What is self care?  How does becoming a parent impact our self care?

Self care is purposeful action we take to ensure our wellbeing.   Wellbeing includes our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.

As we take on the new role of being a parent and learning how to balance our new responsibilities, it can be easy to put self care on the back burner.   We focus on taking good care of our babies and can forget to take care of ourselves, too.  In order to be the best parents that we can be, we need to make sure we are tending to our self care needs, too.

10 Tips Self Care Tips for New Parents

1. First and foremost, consider and adjust your expectations, if needed.   It is important that your expectations for yourself, your partner and your baby are realistic and reflect your individual circumstances.  I list this tip first because, it will likely influence how you apply the rest of the tips on this list.
2. Prioritize your nutrition just as much as you prioritize your baby’s. Stay hydrated and eat balanced meals.
3. Get as much sleep as you can. Experiment to figure out how this works best for you.   Some parents like to sleep when their baby naps, but others find this hard to do and prefer to go to bed earlier than usual.
4. When your body is ready for it, get active in some way. If this seems overwhelming, consider starting with walking or stretching.
5. Ask for support when you need it. Asking for support is not a sign of weakness, but rather shows that you are paying attention to what your family needs.
6. Accept help when others offer. If someone offers to help you, they genuinely want to support your new family.  Accepting help from others may be a way to help you find time for self care as a new parent.
7. Allow yourself to take a break when you need it. We all need a break sometimes.
8. Continue to make time for something you love.
9. Connect with other new parents who are supportive.
10. Take deep breaths. This is so helpful when we feel overwhelmed, anxious and irritable.

Feel free to add additional self care tips in the comments!

If you are a new or expecting parent who is struggling to find time for self care, I may be able to help.   Please click here to read more about the services I offer for new and expecting parents in the south metro.   Also consider checking to see if one of my upcoming self care workshops may be a good fit for you.