10. Social Media Parenting: Navigating Advice Overload Without Losing Your Mind

Welcome back to Caffeinated Chaos! Today, we're diving into something every parent has likely done: turning to social media for parenting advice. From 3 AM Google searches to TikTok tips on tantrums, social media has become the go-to resource for quick parenting solutions. But with endless opinions and the risk of judgment, how do we navigate this space without losing our minds? 

In this episode, I share: 
- Why it's okay to seek advice online — but how to avoid feeling judged or overwhelmed. 
- Four actionable tips to help you navigate the sea of parenting content, including how to vet your sources, set boundaries, and take advice that aligns with your parenting style. 
- Practical tools and strategies like parenting books, local support groups, and creating a curated list of advice to avoid decision fatigue. 
- The importance of following influencers who uplift rather than judge, and knowing when to hit "unfollow." 

Social media is a helpful tool, but remember, no one knows your child better than you. Trust your instincts, Parentpreneurs! 


Links Mentioned:
📖 Episode 5: How to Stop Comparing Yourself to That Perfect Instagram Mom

👩‍⚕️ Don’t miss next week’s episode featuring Dr. Monica Maura on parenting teens!  

Cheers! Thank you for joining us for another episode. Have a chaotic moment, question, or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message or leave a review! If you loved this episode, share it with a friend who thrives in beautiful chaos too.

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The views and opinions expressed by guests on Caffeinated Chaos are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, beliefs, or positions of Whitney Aguon or Aguon Studios LLC. The content shared by guests is for informational and entertainment purposes only. We encourage listeners to do their own research and form their own...

