This post is designed to prepare you for what you will get asked when you go out with a new baby and some ideas of what to say back (at least in your head anyway). Once you\u2019ve had your baby, you are no longer left alone when you go out. You suddenly become very popular, especially with old ladies. People feel totally justified talking to you and asking you things, you will be accosted in supermarkets, doctor\u2019s surgeries, in parks and by friend\u2019s and relative\u2019s. And if you\u2019ve asked these questions in the past, think twice before you ask them again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Is he good?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I hate this question, it implies babies have a choice and that they can either conform and be a \u2018good\u2019 baby or not and be a what? Bad baby? Naughty baby? Babies can\u2019t manipulate or misbehave, they\u2019re just acting on instinct. You have 3 choices here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n a) smile and say \u2018Yes\u2019 (usually when your baby has been particularly \u2018well behaved\u2019 and you feel partially rested, or when you don\u2019t have the time or the inclination to disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n b) shake your head and say no he\u2019s awful, only said when you either want to tell them not to label babies or when it\u2019s someone you know and you feel ready to burst into tears and discuss crying, not sleeping and sore nipples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Does she sleep through the night?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Simple answer \u2013 No, unless you\u2019re one of those Mums whose baby miraculously slept through from week 3 or if you count sleeping through as 11pm \u2013 3am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. He\u2019s got a good pair of lungs on him!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes I know he\u2019s screaming the place down but I don\u2019t know how\/can\u2019t make him shut up right now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. What a pretty girl! (When it\u2019s a boy)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Politely correct them, agree or shout \u2018He\u2019s wearing a blue outfit with tractors on for goodness sake!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. What a handsome boy! (When it\u2019s a girl)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n See above but you\u2019ve usually put a bow or hairband in their hair and they still get it wrong!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. You\u2019ve got your hands full!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually said to you when you have one other child under 2 with you or two or more other children with you \u2013 I usually just agree and smile exasperatedly but I did choose to have 3 children so I know I\u2019ve got my hands full but that\u2019s the way I like it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. What\u2019s her name?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n None of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Are you feeding him yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Breast\/Bottle, what difference is it to you? I love my child (I breastfeed so always answer yes then get variations of \u2018well done,\u2019 or \u2018it\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it?\u2019 \u2013 It is at times but easier on the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Has he got wind?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually goes hand in hand with number 3, the answer is usually \u2018I haven\u2019t got a friggin clue, you try winding him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. Is she teething?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Either goes with above or when she naturally puts anything in her mouth. The answer is yes but babies probably teethe from when they\u2019re born until they get a full set and then they start falling out and get adult teeth with a whole new set of problems so I really can\u2019t blame her grouchiness on teething the whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. Is he hungry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n a) Yes, but I\u2019m not in a position to feed him right now<\/p>\n\n\n\n b) No, I just fed him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n c) Possibly, but I\u2019m in the middle of doing something very important like buying a coffee or trying to get jobs done or dealing with my other child\/children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me know if you can add to this list!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This post is designed to prepare you for what you will get asked when you go out with a new baby and some ideas of what to say back (at least in your head anyway). Once you\u2019ve had your baby, you are no longer left alone when you go out. You suddenly become very popular, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/22"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askthemidwife.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}