I'm making this up as I go along

Parenting has to be the most difficult job in the world, one with the worst salary, the longest hours, offering no training what so ever. So why do we do it? Well the rewards of having children far out way any difficulties one may encounter along the way. It's kind of like an earn while you learn experience. When the doctor, (or midwife in some cases)hands you that precious little bundle of joy, he doesn't give you an A-Z instruction manual on the correct way to raise it. The thing that no one tells you is that, there is no true and perfect way to raise a child or children. Each person is unique individual and what works for one parent may not work for you. You can seek the advice of other more 'experienced' parents (that just means they had their children before you) but they are just going to give you solutions based on what worked for them or advice that they have received from other parents based on what they found effective. There again it's still a matter of you experimenting with their advice to see if it applies to you and your offspring. It may work and it may not. So here is my advice from MY years of experience being a mother of 3 a teacher an aupair a babysitter and generally working in the childcare industry for 19 years: there are some things that are standard remedies for certain problems and will generally work with most children, but there is always that one exception to the rule. And chances are some one's child is going to be that exception. So for the most part parenting is all about trial and error and finding your own unique way of dealing with stuff that works for you and your family. Listen to the advice of others by all means, but if it doesn't yield the same results for you, it doesn't make you a bad parent.

Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never learnt something new - Albert Einstein