Dealing with the Lack of Sleep and Stress that New Moms Experience
zzzzzZZZZzzzz....
Ahhh, remember that? The good old days of a good night's sleep, every
night, for weeks - oh, how times have changed!
I know
for me it has been tough to deal with the lack of sleep over the
past few months. It has also been a challenge trying to develop ways to
deal with the effects of losing
so much sleep. This website, for example, has been a way
for me to relax my mind and focus it on something interesting and
substantive. Concentrating my energy
on this site has helped quiet down some of my uneasy feelings and
frustrations, allowing me to think more clearly about my life.
I have realized that caring full time for my baby while trying to keep
up all
the time with the rest of the world is unrealistic. It is very
difficult to “do it all” these days. All you will get
is a lot of stress and sleep even less!
The
problem is that the lack of sleep will cause you to feel even more
stressed! Therefore, I wanted to share with you some ideas that I have
found to be useful in dealing with the emotional effects that stress can
cause when you become a new mom.
Take a break, have a hobby: Stress can really be a major problem. One must take a certain approach
when dealing with lots of stress. As new moms, we must realize that stress
comes with the job and that we have to learn to overcome it by admitting that
maybe we are trying to do too much, too soon or maybe just too much
altogether. The best way to deal with
stress is to take a break once in a while, especially when the baby is sleeping,
and try to focus your mind on something interesting to you. Maybe you have a hobby already (like sewing,
crochet, knitting, etc.) or you like to organize things in your home.
Handling
your stress level is the most important thing
you can do for you, your family and your child. Stress will cause you to
have difficulty with all of your personal relationships, including your
acquaintances. By you handling your stress, it
will make it easier for your loved ones to manage their stress.
Meditation: If you don’t have a regular hobby, I suggest taking 30
minutes every day, when your little one is asleep and use meditation to
reduce your stress. When I was pregnant, I used a free video that I downloaded
from
www.hypnobabies.com to help me
relax and prepare for the big event. At the time, I was starting to feel
anxious and scared about giving birth and I really needed a safe way to calm my
nerves and give me some sense of control over these feelings. I watched the video “Relax Me” and it did the
trick! I watched it 2-3 times per week for about 6 weeks prior to the arrival
of my daughter. You can find it here:
http://www.hypnobabies.com/mylink.php?id=4058#2freemp3
Baby album: I also find that working on my baby’s photo album book is a
nice way to keep my mind busy while creating something cute and beautiful for
my daughter to one day appreciate. I
received two darling albums as gifts that can still be found for sale (they are now out of print, so hurry if you want one!).
The Hello Baby! Photo Album is here:
I also have the matching keepsake journal shown below. I have loved chronicling my daughter's milestones in this journal. It comes with an adorable height chart.
The Hello Baby! Baby Book keepsake journal is also out of print but it can be found here:
I love these two albums because of the vintage inspired
illustrations.
If you only have digital pictures and not a way to print them at home, I suggest going to
www.Walgreens.com
and creating an account to upload your photos and have them delivered
to your home. Walgreens offers discounts all the time on prints and the
shipping cost is very reasonable.
Other Suggestions: In a recent article at WhatToExpect.com, the author briefly
discusses several ways for new moms to relax and ‘take a breather’. Like me, they suggest some form of meditation.
They also mention taking a daily walk with your baby,
stretching for exercise, keeping a journal, playing music, watching a funny
movie and eating healthy snacks.
You can read more about their suggestions on their site:
http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/week-35/take-five.aspx?xid=nl_YourDailyNewsletterfromWhattoExpect_20120416
I
hope this post has been helpful to some of my mom friends out there and
I will continue to update this site, so please check back often or enter your e-mail address to the RIGHT in the area called "Enter Your E-mail Address to Subscribe to NetworkforMoms.org" and you will be notified of all new posts to my site.
Try to have a less stressful day and Happy Parenting!
- Joy E.
*Note: I have not been paid to endorse these products or businesses.
Pregnancy Awareness Month (P.A.M), according to their website, is an 'organization dedicated to inspiring women during
pregnancy with educational initiatives spotlighting nutrition, wellness
and all around nurturing'.
