Whether you spend six days, six weeks, six months or even a year with your baby the time you do have can slip by so quick and all those pointers you heard at your baby shower suddenly make sense. Everything you thought you knew will be tested and if you’ve ever wondered how you will function sleep deprived you are sure to find out once baby is brought home. But in case you didn’t hear these little tidbits all during your pregnancy I’ll let you in on a few tips I heard and discovered as a first time mom.
Sleep when baby sleeps
It seems a simple concept except there will be a day where you are too awake or you have too much on your mind that when baby goes for a nap you don’t follow suit. And it will happen from time to time you just can’t sleep, sometimes just lying down and closing your eyes will be the best thing to do. But if you still can’t do that just remember that the missed out sleep with baby may come back to haunt you when your baby has been up for three hours straight and refuses to sleep until it has been sufficiently fed and diaper changed.
Consider a bedtime early
In the first few weeks thinking of a bedtime routine will not matter much as baby will likely be up every few hours for a feeding and change. But eventually once you have likely passed the one month hump it is time to think of a bedtime routine. There are some sites dedicated to helping you figure out when should be a good time to start putting your baby down for the night and others that will give you ideas of how to get this routine in place. Many sites indicate bath time as a perfect time to start the going to bed process but in the early months you won’t be bathing your baby every night so you may have to come up with another alternative to this, whether it is always taking your baby to their crib at the same time every night or closing the blinds and turning off the lights even the simplest things will get baby into a routine. You can refine the routine as baby gets older but getting started early will help in the long run.
Things being half done
You will have to get used to anything you do being half done. If you started dinner you may not be able to finish it and if you started cleaning something it may only get half done. Whatever the task is be ready to accept that anything you do start may be interrupted by a baby requiring your attention.
Priorities and advance plans can change
Suddenly that night out you planned three months ago becomes impossible to attend, whether it is your babysitter cancelling or separation anxiety anything planned in advance may fall away to the wayside. Well laid plans can always go wrong and anything you thought was a priority will soon seem like a moot task in comparison. Now that a baby is a part of your life you will find that some of the things you may have seen as do or die are now not as important and that is okay. Your life now has one extra person that needs you to get through the next few months and years of its development.
Don’t be a hero, Don’t let guilt get to you
After baby is born you will likely try to keep doing what you used to do before baby was born. You may try to clean the house or do a load of laundry, you could try to keep up with all of your social media outlets or cook dinner. Whatever the task is that you used to do in the early weeks don’t try to be a hero. You have just brought a new life into the world and if there were complications you need time to heal yourself on top of taking care of a baby. So if you have the option decline lots of guests coming to the house where you may need to clean up before and after they leave. Also consider having someone help you and pick up the slack by cooking or cleaning for you. Don’t feel guilty for not being able to do the things you used to do, even though you will feel guilty. Your life has changed and you’ve brought a life into the world. Take the time to really get back to yourself. Once you are feeling better then you can take on the world and as always don’t be shy to ask those willing for some help when you need it.
Get used to it taking longer to get out the door
If you are travelling with baby get used to the usual pre-car routine to take longer. Whether it is starting up the car five minutes before you hop in it to make sure it is warm or cool enough for baby to making sure you have everything ready, going anywhere with baby will take you longer to get out of the house. Most of the time you’ll want to make sure baby is well enough fed and had a change of diaper before you even think about getting the car started. Then there is making sure the diaper bag and any bottles are ready to go, along with anything else you might need for on the go with baby.
Always pack more on the go with baby
Depending on your baby it could live through sitting in a dirty diaper for several hours while you run errands, but if you have a baby irritated by a single wet diaper you may find yourself changing your baby four or five times in a ten minute span of time. Always be sure to pack extra wipes, diapers, bottles and any other accessory baby may need while on the go.
Get used to short visits and short shopping ventures
Until baby is old enough you should likely limit any home visits to a few short hours. After all if baby is napping but your up entertaining for hours you are missing out on some well deserved nap time or just rest time with baby. Also you may want to consider only have one shopping trip per day and making it only an hour or so long. For young babies unless you want to be changing your baby at every shopping place you stop at or having to feed your baby at every stop you may need to plan out your week where any shopping trip is planned and it will only be one or two stops. Once baby is older you may be able to expand that time frame but if they are still very young it will be more of a hassle to try to do more.
Having anxiety is okay
If you are a first time mom just about anything can give you anxiety. You could be anxious about going out with baby, worried about anything from baby being exposed to colds to the weather being particularly nasty. No matter what the circumstance there is a possibility that you could have anxiety over it and it is okay. Eventually you will start to feel brave enough to get out of the house with baby. Don’t wait too long to expose your baby to the outside world, but don’t be pushing yourself before you are ready.
Take pictures
In the early weeks it may seem like your baby is not changing much, but over time you will start to notice little changes here and there. Don’t be shy to take a bunch of photos even if they are the same type of photo. Over time you can whittle down the collection or keep them as a way to document the passing of time with your baby because soon enough sleepy poses will be marked by giggles, smiles, and a more wakeful moving baby.
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