What Every New Mom Should Know
Becoming a new mom is one of the life-changing events that transforms you. However, it’s a unique experience for every person and family that can’t be easily described. With a lot of information online, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you’re having your first child.
If your head is bursting from questions, we’re here for you. We’ll share seven useful pieces of advice to help you navigate the first years of your baby’s life and feel more confident as a mom. And don’t worry, even if it seems hard in the beginning, in time, it will get easier.
1. You Can’t Plan Everything
For some moms, this is a frightening thought since most of them spend months preparing everything, from the baby’s room to all the additional equipment needed for the home. That’s why every new mom has to relax and follow her infant. Of course, if being prepared calms your nerves, then you should indulge yourself. However, don’t forget that your baby might behave differently and accept it as something normal.
2. Bonding with Your Baby Takes Time
Connecting with your baby is not a simple process, and regardless of what everyone might be saying, it will take time to get acquainted with each other. Theirs is euphoria and endless joy, but not everything can happen in one week or even one month. Brace yourself for sleepless nights, constant crying, and the guilt if you leave your baby for a few minutes.
Give yourself time to embrace everything that’s happening and work your way around it. In the end, everything will come in its place.
3. Find Support
Every young mom needs the support of friends, family, and surroundings. If your friend asks you to help, don’t be shy to say yes. And if your parents want to help, let them be there for you. The sooner you’re ready to leave your baby with your husband, parents, sister, or friend, the better you’ll feel next time when it happens.
The first few months with a baby can feel like a constant roller-coaster, and that’s why it’s easier when you connect to people that sympathize with you. Whether it’s your close friend or a parenting group, you’ll feel a lot better as long as you can hear stories about other parents and their babies.
4. Give Yourself Time to Recuperate
After a few days in the hospital, keep in mind that you’ll need time to recuperate. Getting back to work two days after labor won’t do you any good. For most women, it takes more than six months to recover fully and for hormones to balance. The silver lining is that it’s only a phase, and it will pass.
Once you’re back to being your old self, you’ll notice how your approach to problems changed. When your new life starts and you find a new work life balance, things will look so much better.
5. Breastfeeding Can Be Challenging
Every new mom has the right to decide what’s the right thing for their child. Breastfeeding is the most beautiful experience for some women, while for others, it’s an agony they don’t want to repeat. That’s why you shouldn’t listen to what others say, but rather do what you feel it’s the best thing for you.
If you aim to provide breast milk for your baby even when you go back to work and might be away for some time, you will need a breast pump. As mentioned in the comparison of the two most popular breast pumps at katherinerosman.com/spectra-s1-vs-s2-breast-pump-review, you need to make sure that what you are getting has the performance and functions that will make breast pumping more comfortable for you. You will likely do this for quite some time, so investing in the best available in the market is worth it.
6. Listen to Your Instincts
Once you have a baby, you’ll notice how you can decipher how it feels or why it cries simply because your body tells you what to do.
Even if it sounds like a cliché, the more a you bond with your baby, the easier it will be to meet its needs. Also, if you manage to make a feeding schedule by following your baby’s daily rhythm, it will be calmer, and it might even let you sleep for a few long hours.
7. Don’t Compare Your Baby with Others
Reading a lot of books about the development of your baby is useful to a new mom if you’re looking to follow its biological progress. One of the worst things any mother can do is to compare her baby to others. Every baby is unique, and a lot of different factors determine its development.
Parenting can be challenging, but it also has a lot of rewarding moments worth waiting for. Keep in mind that this is just a phase in your life that will be challenging and that you already have all the necessary tools to overcome it and become a great parent.