« Back to article

Print this article

Motherhood advice: What works for one child may not work for another

We asked you to share your motherhood advice.

Trisha Chakma, mother to a two-year-old baby boy, writes in:

We are in England and most of our family is in India.

So you can imagine how challenging it must have been to raise a child without any help.

What I mostly did was followed what my doctors advised and information I read up in books and on the Internet.

They list out several dos and don’ts. And while there is some truth to them, here are some of my personal learnings:

Every child is special and a mother knows how to make him feel warm and safe so what works for one child may not work for another child!

For the first few months, I struggled a lot because I was following what others had advised me!

Then I realised that it’s not going to work and if I had to raise my son, I had to follow his schedule and pay attention to what he needed!

He hinted when he was hungry, when he wanted to sleep etc and I began making a schedule, rather than forcing him to eat and sleep!

And that was how life became simple!

Motherhood advice: What works for one child may not work for another

Swagata Duttagupta Chakraborty shares the advice she received from her mother:

There is no doubt that motherhood brings in happiness. But it also throws a new challenge each day.

One of them was the sleepless nights my daughter gave me.

She would sleep at around 9 or 10 at night and like clockwork used to wake up exactly at 1am!

This went on for four long months -- I would stay awake every night, playing with her or singing her songs.

Then my mother came to my rescue.

She advised me to try and keep her awake during most of the day, except during the afternoon.

She said it had to be done with a strong determination though keeping a four-month-old awake was a tough job especially after a hot water bath.

I followed her advice and could see the result quickly.

And from that day onwards she slept soundly in the night.

With Mother's Day around the corner, there's no better time than now to share the best motherhood advice you've received so far.

We would love to hear it because there's nothing quite so challenging like being a mother, is there?

Write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Best motherhood advice') with a picture of you and your baby and we will publish the best responses right here on Rediff.com!