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New mom survival guide

Those first weeks at home with your baby can be quite a shock to the system. Make sure you’re fully prepared with these great tips for brand new moms.

In those first weeks with your baby, everything may seem very strange and surreal. Joy alternates with hormonal free-fall. You’re trying to recover physically from the birth. You’re trying to get the hang of breastfeeding, finding a sleep schedule, finding a meal schedule, coping with mountains of laundry. Now’s the time to make some vital preparation for this time of upheaval.

Be a good delegator
For the first few weeks you might not even venture out the front door, so ask a friend to deliver basic things like bread and milk. Get dad to apply for a week’s leave to help you. Make sure you have worked out who can realistically do what in the early days. Get extra help and discuss new working hours with your domestic helper. If anyone offers to bring a meal, run an errand or keep an eye on the baby for an hour, accept gracefully. Shopping can be a major feat so find out about pharmacies that deliver and make use of online shopping. Leave a message loud and clear on your answering machine – with ALL the birth details.

The night shift
You’ll soon get used to getting up in the middle of the night to feed a hungry baby. To make life easier, keep your baby close to you, put hot water in a thermoflask for bottle feeding and buy a night light so that you don’t make baby even more alert.

Sleep-savers
Try to nap when your baby sleeps, even if you have to evict well-meaning visitors. Go to bed as early as possible. Ask your partner to bring the baby to you and do the changing and winding for some of the night feeds. If you are really exhausted, express milk and get your husband, sister or friend to feed the baby for one night to let you catch up on your sleep.

Staying sane
Your old routines have probably gone out the window, but try to keep some kind of order.

Eat regularly.

Take a quick stroll and shower before your husband goes to work.

Don’t stay in your pyjamas. Change into comfortable clothes so that you look and feel good.

Find time to do something for yourself. Find out about aupairs to take your baby off your hands when you need it (someone who can drive and has training in baby care). The kangaroo pouch is a great way of keeping baby close while keeping your hands free, especially while shopping.

Pre-plan meals and stock up on frozen meals and tasty snacks.

Keep lists of things to do and buy, and don’t be too polite to ask friends to help.

Start practising doing things with one hand and buy things with flip tops.

Start saving plastic grocery bags for discarding dirty nappies.

Emergency kit
There are lots of things you’ll need for your baby, but make sure you never run short of these essentials:

nipple cream and breastpads if you are breastfeeding

bottles

formula and sterilisers if you are bottlefeeding

nappies and bum cream

cotton wool and cool boiled water

clean vests and receiving blankets

Previously published in Your Pregnancy magazine, Subscribe now and save