How to respond to unsolicited parenting advice
Friends and family often pressure parents to change their routines and make their baby adapt to sleeping away from home. Dealing with these arrogant, unsolicited comments leaves parents feeling criticized and unsure of how to reply when they just want support and shared experiences instead of judgment.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Staying at home to protect the baby's sleep schedule
- 2Limiting hangouts with friends who don't understand
- 3ignoring the advice
- 4calling out the person giving unsolicited advice
- 5venting about judgmental parents online
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m often told he should learn to adapt, but my rationale is that well he only sleeps this much during the day for a short period of his life.”source ↗
“I don’t mind not doing much (except more baby specific activities) or doing things close to home, but I don’t like hearing these comments and don’t know how to respond.”source ↗
“If you want to be helpful to someone whose actually asking for your advice, that’s fine. But you’re spewing unsolicited advice from an arrogant know-it-all standpoint and it isn’t gong to be received well by anyone.”source ↗
“I would love if we could communicate more, talk to each other, share experiences, problems, fears and ideas, WITHOUT thinking we found the only way WITHOUT trying to convince the other they are doing it wrong and we are the only ones right.”source ↗
“Personally I prefer NO advice unless I ask. We are all just winging it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to deal with emotionally cold and unsupportive parents
- 4Why do I lecture my child instead of comforting them?