When you have a new baby people come in with all sorts of advice that is often conflicting. Things like, don’t hold the baby all day or they’ll never learn to self soothe but also, if you want to get stuff done you need to strap the baby to your body like a tiny kangaroo. Which is it? Do you hold them all day to get work done or do you not hold them all day so they can learn to self soothe?
This perpetual contradiction of parenting advice has been baffling parents for decades and “It’s a Southern Thing” created a video that hilariously shows the contradictions in action. It’s a realistic view of what it’s like to not only have a baby but to attempt to take the advice given by well-meaning friends and family.
The video starts out with a couple sitting on the couch holding an infant explaining that they’ve “unlocked the secrets to having a happy calm baby.”
The baby was not calm at all. In fact, after they finished their sweet family intro, you see the woman with the baby strapped to her chest to bring you tip number one.
“Wear him. If your baby is anything like our little Devin, he’s the most calm when he’s being held. But holding your baby 24/7 is totally unsustainable,” she says. “That’s why a baby carrier, like this one is a literal life saver.”
Of course it’s suggested that you could get things done around the house while wearing the baby, which quickly results in the baby crying when the woman tries to clean out a bottle. It was also impossible for her to unload the washing machine while wearing the little guy. In the next tip, the husband talks about keeping the baby on a sleep schedule but every time he attempts to lay the baby down for a nap, it starts crying. That is until her reaches success after multiple tries. Then…the doorbell rings and the dogs bark, which of course wakes the baby.
The entire video is so accurately hilarious if those stages are in your rearview. For those still in the thick of it, maybe the video can show you just how contradictory some of the tips you’ll receive can be. People in the comments found the video to be extremely accurate.
“This should be part of all high school human growth and development classes,” one person writes.
“This needs a trigger warning for accuracy! The only thing worse is having a second and managing all that WITH a toddler. Took my youngest being 8 years old before I even remotely liked the sight of a baby again. haha,” someone adds.
“As a parent expecting the child in a few weeks, I am both laughing and crying over the accuracy and expected loss of sleep,” a soon to be parent confesses.
“I still vividly remember having to sit in my son’s room until he fell asleep and then slowly slowly scoot myself toward the door while holding my breath for fear of waking him up again,” another writes.
Well if anything, maybe this can be shown in high school classes and freshman orientation at colleges for…science. Yeah, science. Good luck to all the new parents out there, babyhood only lasts a short time. Watch the scary accurate video below and maybe go hug one of your parents.