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to cafe chaos. So today we're talking about something that I think a lot of us can relate to. Yes. I know. I think I've said that before, but this one is probably the most relatable thing we've talked about on the podcast so far. And it's turning to social media for parenting advice. So this one's for the parents out there. How many of you raised your hand? Even if it's in your mind, raise your hand. If you've turned a Google tick talk Instagram for help, just to name a few. I mean, they don't send us home with a manual when they give us the baby at the hospital, do they. No. There is so much noise out there and we are just, you know, trying to find advice that actually works for us. Here's the thing though. How do we avoid feeling judged or overwhelmed by the endless streams of opinions? And I know that we've all been there. Right. You're up at 3:00 AM. You're trying to figure out why the baby just won't go to sleep or maybe you're like me and trying to deal with the tantrum from your toddler in the middle of target. Anyone. Yeah, social media is let's face it a quick and easy place to search for answers. There are parents sharing real experiences platforms like Tik TOK and Instagram are filled with tips on everything from potty training, hats to gentle parenting strategies. You can basically find anything that you're looking for within minutes. But here's the thing. For every golden nugget there is out there. There are so many conflicting opinions waiting to just stress you out. Okay. You're strolling through videos. If you're like me and then you see one expert says, do it. This way, the other expert. That way suddenly you're spiraling and basically wondering did I ruin my kid's life when I didn't do XYZ when they were born? And then there's the judgment, the comments. Why do you doing this? What are you doing back in my day? I would never this and that. And the truth is. You are doing your best. And no one on the internet knows your child. Like you do. So now we're going to talk about like, how do we even step back and navigate social media with help? Losing our minds basically. Well, my friends here are some of my go-to tips. One, you need to vet your sources. Before you take any advice, please make sure you check who it's coming from, where it's coming from. Is this person credible? Are they an expert or are they just sharing? What's worked for them. I mean both. Avenues have value. Don't get me wrong, but you need to know the difference for me personally, like on this podcast, I share a lot of things in actionable steps. They are things that I take, things that I've done, that I found helpful. Uh, in both parenthood and being an entrepreneur. But I don't call myself an expert. So when I give tips, they are my tips that have helped me. So again, You can take things with a grain of salt and just make sure that you vet your sources and who you're listening to. It's really important. Too with that. I want to, to also take advice from those who resonate with you. Leave the rest of the noise behind. All right. There's a lot of things going on in social media and you do not have to take every piece of advice because not everything is going to work for your family. And that's okay. I want you to take what feels doable, what feels aligned with your parenting style and the way that your family works. Okay. And leave the rest behind. Three. Set boundaries for scrolling. Because you will fall into the void of just scrolling for hours. All right. This one. Still learning to do. But I'm getting better all the time. And it's limiting the amount of time you spend looking up advice. All right. So say for example, you are trying to find the best way to get your kids to eat vegetables. Don't spend too much time going through all the things on the internet because you'll end up taking more time doing that and spending less time on. Actually achieving the action that you want and not to mention you are going to have major decision fatigue afterwards. For please remember context. Okay. Remember context matters. So what works for one family? Like I said before, may not work for yours. It is not a one size fits all solution, especially in parenthood and, you know, It's kind of beautiful that way because everyone has their own styles. But we just need to make sure that one person's style may not fit yours. Okay. And that is perfectly fine. So I want you to take these four things. Keep it in mind whenever you're going online. All right. Let's talk about tools. And strategies to make your life easier. Again, my recommendations. You can take them or you can leave them. So one thing is parenting books and podcast. So look for experts who are aligned with your values and do a deep dive in their content. Sometimes a single source of information is going to be less overwhelming than all the things you can find on. Take talking Instagram and Google. Find someone that you like, if you like their style if you like what they do. And it's aligned with you. That is who you should be deep diving into. Parenting books and all that, you can visit your local library. You can go to your bookstores search, apple podcast, Spotify podcasts, or just stay right here. If you want a little bit of parenthood and business wrapped up to one. Of course, I'm just going to say it here, everything. I name all the. All the apps and everything. I am not affiliated with any of them. These are just my recommendations. Okay. Two. Local panting groups. So this one, when I was pregnant, there were tons of signs and pamphlets for support groups, for parents who went through C-section support groups of first-time parents. So. Go and try to find a local parenting group because sometimes having that in-person or local community help is better than polling, a bigger audience online because the local support group. No's basically. There from your area. They know the environment that you are raising your children and raising your family in. And so they'll be able to provide more context to their advice, basically. Three. Google drive or the apps note, open them up and keep a running list of tips that you want to try so that you're not bombarded with them all at once. I mean, don't create lists that are like a hundred things long. But one thing I tend to do is if I see something on social media, like Instagram, Then I'll send that real to my husband. And then later on in the day, when he's home from work and he's watching his reels, I'm like, Ooh, I really want to try that. Or I really want to try that. And sometimes I'll see something and I'm like, oh, actually, no, I don't want to do that. I don't even know why I sent that to you. I don't want to do that. So it gives me. Kind of a cooling off period. In my opinion. So that you can kind of like, if you see all those things at once, you might be really gun-ho in the beginning. And then once you've taken a step back and you're like, wait, That would not work for our family and that doesn't work for my parenting style. So it gives you a nice cooling off period. Next thing I want you to do is I want you to follow influencers and people that are giving you positive vibes that are lifting you up instead of breaking you down. And I know that this is a good way to kind of curate your feed, to include things that are educating you or uplifting you in instead of making you feel judged. All right. You don't have to follow everybody. All the time, maybe you like one thing of their content, but the rest of it, you don't like, so then hold on to that one thing and then don't follow the person. Or if you are following somebody and their content now just makes you feel judged for not having like a clean house. Or well-behaved children. Like. Instagram and social media is and take talks. They don't show you everything all the time. It is a curated view into that person's life. So if you're starting to feel judged by that, it's okay to unfollow someone. I know I've said this in a previous episode. But it is okay to unfollow someone. And then I want you to go to episode five. It's how to stop comparing yourself to that. Perfect Instagram mom, and listen to that episode as well, too, because you should not be feeling like you are being judged on social media is. Okay to unfollow people. So if that is something that you are feeling, please go back and listen to episode five. I'll link it in the show notes. So bottom line is that. Social media is a tool. It's not the authority on parenting by any means, and you know, your child better than anyone and it's okay to trust your instincts. Okay. So no matter what the comments say, you are a great parent. I don't want you to doubt yourself. I want you to actually remember that all those influencers, like I said, they don't have it all figured out there. Feed and their life. It that we see is curated. And you who knows? They're probably winging it just like us. And for you. You are doing amazing. I would love for you to connect with us and share your story and your experiences, whether that's finding us on Instagram. You can find us at cafe chaos podcast on Instagram. We are not on Tik TOK. Um, but I am always on. Instagram and threads. So you can go ahead and connect with us there. I want to know what's worked for you. What has it, I mean, I'm still a mom of littles and I can't even think about. Uh, teenagers. And so. Yeah, let me know what works for you. But if you do have teenagers next Monday, we are going to have Dr. Monica Maura in with us. And she's going to talk all about how. She helps parents and teenagers connect. So yes, it's going to be a good one. Make sure you tune in on Monday. So hit that follow button and make sure you're following us. Until then remember, even on the messiest days, you are doing an amazing job. Parenthood is beautiful. It's rewarding, but. Sometimes we can't quite see it all the time. Okay. You know what I'm talking about? The cold coffee, the bags under the eyes, we've all been there and it will pass my friend. It will pass. Until next time, keep sipping that coffee and if it's still in the microwave. Go get it, honey. You deserve it, embrace the chaos and give yourself the grace you deserve until next time I will see you all get by my friends. If you love this episode, we would really appreciate it. If you would leave us a review, it really helps our podcast get discovered by more people and lets them know that this is the place to be. If you are a parent and entrepreneur. Our new episodes come out every Monday and Thursday and don't forget to follow us. So you get all the notifications and share this with your bestie. All right, everyone. I will see you next time. Bye.