Jessa Seewald (née Duggar) is one of 19 children, but despite being surrounded by siblings of all ages growing up, she still didn’t know everything when it came to being a mom herself. The Counting On star, 27, and her husband, Ben Seewald, sat down exclusively with Moms Like Us hosts Christina Garibaldi and Stroller In the City’s Brianne Manz to share the one piece of advice they wish they had known before becoming parents. Watch the video above to see what she had to say.
“I think there were so many things that I felt like ‘I totally know how to do this. I’ve been around kids,’ but then when it’s your own kid, it’s totally different. For one, it’s your responsibility, it’s not like, ‘Here, Mom, the kid stinks, change the diaper,’” the reality star explained. “Waking up in the night, I think that was probably one of the hugest adjustments for me. Feeling that responsibility of checking on their fever and making sure they’re OK. Like, when do I know to go to the doctor?”
“Yeah, just waking up in the night with the newborn,” Ben, 25, chimed in. “Jess would be the one who’d mostly wake up, but I would change diapers.”
One thing Jessa knows for sure is that it’s OK to ask for help and advice from someone who’s done it before, like her mom, Michelle Duggar.
“I’m constantly going to moms who are a season ahead of me, like my own mom, and saying, ‘Hey, do you have a kid with this personality?’ Or ‘Have you dealt with this issue before?’ Or ‘How do you keep your cool?’” Jessa told Us. “That’s something I always ask my mom if I feel like I’m getting frustrated over little things. I’m totally just in awe of my mom’s patience, for sure.”
Jessa and Ben share three children — sons Spurgeon, 4 and Henry, 3, and daughter Ivy, 13 months. Keep up with their family and the rest of the Duggars during season 11 of Counting On on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
In the latest episode of Moms Like Us, Garibaldi and Manz also break down the biggest clapbacks from celebrity moms and dads this week. Plus, Taye Diggs opens up about coparenting his 10-year-old son, Walker, whom he shares with ex-wife Idina Menzel.
Catch Moms Like Us every Thursday on Us Weekly’s YouTube channel at 3 p.m. ET.
