Are all mothers as paranoid as me?

Question

Every little change in my baby, from a change in eating habits to change in routing, and I want to run screaming to the hospital. I had three miscarriages and tried to get pregnant for 7 years. I'm desperately afraid something will happen to him. I don't want to raise a paranoid hypochondriac, or be too protective of him when he gets older (much, much older... lol). I'm really scared I'm gonna mess this poor kid up.

I don't actually run to the hospital... :). I just feel like running to the hospital. Luckily my husband keeps me pretty grounded.

Answer 1

Just relax and trust in God, But don't hope to ever be worry free, that is impossible, someone once said that having a child is like having your heart taken out of your chest and watch it walk around, It's like that exactly!

Answer 2

Babies change and grow quickly. It's never the same from one minute to the next. You really do need to stop panicking all the time cause your baby will sense that. As a rule, babies often get fevers...low grade ones so anything higher then 100 is cause for concern. I too also lost 3 babies so I know that you want to protect them the best way you can but sometimes that means not running to the hospital. They are crowded enough anyways without have scared parents running in every 5 mins.....Good Luck!

Answer 3

Maybe you need to get a good help manual for babies. I did and as a first time mother it helped me to know that what was going on with my son was normal or when to call the doctor. The problem I see is if you keep running to the hospital will they continue to take you serious when you come into the hospital and miss something that is seriously wrong.

As far a books go the one I used is The Focus on the Family Complete Book of Baby and Child Care. It had a lot of information and can be found on Amazon.com for little to nothing starts at $0.45.

Answer 4

You might be a little too protective. I think that the impulse to act that way is in us all. When my daughters get the sniffles and I have the impulse to run red lights all the way to the ER, I try to take a step back from the situation. I consult a third party that I trust, like my mom or a reliable website, and figure out whether a trip to the ER is really necessary.

I think it really is possible to harm your children by trying to protect them, so I try and relax a bit... don't want them growing up with stress disorders, and a few skinned knees never hurt anyone.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I was just like you! lol I found a really good child developement book and this helped aleviate most of my worries. I read every book I could find!!! lol AND went to the Pediatrition at every sneeze or sniff. While I am still too protective ( they are all adults now!)they have grown to be good, healthy adults. They just roll their eyes when I threaten to call the National Guard if they don't call me enough! lol The best advise I was given was this" don't worry about it unless it will be a problem when they are 40"

Answer 6

All first time moms are pretty much that way. Once you figure out things will be fine, you'll lighten up a lot. You're not really being paranoid, you're just being protective. A bit over protective perhaps, but protective nonetheless. It's natural......kinda like a mother lion.

Answer 7

Lol, absolutely, all new moms (and some dads) are like this, things are usually better with subsequent babies/children because you will have been through it before, so it wont be so scary. but the first is most definitely terrifying.

Just have a bit of confidence in your abilities as a mom, ya know, you carried him 9 months, sustaining him then, so theres no reason why you can't care for and nurture him now.

and honestly, theres nothing wrong with a protective mom, not at this stage in his life, you'll learn to with draw a-bit when he gets older, lol, its a primal urge you know, look at our closest primate cousins and you'll see they never let the baby out of their sight, we as humans used to be no different, infact, some tribal peoples still stick to these methods.

Answer 8

I think being overprotective to the extreme is not good for you or your baby. I have three children and I worry about them, but you also have to let go and enjoy parenthood instead of worrying about every little thing. Chill out. I understand that it took you a lot to get to the point of having your child, and you don't want anything to happen, but you also don't want to look back 20 years from now and realize you worried more instead of enjoying your child. Nor do you want to drive your child away from you from your overprotectiveness either. It's good that you see this in yourself though and acknowledge what you are doing/feeling and where it stems from, you will be better able to combat it. Congratulations on your little boy! :)

Answer 9

From my perspective someone in your situation has experienced many losses with your misscarriages. No one couldnt agree there. I was a student in psychology through college, and it is possible you could be worried because of psd. That is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had my car stolen from me two times in two years. I am not comparing this to your loss, but when I left my car in a parking lot I kept walking to it to make sure I locked it. It was annoying and scary because I thought I had a problem. You will grow out of it, have some faith in yourself. Your kid will be fine because from what it sounds like you are a great mother. Hope this helped.

Answer 10

The natural thing about babies is..........they change habits and routines. It is called growing. Your history makes it understandable that you are very concerned but try to relax a bit. I would be more worried if the baby didn't change eating habits, sleeping patterns and behaviour.