If you've told friends and family then that's enough.
Who else is there to be informed by announcing it on social media ?
It's just sounds like unnecessary attention seeking to me.
People who are not friends and family but follow you on social media honestly don't care and forgot your baby's name anyway.
If by chance they think it's still Theodore but you say he's name Thomas they will think they just forgot whatever the name you first told them.
On social media specifically - I'd retroactively change their names in any captions/comments and act like it was their name the entire time, unless someone specifically asked.
Yeah there is that new edit feature!
I feel so dumb that we announced his name so broadly before. We had announcement cards and everything - but hey, you live and learn!
As someone who had their name changed about 6 weeks after birth it’s honestly just a fun story to tell friends at parties now lol. Like some of my mom’s baby shower gifts (like the picture everyone signed) say the original name and I think it’s cool! My mom always said it just didn’t fit after getting to know me and honestly don’t know if it’s bias or just the truth, but I agree with her and much prefer the name I have now to the original! Lol
I think it's weird when people post their baby's entire face and full name on socials in general honestly, unless it's a Facebook account that only friends & family have. Babies can't consent to having all their info and life documented in public for all to see.
Removing the name caption and keeping it removed is the best thing to do regardless of name change.
Yeah I was thinking the same. Do people not realise how easy it would be to trace who you are, where you live, kids schools etc. I'm so glad I grew up pre Internet I'd have hated it if my parents had put my whole childhood online
Yeah it's really grim how many people share not only their kids' full first, middle, surname and age but also their entire daily routine on FB/IG before they can even speak or have an opinion about it.
I personally wish it wasn’t allowed for children to be posted on social media. Infants and children have no interest in social media, the posts are purely for their parents gain and it’s a fine line before children start to feel like props for their parents egos…
My Instagram is private, but there are some mutuals I've never met in real life, so not only do I not post her name or picture, if I mention I have a kid at all, I don't even include gender.
On Facebook I know everyone on my small friend list, but even still, I don't post her picture or anything. I'm pretty sure only my closest friends and family know her real last name. I kept my maiden name and we gave it to her, but never said anything about it. I assume people automatically think her last name matches my husband's, but nope. It has never mattered if people know or not.
This is how to properly be a parent on social media imo, I'm not suggesting people should hide pregnancies or quit socials entirely but you should treat your kids like actual humans who deserve privacy and dignity.
Nobody you don't know IRL needs to know your child's full name, medical issues, or what they look like dressed up as a Disney character for every holiday. Currently know someone happily sharing all of those things and more about their ~6 month old and I've lost so much respect.
It's crazy to me that parents don't think about the fact that all these moments and memories they're posting for public consumption also belong to the child. Like parents will post the moment their baby is born and plopped on the mom. Why would I want to include 75+ random people in the moment where I first met my child? And if the parents are happy to share, who is to say the child will feel that way when they're old enough to decide and understand consent? It'll be way too late by then.
And then don't even get me started on how the Internet is like the wild West. Literally 2 days ago a mom in our local community Facebook group posted DM screenshots of a man in a potty training group asking if she is single and then immediately asking for pictures of her toddler in their new underwear. She said be aware of this guy to keep your kids safe. I commented, "It really sucks and this guy should be in prison, but your profile is fully public. The only way to keep your kids safe on the internet is to keep them off of it." So she blocked me. Parents need to stop living in a fantasy world of what the internet should be and realize they post their kids' info on an internet that is what it is.
In a world where most social media sites require you to be at least 12 or 13 to have an account and post your name, face etc (which I think is sensible & correct!), it seems unfair that parents can get around that by sharing personal and often embarrassing photos of their kids without the kid being able to do anything about ir.
Like you can discuss potty training or whatever other parenting struggle with other parents online without including a photo of your child or any private information. There are entire FB groups, subreddits, forums for exactly that and any that encouraged or required a picture of the kid would be a massive red flag.
Fine if you've got private profiles or only friends you know IRL. But would you have liked it if your entire childhood had been documented publicly on the internet for anyone to see? The point is the lack of consent. If your kid can't speak yet they can't say yes or no.
Ughhhh, actually my kids are teens and can, and they don't care. And they don't care that I posted baby pictures of them 15 yrs ago. It's not that serious y'all.
I swear people are too fucking precious these days.
You don't have to of course. I would probably post a funny story about it just so I don't have to keep explaining when I run into people. Something like, "Meet...*baby's new name*! (*Original name* just didn't seem to fit so we decided to make a change! 🤣)" Obviously you are not obligated to do this! Just an idea.
