You are scrolling on TikTok and between short videos of new dance trends, you come across a few content creators who post matching “get ready with me,” videos with their toddlers. Your heart melts at the little giggles and matching outfits. You might be quick to pick up a onesie and fantasize about raising a kid during your Target run. However, are you ready for the “terrible twos” and changing diapers?
Many people fantasize about how cute and cuddly babies are instead of thinking about reality. Beyond the “aesthetic,” you are responsible for raising a human being. You can not pick and choose when you want to be a parent or when you feel like taking care of a baby when they are incapable of taking care of themselves.
Even knowing all this some teens still have this warm longing feeling when they see babies. This phenomenon is called “baby fever” which is the strong and unexpected desire to have children.
So many people think that babies stay docile and adorable forever. They think that what they see in the videos is the reality all day when this could not be further from the truth.
According to GoodTherapy.Org, “3 factors strongly contribute to the underlying desire for baby fever; Positive Exposure, Negative Exposure, and Trade-offs.”
People with positive exposure to children are more likely to want kids than those who have had negative exposure because they have seen the nice side of having a child; those who have seen the negative shy away from experiencing what they have seen.
Junior Tanaih Simms, has been around kids all her life whether it was watching a little cousin or babysitting.
“You have to have a strong mindset to have a kid,” said Simms. “Having a kid while dealing with school and work… can be too much to handle.”
Whether you are a teen or an adult having a baby can be stressful if you do not have the
proper support. Not everyone has everything figured out when it comes to children but you learn as you go and try to raise them to the best of your abilities.
Substitute teacher and coach, Marques Robinson, who is a father of two admits that no matter how young or old you are, you are bound to have struggles with parenting.
“You do not really run on your own time,” said Robinson. “For the first two to three months, you are running on their time; what time they eat and sleep. Sometimes you get two hours of sleep and doing that as a teen is going to be hard.”
Kids are very impressionable from a young age so they tend to copy what they hear
or say and as a parent you have to make sure you steer your child down the right path.
There are various aspects to being a parent that are not always displayed online. Your mental health plays a large role in raising a child. From worrying about whether your child is safe during the school day, to what you will eat for dinner as a family at night; it will take a constant toll on you.
While having children at a young age is not necessarily something that should be frowned upon, it is vital to remember that raising a child is a lifelong commitment; not something you should do as a “trend.”
