Tips to Reduce Stress as a New Mom

The first six months of my “new mom” life was rather crazy. When I think back on it now, all these years later, I realize it passed in a haze. And I feel sure that is because of my stress levels. So on my second time around, I learned to calm down and reduce stress… and it made a HUGE difference.

When you’re a new mom, you want do everything right. However, the pressure to be perfect can cause you to feel anxious and upset. It’s important to take steps to reduce your stress as a new parent. You will be healthier and happier – and so will your baby!

A new baby brings a lot of joy – but also brings a lot of new experiences that can cause stress. You’re not sleeping as much, you don’t have the independence you’re used to, and you’re still getting to know how to meet the needs of your little one. At this time it’s critical to reduce your stress in any way you can.

When you’re in a stressful situation surrounding your new baby, you may feel guilty for your emotions. You may feel like you shouldn’t have any unhappy feelings about your baby.

However, it’s natural and normal to feel stressed out. In fact, you should be more worried if you have no stress. In order to reduce your stress you must let go of the guilt and deal with the problems that are causing those feelings.

When you’re trying to reduce your stress, it really helps to have a plan of action. The first thing you can do is make a list of all the things that are actually causing the stress.

For example, it could be that you’re only getting two hours of sleep at a time, that you haven’t been able to get out of the house as much as you’d like, or that you’re spending too much time trying to please friends and relatives.

Once you’ve identified the things that are triggering your stress, you can create a plan to reduce your stress. Take just one situation on the list and think of as many ways as possible to reduce the problem.

If you’re not getting out of the house enough, you may be able to enlist the help of a friend or relative to babysit or go with you so you can have an extra helping hand on an outing. This way you can have your needs met and reduce your stress.

Asking for help may be very difficult – especially if you’re used to being independent and taking care of everything on your own. However, to reduce your stress it’s critical that you allow others to help you whenever possible.

I hope this helps you out, mama. Remember, sleep is going to help considerably. My biggest piece of advice for new moms is to sleep when you’re baby sleeps. Resist the urge to do all the things you think you SHOULD do. What you really need is to be well rested, and everything else will work out. This is what I changed with my second child and it make all the difference.

Hugs and kisses,
Serenity