There are parts of motherhood that are extremely confusing. You are basically doing it on your own, and advice from other people can help, but is usually useless. Trial and error can help, but a lot of the time you have no clue what you’re doing.
Hazel is teething right now. It’s probably the most annoying thing about having a baby. She pretty much hates her life. We started giving her ibuprofen so she will sleep at night, but during the day she is in pain, and I sometimes have to give her some so she can even take a nap. So she’s tired all the time. And when the F*** IS THIS TOOTH GOING TO COME IN?! It’s right there. Sharp as hell, just poking through all nice and crooked. For days! When will it decide to come through all the way? Weeks? And it’s only the one, which means when it comes in the one next to it will probably start to come through and we will be right back where we started. So I’m just suppose to give her ibuprofen for the next year and a half? The bottle says don’t use for more than ten days in a row. Annoying.
This leads me to another confusing part of being a parent: the dosage on the bottle. It gives weight and age, and then corresponding dosage. Um, okay. My baby is gargantuan, so do you go with the weight or the age? We’ve been going with weight. Apparently a 6-12 month old baby is supposed to be less than eighteen pounds? My baby is more than twenty, which puts her in the 12-18 month category. Yeesh.
Feeding solids gets confusing too. Every baby is different, and you pretty much just have to guess when your kid is ready for something like eggs or cottage cheese. I am also guessing at how much to feed her. Because I have no freaking idea. I had just figured out how much formula to feed her in a day, and then it’s time to give her real human food. So you start with single grain cereals. And then you add fruit and veggie purée and then you have to guess how much of that you’re supposed to be giving. Then you need to do three meals a day and you need veggies, protein, fruits, cereals, and formula. WTF. I feel like Hazel is already needing the three meals, and I’m already giving her finger foods and things she has to chew. Feeding her and making her food is turning into a lot of work. Meal planning, ya know?
It’s not always as simple as giving her what we make, because if we have pizza for dinner, Hazel obviously has to eat healthy foods, so I have to make her something different. My baby eats better than me anyway. I feel like as I learn to cook her meals, our meals will morph into healthy things, because that’s what I’ll be making her already. I go to Whole Foods for this kid! She eats only fresh food, and I would eat McDonald’s probably every day because I’m gross like that. I don’t want her to get our bad habits. Sorry, this was off topic!
ANYWAY, I’m glad to have my sister, because we can complain to each other about how confusing this all is. I always tell her that we must not be doing it completely wrong because they are still alive and not deathly ill or anything. That is my parenting style in a nutshell. Maybe the next child will be more fortunate because I’ll have some kind of elusive baby wisdom that I couldn’t possibly have had with the first.
By the way, if you have any input on any of these confusing topics, please share. I really have no idea what’s going on anymore.
CARLI GARRISON 
The advice I’ve been given is that if you are this concerned and questioning about what you are doing, you are already doing a GREAT job. It’s the parents that don’t think twice about giving a baby french fries from McDonald’s who SHOULD be worrying like you are, but they’re not. So, yes, you’re baby is healthy and alive and the fact that you care this much is a very good sign.
The teething part sounds challenging to say the least. Some babies will chew on a washcloth that has one side wetted and then frozen in the freezer. Have you tried homeopathic teething gel or tablets? A lot of parents I know have had good results with Hyland’s remedies.
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