Thanks and No Thanks Internet!

In my short 7 months of parenting, my knowledge is obviously limited and the little I thought I knew has become a muddled, mess of confused thoughts.  But if there's one thing I have learned well, it is that there is no constant.  My daughter changes every day and what worked a month ago, last week, maybe even yesterday probably won't work today.  Just when I think I need to do something drastic to fix a "problem", it fixes itself.  Or when I think I have something figured out...well, you get the idea.  I can rack my brain and try to recreate whatever circumstances I thought may have allowed her to sleep that extra hour or play contentedly by herself, but chances are it won't work.

And when situations do occur that I'm unsure about how to handle, where do I turn? Everyone has a different opinion whether they have kids or not.  Some of those opinions are solicited and some come shouted or whispered whether you asked for them or not.

The worst thing is all the "advice" on the internet.  From scientific articles to conspiracy theories to parents giving advice as to what worked for their kids.  With so many different opinions, how in the world is a new parent supposed to wade through the pages and pages of information?  To be honest, when I'm sleep deprived and scared that I've screwed up my child somehow, the most helpful thing is just seeing that so many other parents have already asked the same questions.  After all, if everyone else's kids slept through the night, do you think there would be thousands of books, articles, and blogs written on the subject?

Subjects ranging from breastfeeding and teething to pottytraining and vaccinations; if you can think of the question, chances are someone else has already asked it.  (By the way, has anyone else ever noticed that everyone's answer to 90% of the crazy things that babies do is teething?  Drooling, stinky pee, rashes, etc?  Just sayin).  But like I said, all the advice in the world doesn't help as much as just knowing you aren't alone in your fears and your insecurities.

So thank you parents for all of your comments and internet postings and for your honest questions.  Misery, joy, and sleep depravation love company.