You May Find Yourself on an Emotional Rollercoaster I remember after my husband and I brought our newborn twins home and they were sitting in their car seats on the table. We thought we would have a sandwich before we picked up our four and two year old sons from the neighbors. One of the babies started wiggling around and waking up and I just burst into tears. As happy and relieved as I was that they were both healthy, I had a flurry of thoughts running through my mind; how are we going to manage four kids under four? How will we let each child know they are loved? How are we going to afford it? Through the hugs and tears it was then that we decided we would take it moment by moment, day by day. Our sons are now teens and we are still taking it one crazy day at a time.
Falling in Love with Your Baby Takes Time It is natural to be protective of your new baby, but it can take time to feel those overwhelming feelings of love. Give you and baby time to get to know one another.
Everything Doesn't Have to be Perfect When I was expecting my first son; I had this vision of him and me sitting in the rocking chair. My house would be spotless, I would be in a lovely nightgown, my hair and make-up perfect and Zachary would be smiling up at me?and did I mention the white curtains softly blowing behind me? I thought back to this vision as I was rocking a very fussy baby surrounded by baskets of laundry. I was wearing yesterday's sweats and praying that I would get a shower today. Once I realized that it was quite natural to have rough days like this, I quit stressing about it (so much). I have made home visits to moms who looked exactly like my perfect vision but I often wonder what it cost them.
When People Say...Call Me if I Can Help Take them up on it. Request casseroles, have someone come to fold laundry or to let you get a shower or nap. Friends will treasure the opportunity to hold your baby.
When Your Mother(in-law) Offers Outdated Advice Realize it is offered in love. She may also need to validate her own mothering experience and for you to know that she did the best she could with what she knew at that time. I realized this when my mother would say things like'Is he nursing again? Maybe you aren't making enough milk. Maybe if you gave him a little cereal he will sleep longer. Once I updated my mom (with love) she became a wonderful supporter of breastfeeding.Dad Wants to Help, He May Not Know How You may have read every parenting book, but Dad may not have had a chance. Encourage him to hold, snuggle and yes, even change some diapers. Praise him even if you find his first tries upside down or backwards on baby...he will soon become a professional. If you are nursing, Dad can bring baby to you and rock him/her back to sleep after feeding time. This will give Dad and baby time to bond.
You Can't Spoil a Newborn?The More You Hold Your Baby and Respond to Their Needs the More Secure He/She Will Be The first parenting book I received eighteen years ago stated that young babies need to learn how to comfort themselves and required strict schedules. After the first night of letting my baby ?cry it out? (as I was also crying) we realized this couldn't possibly be the right thing to do. We trusted our instincts and followed his cues, we held him and fed him when he needed it and eventually he developed his own routine. As I continued my work in the Maternal/Child field I had found that we did the right thing. There is a great deal of research that shows exactly what we figured out on our own. There are good parenting books out there but just remember--- you are the expert on your own baby.
There are Great Resources for Parents It is more than okay to ask for help. There is assistance for breastfeeding difficulties, financial problems, and postpartum depression just to name a few.
There are no Perfect Parents Each day prepares you for the next, and as parents we all make mistakes. Some days everything goes great, some days you find that whatever was working yeserday, isn't anymore and you have to go back to the drawing board. Forgive yourself and do the best that you can and most importantly?enjoy your baby, it's true what they say, ?They don't stay little for long?.
As a new mom there are many challenges we have to go through that we didn't expect while we were pregnant. There is so much information our there designed to tell us how to take care of ourselves while we're pregnant, but as soon as junior arrives all the guidance and support is for them and our own needs falls on the back-burner.
Giving birth changes our lives in millions of little ways. Good sleep is often a distant memory, our bodies are turned upside down, and our emotions are taken for a joy-ride on a rollercoaster....just to mention a few things. And it is not as if we have a lot of time on our hands to deal with the big changes. Now we have this beautiful little person to take care of, so we are hardly going to have much spare energy or time to take care of ourselves.
