Country singer and former Dancing with the Stars contestant Jana Kramer is used to receiving advice in her profession, and considering how far she's come, it's safe to assume she's learned how to distinguish between the good and the bad recommendations.
Though she's surrounded by talented and experienced people in the music studio, she sometimes looks to the internet for parenting suggestions when she has questions regarding her 17-month-old daughter Jolie Ray. It takes a village, right?
While hanging out at Chicago's Windy City Smokeout Festival over the weekend, the singer opened up to People about some of the varied reactions she's received online.
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The 33-year-old mother told the entertainment outlet about a recent positive experience when she was struggling to get her daughter to sleep through the night.
"The other night, I put [Jolie] in bed with us because I was like, 'I need sleep. [But that's going to start a really bad habit,'" she told People. "I've talked to a few of my mom friends who say they can't break the habit, so just let her cry it out one night.
Kramer then posed the same question to her Instagram followers and was surprised to find her new favorite trick.
"One of the fans said to put lavender oil on the bottoms of her feet, so I did and she slept through the night," she told People. "I don't even know if it was that or she was just so tired from not sleeping the three days before, but [I use] lavender oil every night now."
If only all of her fan interactions were that lovely. Kramer continued to tell People that she sometimes receives unsolicited advice from fans that can sometimes come across as rude or insulting.
Earlier this year, Kramer took her daughter to Discovery Cove in Orlando, where they played with different animals and put their toes in the sand. Soon after she posted a couple of photos to Instagram, her feed was overrun with comments from people who were concerned she'd bring her little girl to a place where animals are held in captivity, according to People.
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In one photo, the mother-daughter duo were all smiles as they looked at an armadillo. Despite not touching the creature, one commenter warned Kramer that she'd exposed her daughter to danger.
"Be careful those are the animals that cause leprosy!!!" one commenter wrote, later adding: "I (and I am sure Jana would not want) to walk or be near anything that can cause illness...Just trying to help a new mother."
Another commenter questioned Kramer's decision to wear a bathing suit, to which the singer replied: "Because I was hot. Anything else you want to criticize?!"
Although some people may genuinely be trying to help, it's important to remember that no one knows a child or a situation like the guardian. We can also never know which parenting questions someone has already asked, what resources they've already received, or which methods actually work for one person's child.
"I know everyone has an opinion; everyone has a right to an opinion," Kramer told People, later adding: "What frustrates me is when they think they know something better. Unwarranted advice is not what moms want."
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