Know When to Walk Away

Being a parent of a baby is hard. If it’s your first time being a parent, it’s even harder as you simply don’t know what life will actually be like. When you’re not sleeping at night, everything that used to be hard or frustrating becomes ten times worse. It’s not so easy to shut out a screaming baby when you’re on two hours of sleep in the last 48 hours.. You need to walk away if you’re going to do something bad.

No baby has ever fallen off the floor. They’re not going to hurt themselves if they’re laying on the floor for a few minutes while you step away to compose yourself. If you think you’re going to hurt your baby or do something bad, set the baby down (on the floor or in their crib) and step away to calm yourself down. Sure, the baby is probably going to continue to cry and scream, but they’re safe.

A screaming baby, especially one that has been doing it for the last hour straight, is a complete nightmare. You’re not a bad person if you have feelings that you want to stop that screaming forever - it’s a natural feeling. It’s not like people enjoy hearing their baby scream for hours on end. However, you absolutely should not hurt your baby in any way to try to get them to stop screaming - walk away if you’re going to lose your patience.

Hurting your child is child abuse, no matter what led you to do it. Abusing your child can have that baby taken away from you. Do not hurt your baby in the moment - walk away. If you set your baby on the floor and walk away for a couple of minutes to clear your head, you’ll be way better off. You may have an urge to shake your baby or hit them to get them to stop crying. Stop. Walk away.

This will be different for every parent. Some people simply deal with little sleep and screaming differently than others. Screaming may not phase you, and you may be able to power through most every screaming fit. On the other hand, if you’re not one that deals with screaming well at all, then you may have to set your child down more often. Regardless of the type of person you are, learn when you should walk away.

If you’ve got another parent that you’re raising your child with, make sure you’re tag teaming the screaming baby in order to give the other parent a break. Don’t try to be a hero by powering through when you need a break. This is a sure fire way for you to lose your temper. Take a break when you’re able, clear your mind, and then come back and give the other parent a break. Take turns.

You’re not a bad parent because you have negative thoughts when your baby is screaming. You’re a great parent if you step away and take a break when you’re at your breaking point. Do not hurt your child. Make sure that the other parent knows that you’ve got their back and that if they need a break that they should tell you. Make sure they know that you won’t judge them when they need a break.

Know when to step away from the situation. A screaming child will drive anyone insane, whether your own child or not. Clear your mind and then get back to attending to your child.