For parents and non-parents

Must read. Every single word of this article:
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics/fussy-baby/7-things-parents-should-know-about-babys-cries

Often, you hear this comment coming from a man, a single or a non-parent: "Don't carry the baby everytime the baby cries. Just let the baby cry it out."

I gotta admit I was guilty of giving such remarks too. But now I know I can't. And I've learnt that a mother is tuned to her baby's cries. Leaving the baby to cry makes a mother very uneasy.

From the article in the link above: "Responding to baby's cries is biologically correct. A mother is biologically programmed to give a nurturant response to her newborn's cries and not to restrain herself."

Furthermore, researches have shown that leaving babies to cry will result in babies with high stress:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2149060/Babies-left-unhappy-hours-stress-hormone-remains-high.html

And excessive crying is harmful to the baby in the long run:
http://www.askdrsears.com/?q=topics%2Ffussy-baby%2Fscience-says-excessive-crying-could-be-harmful

It is also pretty often that a non-parent gets pretty annoyed when a parent-friend doesn't heed any well-meaning advice. The former will think why is the latter trying to act like a "know-it-all". Just look at those comments below this blog entry:
http://jasongood.net/365/2011/06/day-166-to-all-my-friends-without-children/

Oh trust me, I've been through that too. In fact it seems like only yesterday when I thought that way. But wow, how time flies, and now I'm a 2-month-old new mother. I can tell you very frankly that a mother may not know it all, but she definitely knows it better. You can't even try to put yourself in the shoes of a mother. You have to be a mother and experience being a mother to feel it and to understand it.

And now I finally feel it and understand it... never judge a mother unless you are one. But wait, who am I to tell you never? i was like that myself too. And this definitely is one thing that "the men won't get it". That, never. Because motherhood is a privilege that only women get to experience and enjoy. ^^