A new study by a leading photo book website has revealed the top regrets of parents when it comes to doing things differently for their babies; with ‘not taking enough baby photos’ topping the poll.

It seems that most parents would do things a little differently for their babies if given the chance to go back in time, as a new study by a photo book website has revealed the ‘top parental regrets’ of parents with children now in their toddler years.

The study, conducted by www.MyMemory.com, aimed to look more into the parenting habits of mums and dads around the UK; and whether or not photographs formed a notable part of their baby’s upbringing. 1, 872 parents aged 18 and over took part, and had a child/children currently aged 2 to 4 years old.

Those taking part were asked what regrets, if any, they had about parenting choices/actions they made when their toddler was a baby. To this, the top 10 ‘parental regrets’ were as follows:

1) Wish I’d taken more photos of baby- 63%

2) Wish I’d not given baby a dummy- 58%

3) Wish I’d moved baby into separate room sooner- 51%

4) Wish I’d recorded more videos of baby- 49%

5) Wish I’d breastfed- 45%

6) Wish I’d not succumbed to cries so easily- 42%

7) Wish I’d not let my baby sleep in same bed as me- 37%

8) Wish I’d not rewarded good behaviour with junk food- 36%

9) Wish I’d kept track of ‘firsts’ ie. first word, first steps- 32%

10) Wish I’d socialised my baby more- 29%

In order to look more into the influence of photographs in a baby’s upbringing, the study also asked the parents taking part whether or not they had physical photos of their baby (as opposed to digital images), to which just a third, 34%, said “yes.” Of those who did not, the majority, 71%, explained that most of their photos remained on their computer.

Furthermore, 92% of those who did not have physical pictures of their baby had uploaded images of their baby onto social networking sites.

Rebecca Huggler, Co-Founder of MyMemory.com, commented on the findings:

“I think all parents, if they could go back, would do something a little differently, as that’s simply human nature; and with this study we really wanted to look into what the top regrets are amongst parents whose babies have recently grown into their toddler years. We have seen a huge spike in parents making photo books of their babies on-site, so wanted to look into what motives, if any, are behind this; and whether or not photos are playing a large part in how parents feel towards their own child’s upbringing.”

She continued:

“It was surprising to see ‘not enough baby photos’ as the top regret, but I think this is completely understandable. As a parent, you frequently feel that time is slipping away from you as your children get older, and not having enough photos to remember them as babies can be a huge regret. We’d encourage any parent to make the most of their child with photographs, no matter what age- so you have the perfect way of looking back. As for regrets, no one should have any as such- parenting is all about making mistakes, it’s the way you rectify them that counts!”