time for me to take a quick power nap to face the rest of the day.

 

9. Let My Child Run Around in Just A Diaper

Why would you just let your child run around in a diaper? Do they not have any clothes?

This was my naive thinking before I became a mom. I would always see other people’s babies running around in only a diaper while at home. But now after having kids I really understand.

It’s no that they don’t’ have clothes it’s that:

  • they won’t keep their clothes on
  • something spilled on them
  • they’ve pooped on everything
  • it’s hot outside

And now my youngest still likes to run around in just a diaper and guess what. It’s ok. 

 

10. Let Them Eat Food That Fell on the Floor

The floor is the dirtiest place ever so why would you let your kids eat off of it?

When I would see kids grabbing something that had fallen on the floor and eating I used to think that it was very unsanitary. 

Now years later, I have dropped numerous food scraps on the floor and before I can even say anything my 3-year-old shoves it into his mouth like he hasn’t eaten in days. 

 

11. I Would Never Yell at Them

Yep. I was going to be the perfect mom that never had to even raise her voice to get her kids to listen. Haha! Then my kids started talking and that all quickly changed as they ignored my asking them not to do something in my normal voice.

 

12. I Would Never Tell a Lie

Why would I have to lie to my child?

I truly don’t know what I was thinking. Of course, every parent has to lie to their kids. Whether it’s about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, or even a silly question little white lies keep things going smoothly.

 

13. Make Separate Meals for My Kids

I grew up in a household where my mother was always frustrated about having to make separate meals for us because we were so picky. So I decided that I was going to have kids that were not picky so I could make everyone all one meal.

That all broke down when my kids were diagnosed with high functioning autism. So separate meals sometimes are okay. As long as everyone eats. 

 

14. Let My Kids Eat Fast Food

So we all know that fast food is not that healthy or great for you. That’s why I made it my mission to always have home-cooked food ready and on the table for dinner, that is until I started having to take my kids to unexpected doctor’s appointments in the evening or having late after school events.

Let’s face it we all eat fast food sometimes. 

 

15. Let My Kids Eat in the Car

I hate when my car is dirty. So my brilliant plan to keep it clean was to never let my kids eat in the car. 

Well, that lasted all of a few days. Last year I had to drive my daughter to school and packing both kids up and getting them out the door is hard enough so I settled for letting them eat their breakfast in the car. 

 

16. Bribe My Kids

“My kids will be diligent. I’ll never have to bribe them.”

That sure did sound great until my toddler is screaming about Daddy leaving without him and won’t calm down. Sometimes an Oreo cookie is just what you have to sacrifice.

 

17. Let Them Wear The Same Clothes Days in a Row

Do you change your kids’ clothes every single day if they are staying at home?

I did until I just started letting my kids wear the same clothes for a couple of days when school was out. I mean who cares. No one’s going to see them but me. 

 

18. Use the TV as a Babysitter

When I was little, we had a tv in each room – even in our own bedrooms. And because of this, I felt like we never spent much time together. So I decided that the kids will never watch tv.

And then when I needed a minute to take a quick shower or make dinner that changed. Now I will put on a movie sometimes when I need to get some work done. 

 

19. Ignore Their Whining in Public Places

When out in public, I would see some moms ignoring their kids whining and just wonder why they didn’t console them or answer them.

Now, of course, I have been the mom on the other side with a whining child that is calling “Mommy” three hundred times and will not stop even if I try to console her. 

 

20. Shopping Through A Tantrum

When I would hear a toddler having a massive tantrum and the mother would just keep on shopping, I truly thought that it was sad and couldn’t think of myself ever continuing to grocery shop while my kid was crying.

However, now I have become a pro at it. With two kids on the autism spectrum, meltdowns happen and sometimes I have to just push through them and finish my errand. 

 

21. Say “Because I Said So”

Personally, I hated when my parents would explain their reasoning with “because I said so.” 

But now that I have kids and they will ask to do something over and over again even after I have tried to explain why “because I said” so just slips out. 

 

22. I Will Never Breastfeed in Public

I knew I wanted to breastfeed more than anything else, but there was no way that I was going to breastfeed my baby in public. And even if I did, I would always have a nursing cover.

So this was great thinking until my baby needed to breastfeed while I was out and he kept kicking off the nursing cover.

From that point on I used the two shirt technique. This is where you wear an undershirt or cami and a shirt on top of that. This way your undershirt covers you and your top shirt covers your breast as your baby is nursing.

 

23. I Would Never Work from Home

When I got pregnant with my first child, I said that I would never work again. Raising kids and working is just too much for me.

That all changed when I needed to make a little income to help support my family. I ended up starting this blog and am now making a good income every month. It’s totally worth it and it’s also nice to help support my family. 

What are some things you swore you’d never do as a parent?

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