Feeling a little tired and frazzled or that you are simply not coping with having a newborn?
Many mums find that once their baby arrives, there is so much to do, their feet hardly touch the ground! Their husbands go out to work in the morning and before they can blink, they are home again and needing some dinner and company. Often the house is still in the same state it was when they left and mums begin to feel overwhelmed and a little desperate.
You are not alone! This is normal and to be expected even if nobody else admits to it, so it is important to decide what your priorities are during the day.
For the first few weeks, you will be breastfeeding for 6-8 hours a day. Don’t try to reduce this, as your baby will only keep you up all night and try catch up on the calories he/she missed out on due to feeds being cut short. Your sleep will keep you sane and able to cope with daily pressures. Use breast compression to keep your baby swallowing throughout the feed, so that the feeds are short and effective, giving you more time to rest.
Try to do one wash a day, just pop a small wash into the machine whilst you are making yourself a cup of tea or breakfast. When you go down for some lunch, you can pop wet washing into dryer. Your husband can help fold and put away when he gets home.
Do one online line shop a week and get a couple of ready meals from M&S for the nights you are just too tired to cope with putting dinner together.
Introduce a bathtime routine by week 3 so that your baby is nicely tucked away in bed by 7pm, leaving you with an evening to sit down and have dinner, a glass of wine and a bit of adult conversation.
I know this is different from ur usual topics, but as I have had so many enquiries about this sort of thing, I know it will help many of you.
Much love as always,
Geraldine
