It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you need to consider that life is much tougher when you’re a parent. As a mother especially, you’re going to feel like you don’t have any time to take care of yourself at all. Life gets so busy when you have a newborn, and the time you take for yourself is limited at best. The thing is, taking care of yourself is so important when you are a parent. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and if you try you’re going to burn out. Sometimes, you have to do the little things to care for yourself, and that isn’t always going to be the standard things to eat and wash!
Hygiene is not self-care, and as a new mother you need to remember that. It may feel like you’re doing yourself a favour by having a shower, but you need to know that self-care is going above and beyond that. It’s choosing makeup to make your skin feel good. It’s getting the chance to go for a blowdry and a cut and colour for a change. It’s knowing that when you spend a little cash on Colorescience, you’re not being over indulgent: you’re simply looking after yourself! As a stressed new mother, you need to work out how you can better take care of yourself for a change – even if putting yourself first feels unusual! Let’s dive in:
- Eat Well. As a new mother, you need as much energy you can get. The exhaustion of a tiny human in your life is going to convince you that breaking out the basket of mini muffins is a good idea. You need to choose foods that are more nutrient-dense, so make sure that you have open baskets of apples and bananas, boxes of crackers that are easy to grab. The more you choose foods that will be balanced, the happier and more energised you’ll be. Batch cook soups on a Sunday for the week, too – you can grab these and defrost them from the freezer when they’re well portioned!
- Keep Moving. Exercise? What exercise? You just had a baby! However, while you don’t have to slog it out at the gym, you should keep moving your body as much as possible. Rock around the house with the baby in the sling, get out in the fresh air for short walks. You can even join a stroller fitness class, where you and your baby can get fit with jogging and walking while pushing the baby around. There are plenty of mothers who are keen runners and use a running stroller, and moving more is a good way to take care of your postpartum body.
- Get Talking. One of the worst things that you can do as a new mother is isolate yourself. Not only will you be overwhelmed with hormones, you’re now in charge of a new little life. Sharing is caring, and you need to talk to people who can understand what you’re going through. Joining baby groups is a great way to get out and do this, and you can find some awesome support and share your feelings. When you do this, you will feel better
- Get Meditating. When the baby sleeps, give your brain an MOT. Sit and be still in the silence, and while you are doing that, empty your head completely. You can connect better to yourself and feel revitalised when you do it. Mothers can often feel mentally crowded with all of the things that need to be remembered and done. Give yourself space to do this.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
