Well, our twin boys don't arrive until this Fall, so I may have to follow up much later on this, but I can safely say in general we have been pretty relaxed with our first son, who is now 22 months old. Of course the first few months were a learning experience, but we quickly learned to not worry about him doing things like eating stuff of the floor, etc. We did have people wash their hands before handling him when he was newborn. We'll see if we are as careful about that with the twins. In general I think exposure to small amounts of dirt/germs is good for kids. It builds up their immune systems. And don't get me started on the widespread overuse of antibiotic soaps!
We also really try not to coddle our son too much, as we have seen some people do this and end up with very passive, fearful, and easy-to-upset toddlers. This took paying close attention to when he is crying, etc. and getting a read on what he really wanted or needed. Once he hit about 12-14 months he started doing "fake crying" where he was obviously testing the waters to see if he can get a response. For example when he was in his crib and wanted out (having trouble going to sleep). We found it was always best to give him 2-3 minutes to see if he really was that upset, or just annoyed (in which he calmed down and went to sleep). I really think this helped him start sleeping through the night at a pretty early age (6 months). Saw one of those parenting in real life shows years ago where the parents would go in and check on the kid every little peep he made, and what happened?: The kid was only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time when he was 2 years old (ack!!), and was conditioned by the parents behavior to do this. They brought in a sleep specialist, and his first recommendation was to wean the kid being rewarded for crying. It took about 2 weeks, and some long nights, but then the kid was sleeping all night long.
Of course some kids are more work than others, so this comes into play as well.
Actually pretty relaxed with the first kid
Well, our twin boys don't arrive until this Fall, so I may have to follow up much later on this, but I can safely say in general we have been pretty relaxed with our first son, who is now 22 months old. Of course the first few months were a learning experience, but we quickly learned to not worry about him doing things like eating stuff of the floor, etc. We did have people wash their hands before handling him when he was newborn. We'll see if we are as careful about that with the twins. In general I think exposure to small amounts of dirt/germs is good for kids. It builds up their immune systems. And don't get me started on the widespread overuse of antibiotic soaps!
We also really try not to coddle our son too much, as we have seen some people do this and end up with very passive, fearful, and easy-to-upset toddlers. This took paying close attention to when he is crying, etc. and getting a read on what he really wanted or needed. Once he hit about 12-14 months he started doing "fake crying" where he was obviously testing the waters to see if he can get a response. For example when he was in his crib and wanted out (having trouble going to sleep). We found it was always best to give him 2-3 minutes to see if he really was that upset, or just annoyed (in which he calmed down and went to sleep). I really think this helped him start sleeping through the night at a pretty early age (6 months). Saw one of those parenting in real life shows years ago where the parents would go in and check on the kid every little peep he made, and what happened?: The kid was only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time when he was 2 years old (ack!!), and was conditioned by the parents behavior to do this. They brought in a sleep specialist, and his first recommendation was to wean the kid being rewarded for crying. It took about 2 weeks, and some long nights, but then the kid was sleeping all night long.
Of course some kids are more work than others, so this comes into play as well.
That list was hilarious BTW!