Top 3 Mistakes Parents Make When Bringing Home A Baby
Not Putting Yourself First
Your baby will take up a lot of your time, attention and energy. As a new parent, you will lose so much of your sleep to care for your newborn baby. It is important to know that in order to stay attentive, healthy and present for your little one, taking time for yourself is key. A single easily attainable daily goal to replenish your energy is a great way to do this.
What kind of things should you be doing? Anything that has given you peace of mind and comfort: taking time to drink some hot tea, watch a tv show you’ve been looking forward to, taking a power nap. Every little action to “fill your cup” gives you that extra boost to keep going caring for a small human that needs you every single minute of the day.
Not Living in the Moment
Time zooms by very quickly. You might realize you are living your days in 2-4 hour intervals waiting for the next feeding, diaper changing or cuddle session. And you might be hyper focused in caring for your newborn’s every need that every hour/day/week/month might start blending together. The next thing you know, your little peanut of a baby starts crawling around and then blink again, they are trying to run away from you with their little legs.
Take that extra minute to create recordable memories of your time with your little baby. Photos, videos, journal entries and baby books commemorating their milestones are great ways to do this. Then take another minute to look back, enjoy and admire all your hard work.
Not Asking For Help and Support
As mentioned before, caring for a newborn is very labour intensive. After all, it takes a village to raise a child. In order to give your all to rearing and parenting, you are entitled and should reward yourself with breaks.You cannot and should not do it all alone.
Don’t be shy about asking for help, don't feel like you cannot accept help. Make a list of what will be helpful for you, your spouse, your newborn and your household. If your loved ones offer to help, use that list and assign them 1 thing. Giving this assignment to family and friends allows them to feel useful & helpful and at the same time, you and your family get the much needed help. It is also important to know when to hire professionals. Cleaners to help keep you home tidy, meal boxes to help with meal planning and us here in Nightowl Nursing can help you with transitioning as an extra body with professional knowledge.