The Best Parenting Advice I Ever Received

If you’re a parent you probably remember the first time you were pregnant. Total strangers came forward at the grocery store, in restaurants and anywhere you went to offer parenting tips and pregnancy advice. Some of them were classic advice, some were not so great.  I’ll never forget the woman who stopped me when I told my daughter she had to stop her actions by the time I counted to three.  “That doesn’t work,” she said, as she proceeded to tell me what I should do.
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This is a partnered post with Basic Invite, but all opinions are my own.

Because the amount of advice can be overwhelming, I wanted to know what other people thought worked. I polled my friends on Facebook and asked them to share the best parenting advice they ever received.  They rose to the occasion (with only a small amount of badgering from me) to give me the parenting tips they had relied on while they raise their children.

1. Go With Your Gut.  Have you ever had the feeling something is wrong with your child, even when other people assure you there is not? Go with your gut.  This happened to me when I took my daughter to the ER as a baby in the middle of the night. It turned out she was having an asthma attack that left her with only a pinhole sized space to breathe. The trip to the ER might have saved her life.
best parenting advice go with your gut

2.  Never Say Never. You Will Eat Those Words. Before I became a parent I had all sorts of ideas of the type of parent I would be. So did Brittany. One day when Jenna was younger and wouldn’t stop crying, I offered to turn on a television program in hopes the songs would put her to sleep. “No TV before she is two!” Brittany replied.  Tune into a few weeks later when Brittany asked me, “Mom, can you turn on Princess Sofia?” “No can do,” I said, “No TV before she is two.” Needless to say, sometimes she watches Princess Sofia now.

3. Live in the Moment.  It’s hard to live in the moment when there is a never ending to do list, work, and other things in life that get in the way, but sometimes it’s important to just stop and say, “Will this matter if I wait a few minutes to do it?” Spend time doing something fun with the kids instead.
best parenting advice -live in the moment

4.  There Are No Perfect Parents. We All Make Mistakes. Parenting is something that doesn’t come with an instruction manual.  Just as our children grow and learn, we will grow and learn with them. That means we will make some mistakes along the way.
best parenting advice- barb

5.  Do What Works Best For Your Children. Don’t Be Pressured Into Doing the Popular Thing.  When my son finished 2nd grade, I realized something was wrong. I quit my teaching job and began to homeschool him. My friends were mystified. Why would I homeschool? I pushed for answers on my own and kept homeschooling until I discovered he had two learning disabilities. It was a turning point for him. He went from a child who hated school to one who read books on his own and discovered a love of history. I’ve never regretted that decision.

best parenting advice- what works best for your children

If you are planning a baby shower in the future, this is also a great baby shower game idea. They make great keepsakes and can be saved for when new parents are feeling overwhelmed and wish they had some customized advice.  Have one card for each guest and allow them to write the best parenting advice they ever received on the card. Super simple but so helpful!  I used the customizable baby shower invitations at Basic Invite to create custom Best Parenting Advice Cards featuring the baby.
best parenting advice-Never say Never

The best part of Basic Invites is how easy it is to customize a product. They have Almost Unlimited color options–over 180. Just select the card design you like and change the color elements. You can preview the changes instantly online.  There’s also 40 different colors of envelopes so you can make your invitation stand out before it’s opened.   Not sure what you want? They offer custom samples. This is a cool service that allows a person to design a card and then order a printed sample before placing an entire order. You’ll be able to see the paper quality and print quality before purchasing a lot of cards.  You can also get free address collection service with three simple steps.  Share a link, collect your addresses and get free envelope printing.  This is a great timesaver when you have lots of invites to send out or lots of thank you notes to write.  Want to get Social with Basic Invite? Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
best parenting advice- do great things

What’s the best parenting advice you ever received?

38 Comments

  1. All of these are GREAT. The best advice I ever received was to go with your gut, love your children and never compare yourself or your child to anyone else.

  2. Annemarie LeBlanc

    I am annoyed when someone gives me unsolicited advice on how to become a parent when they are not even parents themselves! Ugh. There is no perfect parenting style. And always, ALWAYS trust your gut. If you feel something is wrong, something definitely IS wrong.

  3. great tips for parents. There are no real parent hand books so for the ones who are trying at least read this.

  4. Before I had kids, I thought I knew everything. No way was I even close! These are definitely some great pieces of advice. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Before I had kids I thought I would be the parent who is calm with my kids and never yells. Yeah right! I feel more crazed than ever with my three and am always yelling!

  6. All great points. Mom’s gut feelings can be painfully accurate. Never say never is so true, I used to say I’ll never do this like you to my Mom, but you don’t even fully understand why your parents did somethings until you become a parent.

