Dear new moms, here is what they don’t tell you about newborns

First time mom advice

 New moms get advice from everyone- even those without kids. Learn to selectively filter what you think will work for you and what will not. People will come at you with a million and one ideas of how you should take care of your baby. An overload of advice can be overwhelming and sometimes confusing. You need to be ahead of your game because this is your baby, not everyone’s baby.

You are not superwoman. You are bound to need help with baby especially if you are a first time mom. Do not fret! You can ask a family member to help hold the baby when you need to go to the loo, to freshen up or when you just need a break. Motherhood is a learning process- you just don’t learn everything overnight.

Writing down dates, appointments, questions you want to ask the doctor during your next appointment is important. First time mothers tend to sometimes be overwhelmed and you do not want to get back home after an appointment only to remember something you wanted to ask the doctor. Jot it down, create a folder for baby where you keep all the appointment cards and notes. You might also want to invest in a Baby Journal- this documents baby’s first everything from their first smile, to their first walk, first day in school, first word they said etcetera. You can later show this to them when they are of age.

Take naps, lots of naps when you can because motherhood is a full time job. You won’t have a break unless you make one for yourself. When baby naps, take that time to also lay down for a while and reboot. You can also ask a relative or a friend to hold the baby for you while you taka a quick power nap. Also, do not be too hard on yourself trying to lose baby weight real quick. Your body housed a baby for nine months. Give it a break! It’s going to feel a little bit funny but in due curse you can gradually introduce minimal basic workouts routines that will help get your figure back.

 Take some time off social media, your phone or anything that you occasionally paid a lot of attention to before baby came. This helps to create a strong bond and it is less strenuous for you having to juggle both baby and other unnecessary things.