This is something we Indian moms don’t hear much of. We juggle household chores and a baby, a job and a baby, and sometimes all three together and we are expected to do it happily. Find joy and fulfillment out of it. Very little is said about the toll it takes on us. This is the essence of my first post in the blog.

The best thing you can do for your baby is to first take care of yourself

Your baby can feel your stress. Just as in pregnancy, babies are finely tuned in to what their primary caregiver is going through. So yes, your stress hormones can affect the baby, but there is also another issue here – a mother who is tired and ill will often forget to check the baby’s diaper and also be more prone for accidents while handling her baby.

So taking care of yourself goes beyond just good sleep and good food.

You need to take time off for yourself

Postpartum depression is a real problem for many women and can occur during any period after delivery. But even without such chemical changes in your brain, as a mother, there is a lot of stuff you’re going through. And you need to pause and take some time off to feel like yourself again.

Take some time off each day to do your own favorite thing. Split it up into smaller portions or whatever it is you can do to fit it into your schedule. You just need to feel like you’re life is yours again.

What you shouldn’t do:

• Don’t put off celebrations. It may be small – a small cake or a sweet card, whatever it is, make sure you celebrate the special days like usual.
• Don’t worry about your post delivery weight. Your baby loves you no matter how heavy you are and so should everyone else.
• Don’t try to do everything by yourself. Ask for help liberally and don’t feel guilty about it.

Travel when you can

When your baby is between 1 – 6 months, he doesn’t need any food except milk and he can’t crawl yet. Which means this is the perfect time for you to travel. Use this time wisely and go out, go for a vacation to places that are baby friendly – pleasant weather, hygienic environment and so on. Your baby will love the change of air as well.

Stay away or ignore toxic people

“Toxic people” can be anyone from neighbors to family members to friends – who mean well, but just give us the wrong advice. Being a mother, we take decisions every day that directly affects our babies and often these decisions are questioned, frowned upon or ridiculed.

Remember that though you can make mistakes and you may not know everything, you are still the mother. No one cares for your baby more than you do and your motherly instincts are backed by scientific evidence that the mother’s hormones actually change her brain visibly on an MRI. That’s not just freakishly awesome, but it also means that you need to have more confidence in yourself.

Don’t allow people to put you down and if you can’t stay away from such people, at the least, ignore them, for your own peace of mind and sanity.

It is okay to distance yourself from people who steal your happiness, peace or confidence.

Stay strong and keep rocking as always!

Because your baby needs you to.