How can you be the best mom? While there is no right answer to this, you can strive to becoming an awesome parent by joining a new brigade of mommas who are creating waves in the world of parenting. They call themselves millennial moms. Tech-savvy, well-informed, and creative, these millennial moms are redefining rules of parenting. How? See for yourself.
As our popular real-life show Birth Days can attest, raising a modern child is filled with countless challenges — so we’ve got tons of helpful tips and tricks to use, straight from the show’s panel of experts. Check out more about the show here, plus find out where you can tune in. Watch a clip from the show below:
1. Millenial Moms Are Open To More Alternative Ways Of Parenting Than Their Mothers & Grandmothers
Millennial moms (born between 1980 and 2000) are taking a detour from the the angst-ridden, aspirational style of parenting so pilloried in the discourse about motherhood practiced by the Baby Boomers (born between the 1950s and 1970s). 31-year-old Liz Bareh, a stay-at-home mom to her 7-month-old daughter Madeline, told USA Today that the older generation thinks “there’s only one way to do things, and that’s it. But when I speak to people my age, it’s, ‘Whatever works for you.’ Boomers had Dr Spock. Millennials have each other.” In other words, there is more acceptance of different kinds of motherhood and not just one ‘right’ way to mother, according to these millennial moms.
Also on Z Living: 5 Parenting Truths We Learned From ‘Birth Days’
2. Millenial Moms Are Smart & Technologically Driven
Being the first generation to have access to the Internet, millennials are highly connected—each having an average of 3.4 social network accounts while also spending 17.4 hours per week on those sites, almost four hours more than average moms. Not only are they connected, but millennial moms are often highly sought-after for their advice. They share information online on several key topic areas from parenting, food, retail stores and everything else under the sun. “Unlike the generation before, we know we can’t ‘have it all’ in the traditional [sense]. But with technology and the availability and accessibility of options—there are a million ways to raise a baby—we can be an involved mother while still having a career on our own time,” first-time millennial mother Alison Matthews told the National Post.
3. Millenial Moms Have A Hands-On Approach To Parenting
The Strottman/C+R report portrays millennial moms as having a playful, hands-on approach to parenting. The report also notes that millennial moms harbor nostalgia for a simpler life, as well as a desire for a ‘team family’ approach that requires all members of the family to pitch in, rather than Mom taking the driver’s seat. Millennials say that the words ‘forgiving’, ‘involved’, and ‘enabling’ are more often used while raising their kids than ‘strict’, ‘conservative’, and ‘traditional’.
Also on Z Living: What If Your Baby Was Your Workout?
4. Millenial Moms Focus On Healthy Eating
Millennial moms are very conscious of what they feed their kids with an increased awareness of risks of unhealthy eating linked to obesity and allergies in kids. Fast food dining has gone down among millennial moms and healthy eating is on the rise.
Also on Z Living: ‘Birth Days’ Host Kathy Buckworth On Working Out While Parenting
5. Millenial Moms Are More Likely To Breastfeed
With more millennial moms becoming aware of the health advantages of breastfeeding through concerted public health campaigns, breastfeeding is on the rise again after it saw a sharp decline among moms from 1930 to the 1970s. If you’re experiencing pressure from a family member about raising your child, read 5 Ways To Handle Unsolicited Parenting Advice.
6. Millenial Moms Know The Rule “Back Is Best” For Their Baby.
Unlike the previous generation of mothers who were advised not to lay their babies on the back, millennial moms are doing just the opposite after the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended babies sleep on their backs in 1992.