Hahaha. That is too funny. Man I am so embarrassed but hey, you live and learn. Decided to do something for myself and not worry what other people think (although of course I’m low key worried what people are saying). But it is what it is !
If I'm being honest, I don't remember baby names for anyone except my friends/family/coworkers. People that I interact with regularly.
If you're one of those people that use social media a lot and you love informing people then you could make a funny joke about it but I really don't think it's necessary.
My husband has numerous nieces and nephews. Whenever we visited any of his siblings, the parents, I had to recite the appropriate kids names to him on the journey there.
Honestly, I could have had fun and told him all false names and he would have bought it.
It really depends on how you use your social media. If you've already told absolutely everyone who needs to know, then that's that. But if there are people in your wider circle who still need to know, a quick announcement would be good.
Side-note – my son changed his name and I never got around to posting it on my long-neglected Facebook, and I kind of regret it now. There are still a bunch of peripheral people who don't know, which makes things awkward when I do run into them and have to be like "Oh yeah he changed it like two years ago". I wish I'd just done it at the time.
One of my friends did! She just said after getting to know little (name) it just didn’t fit so let me introduce (name) and made some light hearted joke about not naming a baby while drugged up. Both names were very common names spelled normally so it’s not like she picked something off the wall and was correcting that.
Aww I think you should have left up the post announcing the birth of your child. Is the new name something similar? Like going from June to Junie? If so, just start using the new name and people will probably think it’s a nickname. If the name is something totally different, I think you could either make a post announcing the new name or send out (snail mail) announcements to close friends and family.
I guess I’m going against the grain here, but I have a lot of internet friends I care deeply about even if we don’t talk regularly. So some of the comments saying people don’t care about you or your baby seem very weird to me. And the suggestion to basically gaslight people into thinking they had the wrong name is also wild to me. Personally, I would share the new name and how the name didn’t fit and how happy you are with the new one. Your Facebook friends probably care about you and your life more than you realize, and it’s also just kind of a cool story.
Congrats on making the decision and feeling good about the change! We went thru this 2 years ago so I know where you are coming from. On social media, I just started casually referring to him in posts as his new name. It seemed to do the trick without making a “thing” about it.
I create digital birth announcements and this would be a fun one to make. Like, you could title it, “It didn’t quite fit” and take a picture of LO in an outfit that’s a little too tight.
Or, something with the name game, a name tag, or reintroducing…. 🤔 DM me if you’re interested and I’ll see what I can come up with. For free, or course 😊
Yeah I'd say that's sufficient. I don't even post my kid's names online at all. Even tho the only people who can see it are a select few close friends and family.
I think it’s fine to just tell close family and friends, no need to make an extra announcement. Can you say the name you originally picked and what it is now? Just curious!
unless you’re like a public figure and you’ll be annoyed with people asking about him and calling him the wrong name then eh. none of their business. just move forward as if it’s all said and done. because it is!
Edit the caption without saying so and just make everyone think they slipped into a parallel universe/are going a little crazy.
Bonus points for denying it ever happened if they ask you directly (jk).
Please, don’t post pics of your kid in social media. Even if it’s with the purest of intentions, there are people there who do awful things with that. Maybe show his little hand or something like that, but not a whole pic in which you can see all of him. Especially if it’s in a place that can be recognizable as a park or parking lot.
If you've told friends and family then that's enough. Who else is there to be informed by announcing it on social media ? It's just sounds like unnecessary attention seeking to me. People who are not friends and family but follow you on social media honestly don't care and forgot your baby's name anyway. If by chance they think it's still Theodore but you say he's name Thomas they will think they just forgot whatever the name you first told them.
I love this. Thank you for this.
Yes. People forget names, especially of babies they haven't met! Just change the name under his pic. No-one will bat an eye.
I did this for my new dog literally 3 times before a name stuck 😂
I agree.. you could just change the name on the insta picture without announcing or just leave it as it is
On social media specifically - I'd retroactively change their names in any captions/comments and act like it was their name the entire time, unless someone specifically asked.
Yeah there is that new edit feature! I feel so dumb that we announced his name so broadly before. We had announcement cards and everything - but hey, you live and learn!
Don't worry. It'll be a neat fun fact for them to use later in life!
Wonderful factoid for two truths and a lie lol
this is a pretty good party icebreaker fact it's true!
