3 Self Care Tips For Mom's of Newborns

Having a newborn at home can be overwhelming. There were so many things I didn't know when I was a mom of a newborn. I remember coming home from the hospital with Baby O, and having NO idea what to do. Literally, for the life of me I couldn't figure out my next move. Do I put him into his crib? Do I hold him while sitting on the couch? I must have stood there for about 5 minutes after taking him out of the carseat. And then finally decided that babies belong in a bassinet. So I went to my bedroom, put him in the bassinet next to our bed and laid in bed myself. Except that it was 1:30 in the afternoon and I wasn't tired.

Life did get easier as the days went on (and yours will too!). I figured out what to do with myself and Baby O as we got our own rhythm. I had dreamed of becoming a mom all my life, and now that it had finally happened I was over the moon. But it was certainly different (and harder) than I had imagined it would be!

Now that I'm on the verge of being a mom to another newborn, I'm looking back at all the things I learned the first time around. I want to make sure to remember all of these when this little man makes his debut.

1. Make sure to take a 20-30 minute nap each afternoon

This one is my favorite! I'm ALL about the naps, and they are the perfect way to relax and recharge after a long morning with a little one. This gives you a small opportunity for some alone time to shut your eyes, relax, and get ready for any night waking's to come. Arrange to have your partner, parent, or good friend come at the same time each evening (sometime between 3 and 5 is often best) to watch baby so you can get some shut-eye. Being the mom of a newborn is tough work, but nothing that a good nap can't assist with!

2. Prioritize one task each day that important for you to complete

Being the mom of a newborn means there are a million things to do on a daily basis. Just some of those lovely things include laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and food prep. If you work from home for yourself or have a job that you can stay partway active in during your maternity leave, you may feel compelled (or even obligated) to check emails, respond to clients or write blog posts. It can feel so overwhelming to know that there is a lot of things to do on top of all the household chores. This is why prioritizing one task per day can help you feel accomplished, but not crazy. Pick one important task depending the night before that you will accomplish the next day, and these can be in addition to jobs that "have" to be done, like making dinner and throwing in a load of laundry.

3. Ask for help from others who offer (and those who don't)

This one was the hardest one for me to follow. As the mom of a newborn, there is so much more to do and think about then there was before your little bundle of joy arrived! I'm not one to ask for help from anyone, but also felt a lot of pressure to have the house looking perfect when people were coming to visit to show what I great mom I could be. Well...that went great...for all of about a month when I could no longer keep up with the work load I had set for myself. It was only at this time that I began to ask for help, and allow the help that others offered to do some of our dishes, make us dinners or watch the baby so I could nap/read/ or do whatever I needed to do to unwind.

Congrats on being a new mom! It is the hardest, scariest, but most amazing thing I have even done and I wouldn't change it for the world! One thing that does feel great is once your baby starts sleeping through the night, my favorite milestone ever! It made me feel SO much more human to sleep all night, and to know I could rely on that sleep each night. Wondering when your baby will sleep through the night? Here's a super helpful post!