The first week home with a new baby

Written by Megan Howarth

Megan has been writing about her experiences as a mother and doula since 2011. People love her hilarious, refreshing and honest views on parenting and life in general. P.S She wrote this bio so this is all completely biased. Read at your own risk.

The first week home with a baby is not an indicator of how great a parent you are going to be.

It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. You’re completely hormonal, your body is recovering from a physically difficult feat (uhh, you just delivered a baby, did you already forget?), you’re sleep deprived and you’re not quite sure you even know how to take care of a baby.

Please, stop feeling like you’re failing. You are not failing.

You’re learning.

Parenting is not intuitive for most people, especially when we have so many voices distracting us from our natural instincts:

Hospital stays that stress us out and make us feel broken, or like we’re doing it all wrong.

Well meaning friends and family who give us advice that contradicts the last advice we got.

The internet full of “shoulds” and “musts” and rules and trying to take advantage of our insecurities to sell us everything and anything.

It’s normal to find yourself sitting on the couch, wondering what you’re supposed to do next with this baby who cries when you put them down, balancing snacks on top of feedings, and forgetting what sleep feels like.

In that moment, what you need to do is SLOW DOWN. You have nowhere else to be and nobody knows your baby better than you do. Make sure you’re well supported so you’re eating well, getting some rest and get rid of the distractions that keep you from feeling your best.

This is all so new, it takes time to feel like a “natural”, be patient with yourself.

The most important things to think about when you’re home with a new baby

Getting fresh air every day. Sometimes it’s simply the environment that you’re in. If anyone sat in one room for 24 hours a day for a week they would start to feel the walls closing in!
Vitamin D, not just for the baby! Vitamin D is an important one for new moms and all people, especially those in Canada. When your baby takes their D Drops, you should take yours. Bonus: get outside and get it direct from the source.
Eat well and drink lots. Food and hydration are the keys to feeling good. You cannot survive on coffee and cold cereal.
Prioritize your sleep as much as you can. Stop trying to tidy the house, or get things done when you have a few minutes of “free time” when the baby falls asleep. Hand the baby off and climb into bed. Do that often and you’ll be able to get enough sleep!