Hellobee Boards

No LO's yet, but I find it interesting to see how different I am (am going to be, technically, but I nannied for a while so I do have a good idea) than what I would have predicted just a few years ago. I was raised in the fundamentalist, Michael Pearl, "To Train Up a Child" mindset. Even after I moved away from religion entirely, for some reason it didn't occur to me to rethink my ideas on parenting. But at some point I stopped to consider, and I've since moved to a completely different mindset. I'm very pro-positive parenting, and like @Mrs. Sunshine, I now pretty much feel like as long as they're safe and not damaging anyone/thing, Ill let it go, which is about as far from what I used to think as it's possible to be.

I'm pretty intense about J's sleep too. Not to the extent that he has to go down at the exact same time for naps and nights every single day, but I aim to get as close to that as I reasonably can. It just makes life so much easier when they are well rested. Going along with that, I found it easier to sleep train at 4 months than I'd expected - if you'd told me before he was born that I would have done a modified CIO approach, I would have been horrified!

I'm extremely laid back about what he eats. It's partly because he is a muscly, chunky toddler who eats a wide variety of foods, and partly because DH and I don't eat a strict or very healthy diet and we're both still in good health anyway.

I'm a little more strict than I expected to be about behavior and setting limits, but he is more headstrong than I expected too!

And I am wayyyy more attached than I ever expected to feel. Of course I knew I would love him, but I am dreading the stay at the hospital after LO#2 is born because it's going to be very weird to be away from J for "so long" (2 nights). He's going to come visit, of course, but I'm still sad.

Another that was more laid back than expected.

I'm stricter about nap/bedtime schedules than I thought I would be, but sticking to a routine is what works best for my kids, so it's what I do.

I pay more attention to milestones than I thought I would, although I think that came as a result of L needing early intervention.

Other than those two things I'm pretty much the kind of parent I thought I would be.

My parenting style has been totally dictated by my son. We were going to roomshare, I thought I would breastfeed on demand, be laid back about naps, and baby wear, etc. I wasn't going to sleep train until 4-6 months. However my son could not breastfeed for more than 2 minutes before passing out no matter what so we bottle feed and pump, he hates being worn because he gets so hot, he was a colicky reflux baby that never slept more than 20 minutes, and he is loud - like blow your eardrums out loud. He was chronically overtired, always angry, losing weight, and I was falling apart.

So I became an EP-ing, early CIO sleep training, vigilant scheduling, separate rooming mama who forces her baby into his Ergo against his will to get through airport security and our son is now a chunky, happy, well-rested baby that started STTN at 3 months and takes decent naps during the day for the most part.

But DH and I are as tough and no nonsense and practical as we thought we would be as parents - not too many frills in terms of baby gear - and we will most likely be pretty traditional old school parents in terms of discipline, manners, etc.

Way more laid back! I am very type A in other areas in my life and I made myself miserable trying to keep that up when she was born. so I had to let go and now I'm much more relaxed. I am still somewhat strict about sleep times but less so about other stuff.

I'm very much how I thought I would be, except I'm more laid back and patient. I did think I would spend my life in books but most of the time it's just instinct. I am definitely more attached to him emotionally than I could have imagined. I'm always fearing something bad happening to him.

On the other side, my husband is much less patient than I thought he would be and doesn't always handle being a parent so great. Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing dad but I am realizing he's not who he thought he would be with our kids either.

I am pretty much how I thought I would be - pretty traditional/old-school.

I'm more of an attachment parent than I thought I would be (no sleep training, cosleeping, breastfeeding beyond a year), but I'm less strict about food than I thought I would be. DD is such a picky eater, so I'm generally happy if she eats anything.