If you’re a parent, you might feel like you’re constantly being bombarded with contradictory advice. While some of these comments might come from your friends and relatives, there’s a high chance that you’re subjected to a torrent of parenting advice from social media. As you scroll on Instagram or Facebook, you see snippets of recommendations from other parents and influencers on a daily basis.
Sometimes, the advice seems reasonable. At other times, these influencers come across as judgmental towards other parents. With so much advice to sift through, it can be impossible to determine which recommendations you should listen to and which you can ignore.
Here are a few tips to help you avoid getting overwhelmed by parent advice on social media.
Ask People You Trust First
Are you looking for advice on a specific parenting problem? Rather than turning to social media for an answer, check in with someone you know and trust first. If you’d rather keep the issue from your loved ones for now, you may want to reach out to your child’s pediatrician or a therapist.
Going straight to social media for advice is unlikely to lead you to reasonable guidance for your situation. Instead, look to a trusted source before you type anything into a search bar.
Limit Your Screen Time
Reading parenting advice on social media day in and day out can become tiresome. Even if you know that you can safely ignore most of it, the constant exposure can affect your stress levels and leave you second-guessing basic decisions.
Try setting some new limits around your screen time. You may want to put timers on phone apps. You could also use a website blocker to keep yourself off of social media during certain hours of the day. This can give you a much-needed break from parenting advice.
Curate Who You Follow
Not everyone is qualified to give out parenting advice. Yes, every parent will have some tips and tricks that have helped their children, but there are also parenting influencers who spread misinformation to large audiences, and they do not have any credentials or experience to back up their claims.
If you’ve noticed a lot of questionable advice on your feeds lately, it may be time to review who you’re following and use the “unfollow” button liberally. You can also mute accounts if you’d prefer to take that approach. This will clean up your feed so that you’re not exposed to advice from influencers that has no data or research behind it.
Double Check Claims You See on Social Media
What if you do come across parenting advice on social media that seems plausible? If a particular recommendation seems relevant to your situation, and the initial source looks trustworthy, it’s still a good idea to double-check.
Do some additional research to see if you can find the source of the advice from a reputable website or other resource.
Remember, Every Family Is Unique
At the end of the day, no two families are the same. Your child is a unique individual, and so are you. No other household shares the same family dynamic. Therefore, it’s okay if the parenting advice you see on social media would not suit your family.
You’re free to try out reasonable advice while ignoring the rest. If something does not work for you, it doesn’t mean that you have done anything “wrong.” It’s just because every parent and every child is different!
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Do you feel conflicted over endless parenting advice? A therapist can help you gain clarity. Reach out to us to learn more about our therapy options for parents.