How does a "new parent" know more than me?

[Inspired by Reggio]

It is a hard balance for sure ladies ~ after all these are their babies it is hard to accept advice sometimes from others because well it means admitting that someone else might be spending more time with your baby NOW and therefore might be starting to know them better than you do

Flip the scenario here ~ is there nothing worse than going to your DR with a problem and your Dr dismissing it as 'normal' .... after all do you not know your body best and if something feels right or wrong with it? So many times in my health history I have 'accepted' the advice of the professional DR who told me I had pulled a muscle or the pain was just my 'body adjusting' after a surgery and ignored health issues in my body thinking it was just 'normal' to feel that way only to eventually end up with a GLARING health issue that could have been minimized if treated quickly and the Dr finally say 'oh wow that does not normally present that way initially'

I always try to approach things with a new children and clients BEFORE we get going and parents give me the 'routine from home' I accept it with a thank you and than explain that I will do my best to follow the child's cues based on this previous routine but that often children change their routines and patterns once they start group care ~ they often either eat more or less depending on personality ~ they will often eat more because they are doing more physically or mentally due to the group environment less because it is the one thing they have control of and they are not comfortable taking food from 'stranger' so need time to warm up , they often sleep more because they are again more physically and mentally stimulated by the larger group and so forth .... this helps me to head off any issues of at home and so forth .... so yes at home they may not have a nap on the weekends but during the week at GROUP CARE they are showing signs of still needing it

When all else fails as others have mentioned ~ you just smile and nod and avoid getting defensive because you know you are already DOING what they are requesting anyway and the behaviour is just 'normal' at this age to wake up for an extra bottle cause the child is likely preparing for a growth spurt ~ so just appease them with a 'I sure will' and go on about your business of meeting the child's needs during the day