How to take care of yourself after having a baby? Four tips for maintaining mental health in the family

The arrival of a baby in a family is one of the most joyful events. But with joy comes great responsibility, and time for yourself is catastrophically reduced. Then stress and burnout appear, followed by a feeling of guilt if emotions cannot be contained.

To give your baby love and support, you first need to take care of yourself. YokoSun has prepared simple and practical tips on how parents can maintain peace of mind, calmness and energy.

1. Healthy sleep can be organized

Lack of sleep is one of the main causes of irritability, health problems, and sometimes weight gain. Therefore, it is especially important for parents to get enough and quality sleep. It is especially difficult to organize sleep in the first year of a baby’s life, when the child sleeps at intervals and has not yet entered the day/night mode. What to do about it?

Try to help your child transition to a normal sleep schedule faster. To do this, create a special ritual that should be repeated every time the baby goes to bed. This could be rocking or stroking - any calming technique. In the future, this will help to better control the child’s regime.

Eliminate the reasons your baby may be waking up. For example, discomfort due to an overfilled diaper. YokoSun Premium diapers can help with this - they provide up to 12 hours of restful sleep.

Try to adapt to the child’s routine - every time the baby falls asleep, use this time for your own rest. Place the crib in your own bedroom and provide comfortable conditions for yourself in it: absence of noise and, preferably, light. And also distribute responsibilities with your partner - simply set a parental “duty” schedule.

2. Move moreand sometimes do nothing

The teachings have proven that physical activity has a positive effect on a person’s psychological state. For example, activities help fight anxiety. The thing is that sport reduces the level of cortisol, the stress hormone, and increases the production of endorphins, the “happiness hormone”. Moreover, it is not necessary to suffer for hours in the gym. 30-minute activities 3-5 times a week will be enough.

Organize your sports activities in a way that is convenient for you. For example, use this time to be alone with yourself. Or, conversely, involve family members in the process for joint long and active walks and other types of activities. This way you will become even closer and gradually begin to involve your child in following a healthy habit.

But besides sports, sometimes you just need to do nothing. Allow yourself and all your loved ones to do nothing at all for a while - constant busyness is also harmful. If it seems that you don’t have time for such luxury, turn to your family or friends for help, because taking time to relax is really necessary.

3. Assign roles

Distributing roles and responsibilities is helpful. Firstly, a clear distribution of responsibilities simply reduces the number of quarrels: when everything is clear, there is no reason to argue about fairness. And secondly, the distribution of roles allows each family member to feel important and significant - after all, he plays a role in the common cause.

Think about how you could distribute roles based on each person's skills and abilities, as well as periods when you need rest or time for yourself. Discuss them with your partner, and outsource some of the tasks. For example, a grandmother or other relatives can spend time with a child on the weekend.

4. In a family, everyone has the right to feelings and emotions

An important belief that helps reduce stress within the family is the belief that all its members are together one big team. Even when it is already difficult to restrain emotions.

Try to spend time alone with your partner, and also be sure to spend time alone with yourself. Doing your own thing - reading a book, dancing, singing - is necessary, even if it seems that there is no time for it. This will help you gain strength and energy and invest it in creating warmth and comfort at home.

Don't blame yourself or your partner if things go wrong, and allow family members to express emotions, even if they are negative. After all, admitting and throwing out negativity is a step towards calm. It is important to remember that a carelessly thrown word or a raised tone does not overnight cancel out everything you have done before. On the contrary, it makes you a living person who experiences a different range of feelings.

By allowing yourself and your loved ones to share different emotions, you create a safe space in which feelings are important. This is also useful for a growing child.

Taking care of yourself after the birth of a baby is not selfishness, but in a certain sense, even a necessity. After all, a lot depends on the condition of the parents and the general atmosphere in the family. First of all, the happiness of the children.
Start small, allow yourself more rest, go to bed early and don’t be shy about asking your loved ones for help.