Hello there! No recipe this week–today we’re chatting self-care, specifically for new moms. As the mom of a very energetic six-month-old, this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.
After Christmas, I felt burned out and pessimistic looking ahead at the next few months. No holidays, no vacations planned, and it’s too cold to be outdoors for long with the baby. Our everyday routine started to feel a bit monotonous. “The days are long, but the years are short,” as Gretchen Rubin writes. The days are long, indeed.
So lately, I’ve been trying to incorporate more self-care rituals into my everyday. It’s really helped! Obviously my options are a bit more limited than before we had a baby. And some things that I wouldn’t have considered self-care before baby, feel simply indulgent now.
Here’s a list of the things I’ve been doing to take care of myself and find little bits of joy in my everyday life lately. These are geared more towards stay-at-home moms like myself. However, many of them are definitely doable for working moms as well.
I tried to include ideas for all important aspects of life: social life, entertainment, physical health, your relationship with baby and general life tips. Treat yourself to some self-care, new moms! 🙂
Self-Care Ideas for New Moms
- Grab a coffee, alone. Bring a book or your laptop, and savor a latte and an hour to yourself.
- Grab a coffee, with a friend. Being at home with a baby all day is fun, but you need adult company, too!
- Schedule a phone call with a faraway friend during nap time. If you can’t get out of the house, call or Skype a friend (or family member) instead.
- Hire a babysitter and go out for a date. It’s hard to leave your baby with someone else when you spend 24/7 with them, but it’s important for you, your relationship and baby.
- If you haven’t connected with other moms, find an in-person group to join. Baby and I started taking a Baby + Me class at our community center in December and it’s wonderful. He gets playmates, and the moms get a chance to talk about things that our non-mom-friends aren’t interested in.
- Take an online course in something you’re interested in. At the moment I’m taking a rather intense course in digital marketing, but it doesn’t have to be that serious. Coursera is a great resource for finding free online classes in a variety of areas.
- Hit up the library or bookstore for some non-baby-related reading material. My most recent chick lit read was Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was super fun!
- Feeling frumpy? Get yourself some new cute clothes that fit well. It took me a few months to lose the baby weight, and I found myself not wanting to go out because I didn’t have anything to wear. So I bought a size up in jeans–nice jeans. It was worth it for the confidence boost, and they’ll come in handy after any future pregnancies, too.
- Right now: pour yourself a glass of water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! There are so many benefits to drinking water, and it’s especially important if you’re breastfeeding.
- Make yourself a healthy breakfast or lunch, and sit down to eat it. A bowl of oatmeal with nut butter and fruit, a veggie scramble on whole grain toast, a simple stir-fry. It needn’t be fancy.
- Schedule a meal prep session. Do future you a favor and make some healthy meals for the days to come.
- Next time you’re at the grocery: try out that new fancy protein bar, kale chips, or whatever healthy snack you’ve been eyeing. Healthy eating can be fun, too!
- Make a doctor’s or dental appointment for yourself. You’re always on the phone booking appointments for baby–don’t forget about your health.
- Schedule a haircut, brow wax, or spa appointment for this weekend. Seriously, a little professional grooming can do wonders to your mood.
- Wake up before baby and get a quick workout in! Pick a five or ten-minute yoga or pilates routine from YouTube and break a sweat.
- Have a relaxed play session with baby. Lie on the bed, make silly faces, and just chat and cuddle with baby. It doesn’t need to be go-go-go all the time.
- If baby is content to play alone: let them! Independent playtime (in age-appropriate amounts) is good for baby, too. Don’t feel like you need to be constantly entertaining and educating. Read a book while you watch.
- Invest in a cute planning system to help you get organized. At the moment I’m using Mrs. Hinch’s Activity Journal for my weekly to-do lists and a personalized minted planner for my scheduling.
- Say “no” to things you just can’t handle right now. Don’t have that person over for dinner, don’t volunteer to bring cookies to church, don’t keep the house neat as a pin all the time. Everyone will survive and you will be saner!
- Finally, give yourself permission to put yourself first if you’re struggling. Getting a little personal here–for me this meant stopping breastfeeding early. After a nasty bout of mastitis, clogged ducts (one so stubborn it required an ultrasound), supply issues, and just a generally stressful time nursing, switching to formula has been so welcome. Maybe it’s taboo to talk about, but it’s true for me. Whatever you need to do to be a happy (or merely not miserable!) mom, please do it. Self-care for new moms isn’t all spa appointments and healthy breakfasts; sometimes it means making hard choices, too.
What’s your favorite way to practice self-care at the moment, whether you’re a parent or not? If you need more ideas, check out my other posts on self-care at home, self-care for anxiety, and my favorite self-care books!