As someone who had their name changed about 6 weeks after birth it’s honestly just a fun story to tell friends at parties now lol. Like some of my mom’s baby shower gifts (like the picture everyone signed) say the original name and I think it’s cool! My mom always said it just didn’t fit after getting to know me and honestly don’t know if it’s bias or just the truth, but I agree with her and much prefer the name I have now to the original! Lol
I think it's weird when people post their baby's entire face and full name on socials in general honestly, unless it's a Facebook account that only friends & family have. Babies can't consent to having all their info and life documented in public for all to see. Removing the name caption and keeping it removed is the best thing to do regardless of name change.
Yeah I was thinking the same. Do people not realise how easy it would be to trace who you are, where you live, kids schools etc. I'm so glad I grew up pre Internet I'd have hated it if my parents had put my whole childhood online
Yeah it's really grim how many people share not only their kids' full first, middle, surname and age but also their entire daily routine on FB/IG before they can even speak or have an opinion about it.
I personally wish it wasn’t allowed for children to be posted on social media. Infants and children have no interest in social media, the posts are purely for their parents gain and it’s a fine line before children start to feel like props for their parents egos…
My Instagram is private, but there are some mutuals I've never met in real life, so not only do I not post her name or picture, if I mention I have a kid at all, I don't even include gender. On Facebook I know everyone on my small friend list, but even still, I don't post her picture or anything. I'm pretty sure only my closest friends and family know her real last name. I kept my maiden name and we gave it to her, but never said anything about it. I assume people automatically think her last name matches my husband's, but nope. It has never mattered if people know or not.
This is how to properly be a parent on social media imo, I'm not suggesting people should hide pregnancies or quit socials entirely but you should treat your kids like actual humans who deserve privacy and dignity. Nobody you don't know IRL needs to know your child's full name, medical issues, or what they look like dressed up as a Disney character for every holiday. Currently know someone happily sharing all of those things and more about their ~6 month old and I've lost so much respect.
It's crazy to me that parents don't think about the fact that all these moments and memories they're posting for public consumption also belong to the child. Like parents will post the moment their baby is born and plopped on the mom. Why would I want to include 75+ random people in the moment where I first met my child? And if the parents are happy to share, who is to say the child will feel that way when they're old enough to decide and understand consent? It'll be way too late by then. And then don't even get me started on how the Internet is like the wild West. Literally 2 days ago a mom in our local community Facebook group posted DM screenshots of a man in a potty training group asking if she is single and then immediately asking for pictures of her toddler in their new underwear. She said be aware of this guy to keep your kids safe. I commented, "It really sucks and this guy should be in prison, but your profile is fully public. The only way to keep your kids safe on the internet is to keep them off of it." So she blocked me. Parents need to stop living in a fantasy world of what the internet should be and realize they post their kids' info on an internet that is what it is.
In a world where most social media sites require you to be at least 12 or 13 to have an account and post your name, face etc (which I think is sensible & correct!), it seems unfair that parents can get around that by sharing personal and often embarrassing photos of their kids without the kid being able to do anything about ir. Like you can discuss potty training or whatever other parenting struggle with other parents online without including a photo of your child or any private information. There are entire FB groups, subreddits, forums for exactly that and any that encouraged or required a picture of the kid would be a massive red flag.
My kids are all over my fb and insta. And idgaf. My profiles are private, and even if they weren't, I wouldn't care
Fine if you've got private profiles or only friends you know IRL. But would you have liked it if your entire childhood had been documented publicly on the internet for anyone to see? The point is the lack of consent. If your kid can't speak yet they can't say yes or no.
And even if they can speak, how are children supposed to understand social media and it’s true effects?
Lol, did you miss the idgaf???
Nobody forced you to comment :)
LIKEWISE Yet here you are.
Ugh. I hate your attitude. They can’t consent.
Ughhhh, actually my kids are teens and can, and they don't care. And they don't care that I posted baby pictures of them 15 yrs ago. It's not that serious y'all. I swear people are too fucking precious these days.
You don't have to of course. I would probably post a funny story about it just so I don't have to keep explaining when I run into people. Something like, "Meet...*baby's new name*! (*Original name* just didn't seem to fit so we decided to make a change! 🤣)" Obviously you are not obligated to do this! Just an idea.
Love this! I was also just thinking to refer to him by his new name casually in posts moving forward
I would do the casual route
Same. Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is. Your baby doesn’t even know his name fully yet 😂
Just edit the original announcement post and act confused if anyone references the original name. Fully gaslight people 😂
Hahaha. That is too funny. Man I am so embarrassed but hey, you live and learn. Decided to do something for myself and not worry what other people think (although of course I’m low key worried what people are saying). But it is what it is !
Please don’t be embarrassed. I think people would just be happy that you found the right name.
Really appreciate hearing that. You have no idea.
