All parents make mistakes, and new parents surely do. As a new parent, before gaining your hands-on experience in parenthood, maybe these tips can keep you from making them yourself.

A recent study on 2,000 American moms shows that new moms generally take an average of three months and 13 days to feel they have got the hang of motherhood. Till then, it is inevitably for them to make mistakes. But if you know the 7 most common parenting mistakes, you can avoid them.

Mistake #1 Panicking over anything and everything

"Many new parents have overblown physical reactions to spitting up, vomitting, and other things a baby does,” says Leon Hoffman, MD, director of the Pacella Parent Child Center in New York. ” And the baby naturally picks up on that anxiety." 

Hoffman says parents tend to worry about the small stuff instead of enjoying their infant's first year of life. Is he having too many bowel movements or too few? Is she spitting up too much? Is she getting enough to eat or too little? Does he cry too much or not enough? Do these sound familiar to you?

Mistake #2 Not letting baby cry it out

Parents often think their job is to make sure the baby is not crying. That's because they relate crying with the fact that they are doing something wrong, and they need to fix it. However babies are designed to cry. They can be perfectly diapered and fed and still cry because that's the way they communicate. But if your baby is inconsolable for an hour and has a fever, rash, vomiting, a swollen belly, or anything else unusual, or you think something is not right, call and check with your doctor as soon as possible.

Mistake #3 Waking baby up to breastfeed

In fact, breastfed babies can and should sleep through the night, but nursing mothers has the common misconception that their breast milk isn't thick enough to get their infant through the night. But it is possible and beneficial for both the nursing mother and her baby to sleep through the night.

Mistake #4 Confusing spit-up and vomit

The difference between spit-up and vomit is frequency, not forcefulness. Spit-up can absolutely fly across the room. But vomiting is all about frequency. It is saying that if your baby is vomiting with a gastrointestinal virus, it will come every 30 or 45 minutes regardless of feeding. Spit-up, on the other hand, is usually related to feeding.

Mistake #5 Expect newborn to self-defense against fever

For a 3 months old baby, any fever over 100.4 rectally is an emergency, except fever that develops within 24 hours after an infant's first set of immunizations.

Some parents may just think their baby feels warm and give the baby Tylenol, but that's a parenting mistake in this age group as an infant's immune system is not set up to handle an infection on its own.

Mistake #6 Not properly installing the car seat

Parents should choose the right seat [based on child's age group], and have it installed correctly, or go to get help putting it in.

Mistake #7 Neglecting oral care

"Many new parents don’t think about their newborn's teeth until it is too late," says Saul Pressner, a New York City-based dentist.

New parents should be mindful:

• To not give your infant milk in bed once teeth have come in. “This will increase the risk of developing cavities.
• Use a wet gauze to wipe down your baby’s gums, and start using a toothbrush when the baby turns 1.
• It’s also significant to make sure your child is getting enough fluoride. Fluoride is found naturally in water and helps prevent cavities. Some towns have fluoridated water through the taps. If yours doesn’t, consult your dentist about supplements.