Parenting Pressure

Do you have friends or family that have children the same age as yours? Do you ever feel pressured by your parenting peers? Parenting is hard, and when you start to feel pressured by others it adds to the stress. Lately, I've been feeling the pressure from family about Caleb's toilet training. I feel like he's being compared to others his age, and I really started to let it bother me. Overall, he does well with toilet training but he's not fully trained yet. He doesn't tell me when he has to go. When I starting realizing that I was really letting other people bother me, I decided I needed to take a step back and look at myself. Every child is different, and every situation is different. I work full time, and I'm not with Caleb all day. He doesn't really understand that a Pull Up is not a diaper. At home, I keep him in underwear and it works alot better. At daycare, it's different. Toilet training will come, and I need to let him figure it out. I will continue to encourage him, and work on the process, I don't think he fully understands the signs of when he needs to go. It will come.

I don't want to raise my son by comparing him to others. He has his own strengths and weaknesses (sleep) and I need to start being more confident in my parenting style. Yes, we still co sleep. Caleb doesn't sleep a full night. He wakes up EVERY SINGLE night, and one day he will sleep through the night. Until then, we have to do what is best for our family. When someone asks me "Does he sleep in his own bed yet?" I need to remember that they're not the one waking up with him all night, and not the one who has to go to work in the morning. No, he doesn't sleep in his own room, and that's fine. That question has to stop bothering me.

I do really well with not letting others bother me, but sometimes it does. In this case, I realized I was letting it get to me, I talked to my husband and we agreed that we need to focus on our situation and not be bothered by others. My husband is my biggest supporter and he encourages me when I need it. I'm going to stumble, and I'm going to feel frustrated but I always need to put my family first.