The first month of motherhood can be a roller coaster ride, even for the most-prepared mums-to-be! Despite hearing stories from fellow mums and reading various articles or books on the topic, you may be surprised to know how different motherhood can actually be once your baby is born.
The early stages of motherhood are filled with challenges that you may never have anticipated. The silver lining is, you’re not alone because every mother goes through it and there’s plenty of advice to be given here.
For today’s article, we’re going to share some essential tips that will help you manage your first months of being a mother!
For Nursing
Babies only do mostly two main things: eat and sleep.
Feeding newborns is easier said than done, whether you’re breastfeeding or using baby formula. And if you decide to breastfeed, it may be harder than expected (especially for first-time mums).
Sore nipples and tough latch-on are only some of the difficulties you’re about to face. Here are our tips for breastfeeding:
Don’t hesitate to seek help
Nursing can be different for each mother, so there’s nothing wrong with asking for help if you’re having a little trouble with it! Talk to fellow mums who have experience in breastfeeding, whether good or bad, so you know how to manage each situation accordingly.
You can also ask your paediatrician for a referral to a lactation consultant. These experts can educate you about the dos and don'ts of breastfeeding a newborn.
As a first-time mother, you can only know what you’re doing right or wrong when you have the perspective of experts and other mothers. You can never do it all on your own!
Another thing that can help you are hospital resources. Before checking out after delivery, ask if there are nursing specialists on-call or breastfeeding classes offered to patients.
If you’re lucky, you may be assigned to a nurse who can teach you some things about breastfeeding.
Prepare for every nursing session
You may feel like dropping everything you’re doing once your little one goes hungry, but it’s important to take care of yourself first.
Ready the nursing and mum essentials like pillows, reusable pads, extra clothes, creams, lotions, and ointments before anything. You’ll also want to drink a glass of water and grab a magazine to read.
Since breastfeeding may take a while, don’t forget to relieve yourself! You’re not going to be able to move or stand up once your baby is asleep and feeding.
Use warm compress
There’s a high chance your breasts will feel full and tight, which means you may be experiencing engorgement. This is fairly common for nursing mums, so there’s nothing to worry about if you’re experiencing this too.
Another condition most nursing mothers experience is blocked milk ducts. It happens when your baby doesn’t fully drain the breasts of milk, causing the milk to form into small lumps that can cause pain.
The best home remedy to engorgement and blocked milk ducts is warm compress or allowing hot water to flow onto your breasts while taking a shower.
Another tip here would be to try hand-expressing a little before you breastfeed. This sometimes gets the milk flowing and softens the breasts to relieve the pressure you’re feeling.
For Sleeping
Newborns sleep as much as 16 hours a day, but in short durations, which means you’re not going to get stretches of 6-8 hours of sleep in your baby’s first month.
Here are some of our tips to fight the sleep deprivation and exhaustion you’re about to experience!
Take turns with your partner
Parenthood should be a collaborative effort between you and your partner!
If tonight is your turn to rock your little bundle of joy to sleep, tomorrow should be theirs. Your body and mind will succumb to exhaustion and sleep deprivation if you’re always the one cradling your baby to sleep.
You can even discuss and set up a system where maybe your partner could take on more of the parenting tasks on weekends to give you more time to rest and catch up on sleep.
Sleep when your baby sleeps
It’s natural for mothers to want to be productive and preoccupy themselves with other household tasks when the little one is sleeping soundly.
As the saying goes, sleep when your baby goes to sleep! Even if the drive to clean kicks in, don’t give in and take this opportunity to sleep and rest instead.
You’ll definitely have a messier house when the baby is around, but leave the cleaning to your partner or family members! If budget permits, you can even enlist the help of part-time house cleaners.
The thing about motherhood is that opportunities for rest rarely come, so when they do, make the most of them!
For Soothing
As a new parent, it can be hard to figure out what your baby wants when they’re crying. It will take some trial and error before being able to understand why your little one is behaving that way.
Learn how to swaddle
The key to soothing a crying infant is by mimicking the warmth and safety of the womb, which you can do through swaddling.
That’s why it’s recommended that mothers learn how to swaddle a baby before giving birth. It may seem like a complicated process if you’ve never swaddled before, but it’s actually pretty simple!
Swaddling will not only help your baby calm down, it can also reduce their anxiety as it imitates the warmth of your touch.
Play some tunes
Believe it or not, music is effective in calming babies down. Obviously, you can’t just play any type of music.
Babies respond well to soft and relaxing music (similar to lullabies) as it produces a calm and quiet atmosphere. These types of music can nurture their sleeping patterns as well!
Use warm wet wipes
Babies will cry if their diapers are full, but sometimes, the act of changing the diaper itself causes them to cry even harder.
If you discover that diaper changes tend to trigger your baby to have a meltdown, it’s time to warm things up. When cleaning, we recommend using warm wipes by heating them in the microwave or dipping them in a glass of hot water.
It’s the sudden change in temperature and the coolness of the wet wipes that’s likely causing your little one to cry nonstop.
Most mummies would assume that there’s no problem with using wet wipes as is, but knowing tiny tips like this one can save you from a lot of stress!
A well-packed diaper bag is a lifesaver
There may be nothing worse than being caught unprepared while outside with your little one. For first-time mums, a diaper bag will be your best friend in the first few weeks of motherhood.
A diaper bag is where all the baby essentials will be stored, such as nappies, baby wipes, extra clothes, feeding supplies, snacks, toys, and more.
It’s the one thing you should never forget before going out unless you want to spend the entire day soothing your baby because you forgot to pack some spare nappies and snacks.
Check out our article on diaper bags to find out why you need these baby essentials when going out!
For Asking for Help from Partners
It takes a village to raise a child, so it’s not possible to do everything on your own! You have to be comfortable and open to asking for help from other people, especially your partner.
It’s important to split the task of parenthood to give both an equal chance to take a break and bond with the baby.
Don’t be too hard on your partner
It’s worth remembering that your partner is as new to parenthood as you are.
The reason many fathers tend to hesitate to get involved and be more hands-on is the fear of committing mistakes, which is natural for first-time parents in the first place.
Give your partner time to adjust to being a parent and allow them to make mistakes. After all, you’re both still figuring out how to take care of your little one as best you can!
And who knows, when you encourage your husband to be more involved, he may even find a new way to soothe your baby!
Keeping up with your newborn baby
The journey of motherhood is filled with ups and downs that will put your patience and courage to the test. You can never be prepared for all the challenges, but you can learn how to deal with some of them!
Hatchery Cribs is an online baby store that carries a wide range of mum essentials that will make your day-to-day life as a mother easier. Check out our products on our website, or book a showroom tour to see them for yourself.