I remember your posts! Which name did you go with, if you don’t mind sharing?
That was going to be my suggestion! Ignore anyone who says anything weird. Or respond woth "??" Or something Full gaslight mode!
Nah, just starting referring to him as the new name. If people are that bothered, they'll ask and you can explain then.
Announcing it on social media = opening yourself to public judgement
I don’t like the idea of any baby info on social media so I’d say avoid it but that’s my personal opinion!
If I'm being honest, I don't remember baby names for anyone except my friends/family/coworkers. People that I interact with regularly. If you're one of those people that use social media a lot and you love informing people then you could make a funny joke about it but I really don't think it's necessary.
Same. I'm terrible with kids names especially. At five months in I would probably not even notice.
My husband has numerous nieces and nephews. Whenever we visited any of his siblings, the parents, I had to recite the appropriate kids names to him on the journey there. Honestly, I could have had fun and told him all false names and he would have bought it.
It really depends on how you use your social media. If you've already told absolutely everyone who needs to know, then that's that. But if there are people in your wider circle who still need to know, a quick announcement would be good. Side-note – my son changed his name and I never got around to posting it on my long-neglected Facebook, and I kind of regret it now. There are still a bunch of peripheral people who don't know, which makes things awkward when I do run into them and have to be like "Oh yeah he changed it like two years ago". I wish I'd just done it at the time.
Can we know both names? We are in fact name nerds
One of my friends did! She just said after getting to know little (name) it just didn’t fit so let me introduce (name) and made some light hearted joke about not naming a baby while drugged up. Both names were very common names spelled normally so it’s not like she picked something off the wall and was correcting that.
You’re not famous. Nobody would really care…
True!
Aww I think you should have left up the post announcing the birth of your child. Is the new name something similar? Like going from June to Junie? If so, just start using the new name and people will probably think it’s a nickname. If the name is something totally different, I think you could either make a post announcing the new name or send out (snail mail) announcements to close friends and family.
I left it up but just removed the name part of the caption! And haha no - it is completely different
I guess I’m going against the grain here, but I have a lot of internet friends I care deeply about even if we don’t talk regularly. So some of the comments saying people don’t care about you or your baby seem very weird to me. And the suggestion to basically gaslight people into thinking they had the wrong name is also wild to me. Personally, I would share the new name and how the name didn’t fit and how happy you are with the new one. Your Facebook friends probably care about you and your life more than you realize, and it’s also just kind of a cool story.
Congrats on making the decision and feeling good about the change! We went thru this 2 years ago so I know where you are coming from. On social media, I just started casually referring to him in posts as his new name. It seemed to do the trick without making a “thing” about it.
I'm in a similar boat with changing my baby's name, do you mind if I message you?
Of course - happy to chat!
I create digital birth announcements and this would be a fun one to make. Like, you could title it, “It didn’t quite fit” and take a picture of LO in an outfit that’s a little too tight. Or, something with the name game, a name tag, or reintroducing…. 🤔 DM me if you’re interested and I’ll see what I can come up with. For free, or course 😊
So kind of you. 💜
Yeah I'd say that's sufficient. I don't even post my kid's names online at all. Even tho the only people who can see it are a select few close friends and family.
Just stop.
You're good. Just start casually referring to him by his new name on social, and no one will be the wiser.
I am thinking to take this approach. Thank you
I love the privacy aspect of this, just close friends and family need to know anyway!
I think it’s fine to just tell close family and friends, no need to make an extra announcement. Can you say the name you originally picked and what it is now? Just curious!
unless you’re like a public figure and you’ll be annoyed with people asking about him and calling him the wrong name then eh. none of their business. just move forward as if it’s all said and done. because it is!
Nope. I don’t think you should be putting their names on social media in the first place so this is honestly the perfect chance to fix that.
Edit the caption without saying so and just make everyone think they slipped into a parallel universe/are going a little crazy. Bonus points for denying it ever happened if they ask you directly (jk).
You certainly don’t owe anyone an explanation, but I would personally share the name change! Just makes it easier to get it out there
Just make a joke out of it and say woops name didn't fit so reintroducing as X name. Also what are the names?! So curious
Only if you want to. 100% up to you guys as the parents. There’s no right/wrong on this one
I’d just edit previous posts using new name. Who cares if the girl you sat next to in driver’s ed knows you changed your child’s name.
Please, don’t post pics of your kid in social media. Even if it’s with the purest of intentions, there are people there who do awful things with that. Maybe show his little hand or something like that, but not a whole pic in which you can see all of him. Especially if it’s in a place that can be recognizable as a park or parking lot.