Carma Shoemaker sat on the floor with her infant son, holding his new sleeper first one way and then the other. "There were so many snaps in the crotch area that it must have taken me a half an hour to figure it out," says Shoemaker of Chester, Va. "It's funny now, but wasn't then. I was home alone with my new baby and I cried after not being able to handle all those snaps."

Nearly every new parent knows the feelings of insecurity that set in once their newborn comes home from the delivery room. Somehow, infants always seem much larger in the hospital, less fragile when surrounded by well-wishers and a medically-trained staff. Once taken home and parked in a way-too-big infant carrier on the middle of the living room floor, what new parent hasn't stared at their newborn and thought, "Now what?"

Shoemaker, whose son is now 13, remembers her own trial-and-error early days of parenthood. Today, Shoemaker is a nurse and writer and has two other sons, ages 10 and 5. She says her early mistakes were all part of becoming a seasoned parent.

"The best advice I could give a new mother is to not worry about what you don't know," says Shoemaker. "The important things, like hugging and loving, will come to you. The other things aren't hard to learn. And, as long as a baby is always handled gently and with love, parents don't need to be afraid of making mistakes. These mistakes make for great memories and wonderful stories when the kids are older."

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.