I enjoyed asking my friends who had kids and also worked for advice because that was going to be my life and I had no idea how to handle it. I have a friend who is currently pregnant who doesn't seem to think her life is going to change after the baby arrives. I just sit back and laugh. 
Did you ask friends for advice when you were pregnant with your first?
pineapple / 12802 posts
You bet! I had one friend before me to have children. She had them a few years before me so I considered her a seasoned pro. She still gets a LOT of questions from me!
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Yes but I only ask people that I really do want advice from!
eggplant / 11716 posts
nope! Truthfully, I get all my parenting advice and do my crowdsourcing here on HB or on my FB mom's group. I prefer to talk with strangers, so if I don't take their advice I don't have to hear about it later, haha.
Also, sometimes IRL people get mildly offended if they did something with their kids one way and you want to do it a different way. So I just don't ask. I have 3 older siblings with a total of 6 kids between them and I think I've maybe ever asked any of them a parenting question like...maybe twice? And only to one sister in particular. I feel like the other two, we just would have wildly different approaches to parenting.
nectarine / 2115 posts
@Anagram: I agree! Even my mom got defensive when I talked about cloth diapering... Like somehow she had to defend her own use of disposables with us! It's easier to crowd-source questions to HelloBee and avoid any offense with people I know. I wish parenting wasn't such a touchy topic 
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I did, and do. Some way more than others because it seems like our parenting styles are similar or the issues we are dealing with are similar (like I don't ask the parent of a champion sleeper about sleep issues so much!).
And registry advice for sure especially for people in similar situations of no space and city living. I try to only give advice when asked.
pomegranate / 3863 posts
I was the first of my friends to have a baby, so no. But I definitely leaned heavily on my sister and her advice!!
honeydew / 7230 posts
Yep! Two of my BFFs and I have an ongoing group text where we talk about all pregnancy/breastfeeding/sleep issues/parenting stuff. We just initiated one of our other friends into the group text because she had her baby right before Thanksgiving. It is the best thing in the world to know I have close friends going through the same crazy shit that I am!
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
Not really. Is it sad to admit that I get better advice from HB because I get all different perspectives and if I ask the few mommy friends they may be biased or opinionated over one thing. Sure, I definitely got suggestions or advice on what baby equipment to register for.
Oh, I do ask my sister about cloth diapers because her and I are the only one who does it. My one close friend had a c-section so she was supportive after I had mine.
grapefruit / 4717 posts
Heck, yeah! There's no way I could have done it alone. Your friend is nuts.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@Anagram: @mrsrain: I agree! I used to ask my sister questions but the more and more I asked her, I could see how strong she felt about a particular parenting topic. My views weren't as strong.
@mrsrain: Yes! I feel like a lot of people get defensive when I tell them I cloth diaper. Well, first they think I'm crazy for cloth diaper twins but then they get defensive.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Yes!! Especially my mom and older sister. They were lifesavers for me early on!
persimmon / 1367 posts
Nope, just Hellobee and my local moms group. I love my friends dearly, but we are a very diverse bunch. It is almost guaranteed that we will have vastly differing views on every subject related to parenting.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
Not really since many of them have a very different parenting style than I do. I usually try to steer clear of parenting topics with friends since we all have different views and styles.
grapefruit / 4355 posts
Only one friend. And I don't ask her a ton. She was the biggest helps when it came to what we should register for!
papaya / 10570 posts
Ha - not when I was pregnant. I thought I knew it all! Once E was here - yes.
honeydew / 7235 posts
Absolutely!! Asked again for advice with my second, especially about navigating siblings!
pomegranate / 3658 posts
Yeah I asked everybody everything, every chance I got. I take the approach of gathering as much data as possible to help prepare myself for all possibilities. It seems odd to me when I have pregnant friends who don't ask me questions, but I guess they'll figure it out their own way.
pomelo / 5084 posts
Yes, I have in the past, and I do now. That said, it does get touchy sometimes. People expect you to do it like they did.
pomelo / 5678 posts
Not even a little tiny bit. I like to figure things out myself and no one in my family had kids, they still don't (siblings, that is), same with my friends! I made parent friends after DD came along.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
I haven't asked too many people IRL abour parenting topics because I haven't really seen my mommy friends (or friends of friends) in action. I get plenty of unsolicited advice though.
I ask about child birth.
persimmon / 1045 posts
Definitely - but only a few that I valued opinion of! They were the ones who didn't always offer advice straight up which I think I appreciated too 
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I went to a few friends but I didn't want to bother them too much. I was a FTM and they were on their second kids.
pear / 1593 posts
I used to ask a lot, but now I tend to do very little of it because I find that my friends seem to have had easier babies than me so they can't relate to many of my issues. Or not that they can't relate, but it was easy for them. Ex: When F didn't sleep through the night one friend recommended CIO, but her babies fussed for 15/20min and went to sleep for 3-4 days and that was that, whereas F would scream bloody murder for 1.5 hours until I gave in.
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