7 Healthy Self-Care Ideas for New Moms of Infants

So often, burnout and exhaustion are prevalent in ourselves as parents when we don’t tend to our basic needs. Although a staycation without the kids or uninterrupted sleep may not be in the books yet for us busy moms of little ones, here are seven simple ways we can take care of ourselves and help us fill our empty cups after a day of being needed.  

1. Take an unhurried bath/shower.

Nothing beats a day of being covered with spit-ups, saliva, and poop by ending it with a bath.  Baths are definitely rejuvenating in the sense that it makes us feel cleaner, gives us a sense of calm and endorphins and make us feel good about ourselves. Pro tip: have your bathing essentials to have a calming scent and made with natural products to help regulate your mood and for us nursing moms/with kids that like to cling to us especially, be confident that everything we put on our body is safe and healthy for whenever our kid decides to willy nilly bite, lick or slather saliva on us.

2. Plan out your day (and list them down).

Although there’s just those days (or most days) when nothing goes according to plan, it helps us to keep track of the chaos in running the house or making sure our babies are alive and well. It helps us to be more intentional with our babies and our home and keeps us on track with a set home project to tackle rather than doing everything and not getting the important things done. Tip: Bullet journalling is soo helpful for me to keep a system of reminders and to do list in place. Most of the time, I use my Google Keep app to jot down quick notes and reminders but I like to transfer them all in one centralized place (which is my journal) for easy reference. 

3. Curate the things you absorb.

This is essentially true for the books I read, the people I tend to recieve advice from, the posts and people I follow on social media, and everything that basically surrounds me. This is essentially caring for my mental health, which can go into an worrying tangent place during the tough times of motherhood. A lot of the things I tend to absorb are around Montessori or key parenting principles that I resonate with, and it helps me to be equipped with tools I’d appreciate in my own parenting. So yes even from social media! Carefully curate and protect your minds from all the noise out there about parenting-shaming.  

4. Eat a warm meal.

This is such a simple idea but such a difficult feat to accomplish especially when out and about with our little ones. 🤦 So set a time once a day or at least a week where you eat at least one meal unhurried and where it is served warm! Like what they all say, you never know what a luxury is until you experience its loss. So if you can, have someone watch your kids, eat a meal out and have that warm meal without guilt! 

5. Video call with friends and family.

This global pandemic has been incredibly draining and difficult to a lot of us, even if it is in different degrees. And the most trying of it all is because we are unable to be close to the people whom we can rely on the most. So set a time, book that schedule with your folks and even if it keeps getting rain checked on, the mere fact that you keep on making time and drawing the plan out means that it will eventually come into fruition!

6. Schedule date nights with your partner.

Especially in the early years of child-raising, this is such a vulnerable period to build a lot of resentments and misunderstandings between you and your partner. So having these date nights make it even more essential to talk through and heal those challenging strains in your relationship. Because in the family, the most important foundation is the relationship between husband and wife. They are the pillars of the family upon where its structure is built. A healthy loving relationship between you and your partner would also make your child feel more safe and sturdy in the family, which is always a win-win. ❤️

7. Take a short breather walk.

There are simply those moments in time where you just need to walk away. Heightened emotions, troubling thoughts, the list goes on. And one way to lighten such burden is to move your body and walk away from it all. It gives you time to cool your head, and being out in nature is always a way to help calm down and regulate oneself. So whether it’s a need to relieve a growing tension in your body or to clear your head, take a walk and release them. 

So there you have it, my seven simple ideas to promote self-care for you, dear mamas! Comment down below any of your self-care methods or which among the above was the most helpful. Care for yourself mamas (and Dadas)! You deserve it.