Drawing on inspiration from this article, I thought of all the advice I would ever venture to give a first time mama.
- You are the best parent for this child, trust that.
- Get organised as best as works for you. For me that looks like a lot of lists but I appreciate that is not for everyone.
- Each child is different, filter all the advise out there along these lines. You know your little one best and so trust that.
- Parenting is better in a community. Accept all the help you get as long as it is offered, one day, gasp, it will stop being offered.
- Fed is best. Bottle, breast, combination, FED IS BEST.
- Kids eventually stop needing you as much, you do get your life back. I got told to enjoy all the stages but it was so hard to do so and so I would never add that. Just trust that you eventually get your life back.
- Take pictures, journal, voice notes … just record all the early little and big moments. You somehow forget and they are all so beautiful.
- Your body takes time to heal and recover, let it. SNAP BACK CULTURE is the Devils hell.
- Go outside in the early days, it might be crazy to get the time but there is something so magical that happens when you soak in the sun. Oh and babies love it. If you can’t go outside, get them into warm water. Always a mood changer.
- Also, sometimes babies are fussy, I have found giving them a bath or just stripping them naked and cuddling to be a gamechanger.
- If the baby continues to fuss, just leave them on the bed and walk away for a bit. Calm yourself down first and then try again.
- The first six weeks are a blur. Day three, Day 14 to Week 6 post baby were very emotional whirlwinds and I found that having something to look forward to made the moments memorable. I looked forward to driving to the ObGyn all by myself and that gave me strength to handle the mundane, sleepy days.
What about you? What would be on your list?
first hand accounts of a former homebody 