  7. These are all so true and resonate well with me. I learned that my gut feelings are 99% spot on IF I listen to them 😀

  8. All great advice. I really appreciate #1. There were a lot of times I ignored my gut, and learned that intuition that comes with parenthood is so valuable.

  9. We should go with our gut for sure. Parents arent perfect, but we all do our best.

  10. My two favorites are, there are no perfect parents and live in the moment. Too many times we get caught up as parents and society telling us how we should be as parents and we miss some amazing moments in life.

  11. Great advice! I received a lot of “advice” from people including people that didn’t have kids. I don’t think I have ever rolled my eyes so much in my life. But these are good tips. You really do have to go with what is best for your own kids. Every kid is different. Every parent is different. Every situation is different. You just have to do what is right for you.

  12. Yes! I couldn’t agree more. With all of this, all so very true. I love hearing how others feel about parenting and advice…

  13. These are great parenting advice! All so true!! And I would love to take a look at those cute invites! Thanks for sharing!

  14. I have seen my cousins and sisters-in-law getting bundle of advises when they were expecting child. Well experiences are to be shared! J I’ll share mine too after 10 years.

  15. These are all good pieces of advice. When my kids were young, the “before I count to 3” thing did not work, because when I started counting and got to “2” they’d go “3-4, shut the door, 5-6, pick up sticks….” OMG. Parenting is seriously hard!

  16. I don’t have any kids but I am quite close to my nephews! A lot of parents, especially the new ones can learn a lot from this post!

  17. These are awesome tips for parents. It’s always important that we learn how to savor the moment because they grow up so fast! I hope parents realize that we can’t be perfect too, we are bound to make mistakes.

  18. There’s so much parenting advice out there it’s really hard to know what to listen to. These sounds like some great tips!

  19. theterrificfive

    These are really good tips. I found myself nodding to myself as I was reading them, agreeing with each one.

  20. I love this, there is good advice parents can actually get. I agree with go with your gut, that’s always been my best savior in parenting.

  21. Live in the moment is so important! No one warns you before becoming a parent that once you are one life moves in fast forward.

  22. I don’t have kids yet but I have no notion that it’s an easy road. From what I have seen from my friends I should just go with the flow and do what’s right for my child, mistakes will be made but I won’t be the first nor the last.

  23. I have about 5 friends that are either pregnant or just having their children. I passed this along to all of them:-)

  24. This is such a great list. I know that before we become parents, we have so many high ideals. Your advice no. 2 is really spot on.

  25. Parenting is definitely a learning experience. It is great to connect with other moms because it is all so relatable.

  26. Hey, thanks for including my advice! I can’t begin to tell you how many times it has saved me and mine from bad, bad situations. Parenting sure isn’t for the weak, is it?

  27. My son is a teenager now, but as an infant he has digestive issues. The doctor and nurses were convinced that his crying was colic, but I knew better. My gut said it was something else…it was…he had colitis. Always go with your gut.

  28. Great advice. I love that you get it now versus a lot of people who figure it out when it’s too late. One other piece of advice that I will give is that it’s ok to want alone time. Parents need some time away from their kids to re-energize and have adult time!

  29. The best parenting advice is to go with your gut and do what’s best for YOU.
    People are always trying to tell you how to parent but it’s not their circus and not their monkeys. They’re going to judge you no matter what so do what’s best for you and your kids!

  30. It’s really important to go with your gut. There’s this bond with parents and children that makes it so natural to figure out when things go wrong. It’s really important to live by the moment and be able to react to situations. – Franc Ramon

  31. I love this post. You made me laugh that someone told you that counting to 3 doesn’t work because it STILL works with my 7 year old. He calls it “mean counting”. I’ve never actually gotten to 3 because he runs to do whatever it was that he was supposed to do by the time that I get to 2. If it ever stops working, that’s OK because we had a good run with it for the past 7 years…

  32. These sound like some really important pieces of advice for parents, I can imagine it is a really challenging time for all involved and every little bit of help is a plus.

  33. I have always gone with my gut. If I don’t think something is right I will definitely do something about it. Nobody is perfect. But as long as you’re doing your best and not harming your child that’s all that matters. Enjoy them life is short and they will be gone before you know it.

  34. This is an awesome post. Out of all of these, the one I learned the hard way was to never say never. Pretty much every parenting “never” I’ve ever said has become a reality. LOL

  35. I love this. So much. I learned a long time ago to go with my gut and NOT what other people around me were saying. They’re my kids, and my mommy instincts tell me what’s right or NOT right for them.

  36. YES! Always go with your gut. We have those feelings for good reason – trust them.