Young moms are notoriously busy and stressed. Ask them, and they’ll almost certainly also tell you that they’re overwhelmed with joy and love for their new babies, too, of course. But nonetheless, they are likely not getting as much sleep as they’d like.
As a young mom, it’s natural that your top priority will be your child, and that you’ll want to do absolutely everything in your power to ensure that their lives are as warm, loving, and comfortable as possible.
But if you want to ensure that you’re on your best form day and night, you really need to find ways to get a little bit of TLC in for yourself, too.
Here are a few tips for taking care of yourself as a new mom.
Declutter your home and your habits and keep only those activities that rejuvenate you somehow
So, you’ve got a baby now. That means that your time is at a premium in a way that it probably never was before. Any spare minutes you find in your day had better be leveraged as effectively as possible.
In order to keep yourself healthy, relaxed, and sane, you need to consider decluttering your home and your habits alike. Take some inspiration from the Japanese cleaning guru Marie Kondo who’s currently taking Netflix by storm.
Get rid of things that are not either useful, or that provide some kind joy. More than that, though, audit your habits and the way you use your time, in the same way. Keep only the things that rejuvenate you somehow. Get rid of all the pure empty time wasting.
Do what you can to create systems in the home that allow you to get more sleep
Look, sleep is a really big deal. In recent years, scientists have been hammering home the point that our beauty sleep is important for… well, our beauty, sure. But also for our mental health. Our physical healthy. Our ability to stay focused, or to learn, and solve problems.
New parents are notoriously underslept, but you don’t want to have to call a personal injury lawyer because you were so dozy you missed some hazard when out shopping and got hurt.
Do whatever you can, and create whatever systems you can, to move things around and get more sleep. Arrange to take a nap when your hubby is home. Or while your kids are at their grandparents. Or, nap when they do, and keep a baby monitor by your side so that you’ll be woken if anything happens.
Do something every day that helps you to feel a sense of blissful relaxation
When you’re dealing with a major responsibility like taking care of a new baby, you need to find little moments of blissful relaxation, and seize upon them whenever you can.
It’s probably not likely that you’re going to be able to book an all-day spa session off on a regular basis, or go on a cruise, but you can create literal rituals of bliss for yourself, and these don’t have to take up much time.
You could run yourself a hot bath with essential oils and just soak for a while. You could read for half an hour in bed before turning the lights off.
Whatever works for you, just find some way of adding a bit of relaxation to each day.
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Perfect tips – and all of them spot-on! I decluttered my schedule, my inbox, and several chunks of my home a few years ago (still working on other parts of my home) and have not looked back since! These things will make EVERY mama’s life easier, but esp a new mama!
Me too!! ESP my inbox for my personal
Email. I can’t handle the clutter
It took me a while to get the hang of taking care of myself and making sure that I didn’t wear myself out all the time. These are all great ideas. Clutter makes me stressed out and it just wastes a lot of time because you have to clean more.
Me too! I hate clutter – and I am much better at dealing with it in my house than in my classroom. They are two totally different beasts.