Well-Wishers

It is so common for friends and relatives to share their thoughts and experiences when you visit them with your baby.

They are often well-meaning, but may hurt your feeling though, especially if these remarks come unexpected. Do go Prepared for such situations and take a non-personal approach to this remarks. Try not to take these remarks as a form of an “attack” on your parenting choices. Rehearse some non-commital responses like “I'll think about it” or “That's the way the baby likes it” or “The doctor ordered it, and you'd get on with your visit with fewer thorns in your family relationships.

To avoid less fussiness and less criticisms, try to watch your baby's signals so that you breastfeed your baby BEFORE the baby is so extremely hungry and is bawling his heart out. He will then draw quite a fair bit of “Unwanted Criticism” from all the relatives! And it would take a much longer time to pacify than if you had not put off trying to breastfeed him when he was still calm.

Do try to plan your visiting around your baby's naptimes. Some babies are great with travelling, s ome are not. So do watch your baby's cues. If he becomes fussy, request to sneak away to a another room for some mommy-time. Or pop him in the baby sling for some down-time. A walk outside your relative's house or their garden may help too.

Have fun and enjoy your baby! The upside of the Chinese New Year holidays will also be that your baby would receive lots of attention, lots of “hong baos” and might be so excited over all the colourful festivities.