on being a google mum

Do you know what I mean? When I was pregnant, I spent a considerable amount of time googling (oh Google. You have a lot to answer for. But never leave me plz) things that were happening to me.

'Why haven't I felt my baby move for 3 hours?'
'What can my baby do now at *such an amount* weeks?'
'How much weight should you put on at *such an amount* weeks pregnant?'
'Are headaches normal at *such an amount* weeks pregnant?'
'When will my baby engage?'

And so on. It didn't stop when he was born.

'Why does my baby cry solidly from 5 til 7?'
'When can you give babies gripe water?'
'What are these spots on my baby?'
'How do you burp a baby?'
'When can you give babies solids?'

'How to surgically remove mum's fingers from the keybord...'

From the get go, motherhood has been a journey of questions, because how else are we supposed to learn? As they say, babies don't come with a manual. There is no 'buy one baby, get a manual free' deal. So what are we supposed to do, when there is something wrong with your baby, but you don't know what? Or if you just have a general question, about weaning, sleeping, routine, naps, etc? We live in a digital age, and we have the internet, and a world of answers at our finger tips. Forums, boards, blogs, Facebook pages, online magazines. Midwives and health visitor's offer advice and we take it hungrily, but what about when their advice doesn't work for your baby? Good old Google.

I fear I am too reliant on Google. As first time parents, everything is scary. The internet is a bit like an old motherly health visitor, who has an answer to every question, but, like the real life kind, they don't know your baby personally. Perhaps it is because, six months into parenthood, I feel like I am beginning to get the hang of this baby thing. I know Freddie, I (usually) know why he is doing what he is doing, but often find myself googling it just incase. Just incase what? I don't know. We all have our baby's best interests close to our hearts, and such a keenness to keep him safe sometimes leads me to second guess myself.

I often wonder HOW did our parent's raise us without the internet? How did they know when there was something wrong? Whenever I am talking to my mum about something I am worried about with Freddie, the sentence usually starts with 'well, I was looking on Google and...' and she will roll her eyes, and give me some advice, somebody who knows Freddie and knows me.

The advice that we can gain from the wealth of knowledge on the internet is something we are lucky to have, but I have to remind myself sometimes that when Freddie was born, so was an instinctual, primal, constant desire within me to know what is best for him, and that is the best source of advice I can access. It's my job. I think if I had no access to the internet for the past 15 months, I would be in the exact same position I am now, and have saved myself a lot of unnecessary panics over countless harmless coughs, niggles, and developmental milestones.

Where do you draw the line with knowledge we can access online? It is so tempting to take it as gospel, but more often than not, if there is something your baby needs, I think we already know what it is, even if we don't always trust it.