Life as a brand new mom can be overwhelming.
So many new adjustments all at once.
Healing your postpartum body, caring for a new baby and figuring out if ‘You’ still exist somewhere in there.
By the way, even though your a new mom, ‘You’ still exists.
You may just have to redefine what that means.
Here are our favorite ways to make life easier as a new mom.
1. Prepare Well for Postpartum
Preparing well for postpartum is a must!
So many new moms somehow forget about themselves during all the birth and baby planning.
Your body goes through a lot during pregnancy and birth. From healing the birthing wounds, dealing with breastfeeding pains and recovering from exhaustion, your body could use a little help.
Make sure you find all the best postpartum recovery tips you can get your hands on and create a great postpartum game plan, right alongside all that birth and baby planning.
2. Plan for Healthy Meals
It’s a great idea to stock up on freezer meals before your baby comes. If you can, plan a day where you enlist a few family members or friends to help you food prep and prepare several meals all in one day.
If that sounds too overwhelming you can just double your daily meals and freeze half a few weeks before the big day.
You can also register for meals postpartum and ask friends to bring you food! If you have a good support system, this is a great way friends and family can help make your transition as a new mom a little bit easier.
3. Ask for Help
Asking for help could preserve your sanity. I was very stubborn with my first baby.
I wanted to do everything myself, to prove I could handle it.
For some reason I thought asking for help was a sign that I wasn’t cut out for motherhood. That somehow I was a failure.
Oh, how I wish I could roll back the hands of time.
Don’t be like me. Ask for help.
The second time around I recruited my mother in law to care for my toddler and I would often announce to my family that I was done and going to rest. I hand over the baby and all of my responsibilities for a few glorious hours of rest.
Do this! Find someone to help you. Feel confident in this. By getting rest and taking care of yourself, you will be a better mother and partner. You will enjoy life more and be less prone to things like postpartum depression.
4. Find a Great Self-Care Activity
Finding self-care activities as a mom is so important. This can make or break your enjoyment as a new mom.
I find that many new moms feel selfish asking for time for “indulgent activities.”
But it’s not. In fact, finding time to take care of yourself will refill your cup, and allow you to give more to others.
So find one great thing you can do for yourself a day that makes you feel really good.
For me, this was a postpartum herbal bath. I got to soak in a warm, healing tub of dried flowers. It helped my body heal faster and it felt AMAZING. The water was so therapeutic for me.
Afterward, I felt like my batteries where recharged. I had more energy and was in a better mood. And let’s face it, this benefits everyone in the house.
Self-care is actually very selfless.
5. Try Not to Sweat the Small Stuff
And by small stuff, I mean your baby.
So many weird things to worry about with your first baby, and with all the infinite knowledge available at your fingertips, it’s easy to look for things to be worried about.
Things like developmental milestones.
Worrying over exact dates of milestones is kind of useless. If you are truly concerned bring it up with your doctor at your babies next appointment. But overall, it’s probably nothing.
Babies develop at different rates, and if they’re not perfectly on track it’s not a sign of inferior intelligence or agility. They are just taking their time.
Of course, these worries could be about anything. But the concept still applies, most worry is useless and robs joy.
Also, too much worry can also be a sign of postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety. So if you find yourself with what feels like more than normal worry, talk with your doctor.
6. The Big “Baby Sleep”
Unless you are extremely lucky and have a newborn that sleeps through the night on their own and lets you get tons of sleep yourself (do they actually exist?) then you are probably pretty concerned with sleep as a new mom.
If you have a bad sleeper, you may even be obsessed with it.
The fact is, baby sleep is hard. I am a researcher at heart, and with a not-so-great sleeper myself, I poured over every baby sleep article I could find. The thing is, you have to just find what works for you guys.
You know the “put baby down sleepy but still awake” thing… This doesn’t work for all babies!
Don’t make yourself crazy thinking you’re doing something wrong. Just find a few effective baby sleep tips that work for you.
7. Find Time to Reconnect with Your Partner
Having a new baby can put strain on even the most solid of relationships. You’re both under a lot of stress and tensions may be high.
Add in all the time spent caring for your new baby, means less quality time together. Even the best relationships can get tested in the new parenting phase.
To remedy this, make sure to find time to reconnect and communicate well. Talk about all the good and the bad that comes with this new life transition.
Even finding time to cuddle up together and watch reruns of The Office can make both of you feel better. Becoming a new mom, isn’t always the easiest transition in life. But with all the hard things that come with motherhood, there is a whole lot of good stuff too.
The most important thing you can do is to ensure that you take care of your self, so you can care for your baby better. Also, make sure to find a good support system too to make life easier as a new mom.
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