The Good and Bad of Social Media

Many parents consume social media – it’s become a common part of daily routines. This inevitably impacts our mental health as parents. The space allows for connection with others, education, and inspiration. It’s a place to find parenting tips, health tips, and different perspectives. Simultaneously, it’s filled with over-information, misinformation, lack of nuance, or fear-mongering content. When parents are consistently consuming social media, it’s essential to navigate this space mindfully by selectively engaging with content that aligns with your needs and values.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are scrolling through social media…

Instagram is a collective highlight reel. You often follow many types of parenting accounts, like play ideas, recipes, education, and others. It’s important to remember that these are all individuals creating content within their niche, so they are great at sharing content within their area! It doesn’t mean they always play with their children, or always cook great meals and snacks, or know everything. They are still human.

Don’t let yourself start to feel less than, or ask, “Why am I not doing enough?” The truth is no human being can be amazing at everything; rather, it’s important to accept that we all have strengths and weaknesses.

Many posts leave out pieces of reality. Even vulnerable posts can be missing key pieces. This undeniably can lead to unfair comparisons. A study found that comparisons on social networking sites are related to higher levels of parental overload, lower parental competence and perceived support, and higher levels of maternal depression.

Even the subconscious comparisons can consume you. So, you’re watching stories and see someone pumping milk and notice that it’s a lot of milk, especially compared to how much milk you typically pump. What’s missing from this brief moment is the important context: she missed a nursing session, is power pumping, or has an oversupply. Most importantly, breastfeeding mothers produce different amounts of milk, and each baby consumes different quantities.

When it seems like someone is “doing it all.” It’s likely that they have help in other aspects of their life. No one has more hours in a day than you do – even though sometimes it feels that way. Everyone makes decisions and prioritizes differently based on their family preferences and needs.

Social media provides a wealth of information, but constantly consuming it can sometimes feel overwhelming. As a parent, you see all the content and don’t realistically have the time to do everything. You have to pick and choose what you want to focus on and what your child needs. You might not need to follow three different pediatric speech therapist accounts or four pediatric physical therapist accounts. Too much information can be confusing and overwhelming. You will know when social media content is becoming overwhelming when you get more and more information, but you’re not doing anything with it.

So, how can you consume social media while protecting your peace?

Know your why for consuming content on social media. Ask yourself, “Why am I on social media?” or “Why am I following this account?” It might be to learn, laugh, or be inspired. Think about your why and make sure your content fits your needs. 

Have the courage to unfollow or mute someone. You can unfollow anyone who doesn’t make you better. You can mute accounts you like but might be speaking about things that are triggering for you.

When you consume content and find yourself thinking, “Wow, I wish I had that!” or “I wish my kid were like that!” This is your reminder to take a moment and focus on what you do have. It’s so easy to think about the have-nots without realizing what we do have.

Take social media breaks. This is your reminder that social media may be easy to turn to when you’re looking to distract yourself. However, you are filling your mind with more information, and that’s the last thing your brain needs at that moment. Disconnecting from social media can help you become more mindful of your relationships and your feelings. Consuming content mindlessly doesn’t allow for quality connection, you still need quality interaction for connection. During your social media breaks, focus on other things that bring you joy.

On The Podcast

Solid Starts was founded in 2020 to revolutionize the way we feed our babies and toddlers. Their FREE first food database provides nutrition information and preparation information for the foods we eat and how we can make it accessible and safe for babies to eat from the time they start solids. I welcome the founder of Solid Starts, Jenny Best, to talk about Solid Starts and feeding babies and toddlers.

We discuss:

• How we as parents and our parenting style can impact feeding

• Why feeding is an incredibly important milestone

• Why self-feeding is important for babies

On YouTube

In this video, I discuss common childhood illnesses, how they spread, and when your child can return to school or activities. Topics include strep, pink eye, and more.

Ask Dr. Mona

An opportunity for YOU to ask Dr. Mona your parenting questions!

Dr. Mona will answer these questions in a future Sunday Morning Q&A email. Chances are if you have a parenting concern or question, another parent can relate. So let's figure this out together!