My youngest little boy turns 3 at the end of this month and it feels very bittersweet. We are moving away from the baby days and with no plans for a third it feels that we are moving on to a new phase in life with our two boys.
We no longer have sleepless nights, and every now and again we even get a lie in (and by lie in I mean still in bed past 7am), and whilst my petrol bill has gone through the roof with the amount of taxi-ing round I have to do for my 7 year old, life is just that little bit easier.
You may be in the thick of it right now, and I remember one day being so tired I just sat on the stairs and cried as there was nothing else to do, but it does pass and hopefully by sharing a few of my survival tips it may make things a little easier.
Take the help on offer
It’s easy for me to day this but I’m not always great at following my own advice. For so long I saw it as a failure on my part if I needed help with anything baby related but having someone share the load makes the world of difference.
Sleep
We all know “Sleep when the baby sleeps” isn’t always that easy but do see if someone can watch your little one for a couple of hours whilst you get a nap in. When you are exhausted the smallest of problems can seem huge.
Get outside
Go for a walk and get some fresh air, even if it’s just for a change of scene from staying in the house. I promise you you will feel better for it, even better if you have someone you can go and have a coffee and a chat with.
Find time to be by yourself
When you’re a new mum it is almost impossible to find time to be alone, especially if you are breastfeeding but it is so important to be kind to yourself and to carve out that time. It doesn’t have to be for long and it doesn’t have to be to do anything fancy. It might be having a bath, 30 minutes playing a game on your phone, or the ultimate luxury, a trip round the supermarket on your own but sometime where you have no one else to worry about other than you!
Cut those corners
We all do it! Sticking the baby in the jumperoo so we can have a cup of tea in peace (I really wish they did something similar for 2 year olds), febreezing your jeans to get another days wear out of them, pasta for dinner again, we all have our own Fucket List (check out Lucy’s post on Real Parent to see what’s on hers)
We all have our own ways of coping through the early mum days, and one thing I learned very early on was not to judge because ultimately we are all doing what we think is best for our kids, and as long as they are happy and healthy that’s the only thing that matters.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
