Confused and frustrated

Recently it came to my attention that a lot of the decisions I make for MY family is only because someone told me I had to. For example, a friend told my I HAD to feed my kids organic, so I did. Didn't ask, just did. THis is ONE example of MANY things. So in questioning why I do what I do I started googling things. HOLY POO! There is so much information out there and there is no to little actual facts about anything. So much of what I find is personal advice. I can't seem to actually find any "facts". And IF I do none of it makes any since to me. And on top of that, it is all left or right, very little middle ground. We all want to do the best for our kids. I don't want to debate the "subjects" here, but I was wondering, how do you sort through it all? How do you make the best decision for your family? How do you balance fear and logic? Im second guessing a lot of what I do, but don't seem to have any answers.

Let me add- if there is a resource out there that you do trust, that does hold good information, for the sake of not starting debates feel free to send me a message. Im willing to look at anything.

 

I trust the boys ped very much. If I am not sure of something (like food/formula/medical) I trust her. As for parenting advice I trust my gut and go with a lot of things I have learned from my mom and other parents I have been around. Before I had kids I was mentally taking notes on things to do and not to do for my family.

 

I have to say I get most of my advice from my mother and from our pedi. Other than that I just do what I think is best. I can't say there's one book or online resource that I follow. I just do what I think is the right thing.

 

I have to agree with both Aimee and Megan, I got (still get) alot of advice from my mother and our pediatrician, other then that DH and I just use our best judgment and what we feel works best for us and the kids.

 

I agree with the others. My mom and my sister are my main resources, then my dr, and mostly mine and dh's instinct. You almost can't go wrong with parental instincts! :hug:

Short of feeding your child beer and peanuts, as long as it's mainly healthy food it's all good

 

I just take everything with a grain of salt. Many of the decisions I make for my kids is because of recommendations from the American Acadamy of Pediatrics. Beyond that, we just try to live without being extremist about things. We try to eat healthy but accept that we are not perfect and the kids get junk food now and then (the older kids). I also accept that I am not and will never be a perfect parent and beating myself up about past mistakes will serve no purpose. If I had to live my life as if I were a parenting magazine article, I'd go nuts.

 

i don't take advice without questioning it first. there are no concrete answers, or relatively few. i do my own research and look at all sides and decide what feels right to me.

as for feeding your babies organic food, there are no concrete answers there, either. you have to look at the facts available to you, decide what you feel the level of risk is, and decide whether the level of risk is significant enough to make a decision. if you feel like the level of risk is so low as to be theoretical at best (which many people believe) then go with what your gut tells you. if, on the other hand, organics aren't driving you to the poor house and you feel the risk is significant enough to be worth the extra money then go with that instinct.

you can't let yourself get tangled up in "what if" or the fear of being wrong. i've found that 99% of the time there is no "right," just opinion.

 

I've discovered that there are few topics that people have such strong and absolute opinions on as parenting, with some especially fervent subtopics like breastfeeding or organic food. Try to listen to yourself and to your kids about what is needed. I sort of gather opinions, weigh them, and go with what feels the most right. HTH :grouphug: