Public Service Announcement: you are not required to socialise your baby.
You don’t have to go to play groups or attend a play centre. You don’t have to have play dates if you don’t want to.
You don’t have to make sure your child interacts with others because it’s “good for them”.
There is nothing wrong with raising your child your way – especially if you don’t feel comfortable about going out and doing things.
Your child will not be any less adjusted as an individual because you didn’t do these things.
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This is not a post against people who choose to do all of these awesome things – I applaud people who had / have the courage to take their kids out.
Some children NEED this interaction and of course the parents judge this situation a thousand percent; because each parent knows their child best.
And obviously if the adult is the one who needs interaction, then go for it! No criticism from me at all.
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I have researched it a bit and studies do say that socialising your children is helpful, but the thing is they don’t necessarily need to interact with a whole heap of others to get this skill. Interacting with the parent (and even older children) is the number one place they learn.
My personal experience is that when I had babies / young kids I struggled a lot with anxiety around leaving the house, and I felt bad for it.
So many people told me that I was stunting my children’s growth and they wouldn’t know how to act around other children because of it.
I can tell you – this is not true at all.
My children both went to Kindergarten at the age of 3.5 without attending a whole heap of things or socialising much, and they were fine.
We all choose to do what we do in life when it works for us, and for some people, going out and socialising doesn’t work.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to parenting – we do what we do to survive.
My grandmother had 9 children, and none of them did any activities outside of the house. My mum had 4 children and before school, we also didn’t go anywhere special or interact much with other children.
What we do individually is up to us and there is no blanket rule that suits everyone.
Please don’t feel bad if you want to stay at home. Please don’t feel bad if you want to go out.
Of course, if you are concerned about your feelings around this then definitely reach out and chat to others. Obviously I had post-natal depression and struggled with anxiety, so I’m sure if I had reached out to my GP earlier it may have been different.
Although I am a home-body and love being at home.
Did / do you take your kids out a lot when they were babies? Do you agree or disagree with me? Remember to use kind words if you don’t agree with me – we can all think differently in this world and still get along.
Please remember this is just my opinion based on my experience and research I’ve read.