These are just 5 of the common challenges new moms face and some ideas for getting around them:
Taking Care of Your Own Needs When we hit mommy mode everything we do is for our baby who is dependent on us for everything. We often wrap ourselves up in taking care of baby and forget to take care of ourselves. This causes many new moms to start to lose their sense of who they are and they can feel resentful about being at home, or even towards their baby for being so helpless.
It crucial to schedule regular time each day to do something for yourself (even if it's only for 10 minutes). This could be taking time to shower and do your hair, meditate, do some walking or other exercise, or simply sit and write in your journal. Putting in the effort to take the time to do something for yourself that makes you feel good will keep you from getting burnt out or overwhelmed.
Feeling Sexy After you've had a baby the changes that your body has gone through within the last 40 weeks takes its toll. Stretch marks, extra fat deposits, sore breasts that have changed in size, all of these things can make it difficult for you to feel sexy.
Many women worry that their husband is going to look at them differently and that he won't feel the same way about them. It is important to discuss these feelings with your husband and at the same time not put too much pressure on yourself.
You need to remember that you can't expect your relationship between you and your husband to be exactly the same after you gave birth as it was before hand. Both of you have changed through this process and you have a new life that you're responsible for.
It can take time to get to know each other once again. One simple way of rekindling the flames of your relationship is to start regular dating again - time alone for just the two of you. Don't forget, your body will heal itself over time and you will have the power to be as sexy and feminine as you want.
Getting Back Into Shape It can be rather disturbing when you give birth to your baby and your weight doesn't immediately drop off. For some new moms this is really upsetting. One of the biggest mistakes that women make is to try crash diets, intensive exercise, or anything else they can think of to lose their pregnancy weight within the first two months after the birth of their child. This isn't realistic, it took 40 weeks to get into this shape, and it is going to take time to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight.
You need to keep in mind that nature created the process of childbirth to ensure you have the energy to take care of your baby and yourself throughout the next year - in this regard the additional fat deposits and bigger breasts are crucial.
It will take time for your body to get back into shape. You need to exercise cautiously and avoid any intensive exercise which might cause injury during the first few months.
Lack of Sleep All new moms experience a lack of sleep during the first few months. Some babies will follow a schedule at a young age and start sleeping at night. Other babies will wake you up every hour for the first six months.
Feeling completely worn out due to lack of sleep can cause a lot of problems for new moms. It's important to put things into perspective. You know that you're going to have a few months of added responsibility and reduced sleep. If you remind yourself that this time will pass quickly and understand that this experience will help you grow as a person, it is less likely to overwhelm you.
Also focus on the gift of having a baby and try to get support from family and friends to help you get snatches of sleep through the day when they can baby-sit. Simply changing your focus will help you to get through this period of time with much less stress.
Inability to Take a Timeout The last big issue that moms run into is an inability to take time out. Once you become a mom you're always a mom, 24 hours a day seven days a week. It's a full-time job, night and day, and sometimes it's hard to be able to take time away from your baby to do something fun for yourself.
You need to trust your husband, parents, or baby sitter with your baby for short periods of time, so that you can take time out. When you become a mom, it is crucial that you don't forget what your passions are.
Too many moms put their hobbies and interests completely on the back-burner. So whether it is hanging out with girl friends, going to a movie, reading a book, or going shopping, don't let your own need for interesting and fun activities fall to the way-side.
Both Jody Olsen & Salena Kulkarni are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jody Olsen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Bird watching, Breastfeeding and Parenting. Jody Olsen is a Registered Nurse, Labor Doula and Childbirth/Parenting Educator and has been in the Maternal/Child field for over 20 years. She is also married and the mother of four teen sons, including twins. Visit her websites and shop for everything. Jody Olsen's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
Salena Kulkarni has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Fitness and Pregnancy and Family Planning. Salena Kulkarni is the creator of 'Secrets of Extraordinary New Moms', and has just released a FREE audio at on how new moms can feel ene. Salena Kulkarni's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.