Balancing Between Your Newborn and the Rest of the Family

Admit it. It is not easy to juggle between nursing your newborn and managing the rest of the family. It’s even more challenging if your little bundle of joy continually cries or wants to be held all the time. Nursing your baby alone often takes a massive toll on both your physical and psychological energy. Moreover, the thought of taking care of your spouse and your other kids will not go away. You cannot take your mind off the piling dirty dishes, the dirty laundry, and the food to be eaten by the rest of the family. You’re faced with this question: How can you look after the interest of the whole family with a newborn? It’s a tough balancing act for any new mother.

However, many new mothers go through this experience before and succeed, and so can you. With that said, the following are a few tips to help you manage your household with a baby, while still maintaining your sanity.

Minimize chores

Make use of disposable plates and cups for the first few weeks after childbirth as this will help you save time from cleaning dirty dishes. You can also buy a robot vacuum for floor cleaning if you’re not comfortable requesting for people’s assistance with cleaning. The robot vacuum can be programmed to clean your floor every day. Instead of cooking on a daily basis, make a sizeable batch of foods and freeze them for future use. Moreover, you can shop for groceries online which means you don’t have to step outside your house.

You May Also Read this : Helping Your Newborn Adjust to Life after Birth

Lower down your expectations

Most mothers are perfectionists. They always aim for perfection in whatever they do. However, while nursing a newborn, don’t expect your home to be perfectly clean and neat all the time. It’s normal to have a bit of untidiness here and there because much of your time is spent with your baby. Likewise, it’s fine to order food from outside when you lack the energy to prepare a healthy homemade meal for the rest of the family. When it comes to ironing, you can prioritize your husband’s clothes, kids’ uniform, and baby’s clothes while the rest can wait. So do not spend your precious time ironing all the clothes after washing.

Delegate

The truth is that you cannot effectively manage the rest of the family while nursing your newborn. In that case, consider hiring confinement nanny. The caregiver can handle duties like cooking, laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping while you nurse the baby. She can even take over baby care duties from time to time so that you can have some rest as well. Click to find out the confinement lady Singapore whenever you need a helping hand for your postnatal care. 

Identify your baby’s most extended nap schedule

Newborns often have short naps across the day. However, you might notice a trend when the baby sleeps longer than usual. Meanwhile, you may learn how to swaddle a baby for sleep which may help your baby feels safe and secure. You can maximize that long nap to do duties that you can’t do while your newborn is awake. For example, you can cook a homemade meal for the family. You can also use the time to do a bit of laundry for your husband and kids. Doing all these will afford you a sense of accomplishment.

Moreover, you can also help your toddler with schoolwork when the baby is asleep or walk him to school while the newborn is home with daddy or a day time confinement nanny. These simple moments will help make sure that your other kids don’t feel abandoned because of the newborn.

You can also use your baby’s naptime to take a romantic walk with your spouse. The outside air is right for your baby while she is sleeping in the baby carrier and both of you can enjoy a beautiful stroll while reconnecting and learning about each other’s world, outside the home. Babies sleep much better out-of-doors, and this may afford you an hour or so with your spouse. Just make sure the environment is natural and devoid of high traffic noises to avoid disturbing the child.

Involve the other kids while you nurse the baby

You will be surprised how much you can do with your other kids while you nurse the newborn. While feeding the baby, the kids can read the infant a book. By doing this, your other kids will appreciate not being ignored during the newborn’s frequent feedings. Therefore, they won’t relate feedings with time spent away from you.

Though it may be difficult for you at the beginning, you will eventually learn how to balance taking care of your family’s needs and those of your infant. With the tips above and your organizational skills, you will find life much more manageable until your child becomes more independent.

Author

  • PEM Confinement Nanny Agency

    We are a group of frontliners and support team members who are passionate about sharing our knowledge and experience in confinement care. Representing the largest confinement nanny agency in Singapore which has served over 250,000 mothers in over 30 years, we are all about sharing useful and insightful information based on our experience to help new parents navigate this exciting chapter of their life better.