I hope my top 5 advice/tips will help a new mum cope in the early stages of motherhood. It is tough, I must say, as you enter into a whole new world, nothing really prepares you for motherhood, and I stress nothing.
You endure 9 long months of pain/uncomfortable feeling of carrying a child, experienced the sleepless nights, the swollen ankles, the heartburn, the sickness, I could go on and on, the list is endless. As if that wasn’t enough torture, you then spend hours in excruciating pain with tears, sweats and more pain during the labour process and finally, at last, you carry your little bubba in your arms and those 9 months and those long hours of labour is suddenly all forgotten about. Well, they say forgotten, but I sure do remember it clearly.
As a Muslim, we believe that all mothers go straight to heaven, now I see why. We deal with a heck of a lot of *hit!
Here are my top 5 advice for new mums and I hope this helps all you newbie mums out there.
Top 5 advice for new mums
1- Don’t stick to the manual
There is a ton of literature out there on ”how to bring up a baby”, but seriously, take it all with a pinch of salt. Every baby is different, so don’t stress yourself out if he/she doesn’t comply with the manual. It is only there for guidance.
2-Get yourself into a routine
I cannot stress this enough because this is the key to keeping sane. My previous post on this is here. Yes you will have days when they don’t sleep on time or they are unwell but generally speaking, get a routine going from the start. The first few months is a little tough whilst you find yourself but even the simple ‘dinner, bath, story time’ scenario is a good one to start with. It is amazing how babies clock on so early in their lives and they will pick up on this routine and might help make sleep time easier to deal with (most of the time).
3-Their nap time is your nap time
In the first month or so, babies tend to sleep 14 hours a day so make use of this time to also nap. Don’t do what I did and try to get in as much chores as you can because chances are you will not get a full night sleep and you end up finding you have had a couple of hours of sleep in a 24 hour day.
4-Beware of pee in your face
Changing nappies in the first few months was a little challenging for me. As soon as you remove nappies off your little one, they naturally feel an urge to pee. I have had pee sprayed in my face a few times and once my little tot aimed it straight into my mouth! Yep you read it right, so get into the habit from early on to cover the area with a wet wipe or the dirty nappy until you can get the new one on. Did I mention multitasking is something all mothers get accustomed to from the onset of motherhood?
5-Live in the moment.
They grow and change so quickly so don’t stress too much if x, y and Z doesn’t go to plan. A moment cannot be relived, savour those precious smiles, snap away as much as you can and enjoy being a mum. Dirty dishes, a laundry piled up high isn’t the end of the world. It will get done.
That is my top 5 advice for new mums all wrapped up. I would love to hear your views and share any tips you may have.
I said 5 but I will sneak this last one in…
They will not die of starvation
If they don’t eat well, it is fine, they will eat when they are hungry but be aware of late night wake up calls. My little tot is always hungry and when he doesn’t eat at his mealtimes, I suffer the consequences. I remember being woken up in the wee hours of the morning for milk and later on for toast and yoghurt. Even now with him being nearly 5, occasionally he will wake up saying he is hungry if he doesn’t eat well during the day which is why I am quite militant with his feeds. Every child is different though. I have friends with children that would eat a slice of pizza for dinner and sleep through the whole night!
Sleepless nights was something I was dealing with throughout my pregnancy. For 9 months I suffered from insomnia and I mean waking up a couple of times each night which was pretty tough I have to say. It took a good 2 years and a half, for the tot to finally sleep through the whole night! Yup, it took this long with me so I basically had 3 years or so of broken sleep and I wonder why I see more grey hairs.
Talking of sleep, I am literally falling asleep typing this, so have an awesome evening guys and don’t forget to leave your tips/comments below.
