Maia Dunphy has never been one to shy away from sharing her true feelings especially when it comes to parenting.
Her blog The M Word has become somewhat a retreat for many mums from the pressures to be perfect.
That’s why it was no surprise when her latest post started a conversation and earned the mum-of-one a lot of praise.
Talking about the ever controversial topic of co-sleeping Maia explained her experience with her one-year-old son, Tom.
“I knew nothing about co-sleeping before I had a baby,” she said in her latest post today.
“But it started out of pure practicality. I was exhausted, our room is in a loft conversion, and the thought of traipsing up and down narrow stairs at 4am was not appealing.
“I told people it was for convenience.”
Maia spoke about the pressure she felt to defend her decision and to explain herself saying that she “used to try and justify it”.
It wasn’t until a woman commented on Maia’s situation calling it “lovely” that she felt empowered by her decision.
“Suddenly all the justification and explaining and biological reasons ceased to matter. It was indeed lovely and no one had ever said that to me before.”
Her post has received nearly 1,000 reactions and seems to have struck a chord with many other mums.
“So I forgot about the excuses, explanations and rationale and just enjoy it for what it is.
“As with any other area of my parenting, if I am creating problems out of good intentions, then they’ll be mine to fix.”
The comments have been rolling in from other mums who have had similar experiences and have felt similar shame.
“LOVE this, Maia. We co-sleep with our little one, she is now three and still in Mommy and Daddys bed,” read one comment.
“I always tell myself sure they wont still be doing it in college - this applies to co-sleeping, using a soother, nappies etc. Snuggles are awesome,” read another.
“Love this. Struggling with people telling me it's terrible to do but T sleeps better beside me.”
