Bubby is four weeks old. Hubby has returned to work. I have left the house to get away from the confines of my small one bedroom apartment. I am trying to walk bub to sleep, but it’s not working. He is screaming. Scccrreeaaming.
I make my way towards the parenting room at the local shopping centre to calm and feed him.
I’m nervous. I hope there’s no one else in there that we will interrupt. I hope I can just do my thing, relax with bub, and quickly leave.
But the room is full of other parents. It’s not as noisy as you might think though, rather it’s quiet and peaceful. Just parents going about their business of feeding, changing nappies or taking some time out.
I smile and apologise (for my baby crying). I’m sure they could hear us coming from outside the room. I get looks of “don’t worry” and “we’ve all been there”. That’s comforting.
I look around at the people in the room. There are mums (and dads) of all different ages, shapes and sizes; from all different walks of life; mums with newborns; and mums with toddlers. Some mums have fancy prams that look like they cost the earth, others have babies in slings. Some babies are breastfed, others are bottle fed. Some babies wear cloth nappies, others in disposables. At this point in time, we are all equal. We are all good mums doing the best we can.
But I am still nervous. I hope my little one doesn’t disturb everyone, or that I do something wrong and the other mums think I’m a terrible mother.
The other mothers look like experts at this ‘parenting thing’. The mothers with newborns look comfortable as they feed their babies and look at them with all the admiration in the world. The mums of older children look natural and in control of their active toddlers.
“How old is your little one,” one mum asks as she ‘expertly’ feeds her baby.
“Four weeks,” I reply.
“He’s cute, very contented,” she says.
“How old is yours?” I ask.
“Eleven months. It goes so fast. I remember when mine would feed that calmly,” she says as her baby wriggles around on her lap and does windmill slaps on her chest and chin.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to have an eleven month old. It feels like my baby won’t ever grow up! We talk mindlessly about our babies, the problems we have experienced, and how we have overcome them. She offers some solutions to my settling issues. I think I will give them a try.
Many other mums and dads walk in and out. It’s busy here today, but it is still peaceful. I want to stay and chat to the mum to get more hints and tips about parenting, but it’s time for her to leave. I am surprised by how quickly her baby fed, my newborn feeds for thirty minutes but her bub only fed for ten!
As she packs her pram getting ready to leave, she turns and says, ‘Good luck with everything. You look like you’re doing a great job” and she walks from the room. Wow! What an amazing mum she is, I think to myself.
Almost everyone that I saw when I first entered the room has left and been replaced with new mums and dads. Ten minutes later it is time for us to leave too. A walk out and pass another new mum, her baby is screaming too.
She apologises for her baby crying. I smile a sympathetic smile. She gives me a flustered, worried smile back and enters the parenting room.
TEN MONTHS LATER…
Bub is awake and I head into town for some shopping.
We haven’t been into town for ages as we’ve been too busy with play dates.
He is hungry and he cries for some food so I head towards the parenting room. It’s been a while since we’ve been there, I usually time our outings around his feeds. But alas, today we need to use it.
I hope there is another mum in there I can talk to. The room is mostly empty with only two other mums, both feeding their newborns. I sit down next to one of them.
“How old is your little one?” I ask.
“Four weeks,” she smiles.
“He is beautiful. How has your first few weeks been?” We make mindless chatter about our babies while we feed and admire them.
“How old is your bub?” she asks.
“Eleven months. It goes so fast. I remember when mine fed so easily,” I say as my soon-to-be toddler wriggles on my lap giving me windmill slaps on my chest and chin.
She tells me about the problems she’s been experiencing with settling her bub and more generally about life as a new mum. I think back to what it was like for me when my baby was four weeks old. I was sitting in the very chair she was in, feeling so nervous that my baby would bother others, and that I would do something wrong in front of everyone. I smile to myself and kindly offer her some suggestions that have worked for me.
My bub finishes feeding and I pack up my things. The other mum is still feeding her newborn – she’ll be another twenty minutes I think to myself.
As I leave the room I turn and say, ‘Don’t worry, you look like you’re doing a great job”.
She smiles and I walk from the room.
What have your parenting room experiences been like?
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mom93821 replied
- 04 Dec 2014 , 9:57 am
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mom94125 replied
- 13 May 2015 , 1:59 pm
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