Parenting Tips for New Parents

1. 5 Top Most Challenges in My Motherhood Journey..
From a Mother to all Moms-to-be
No wonder motherhood brings so much of joy after all that wait. A dream that has finally come true.
While a mother is still recovering from everything that her body has gone through, she already starts
ignoring her own health, busy taking care of the little one. She wants to do so much on her own as
she looks for perfection in everything that her child deserves.
Let us all accept that not every moment in the motherhood is enjoyable or a happy moment. There
are times when you will get frustrated, angry and look for some breathing period.
I have tried highlighting few challenges that I have face in my motherhood journey and how
probably you can overcome them:
1) Lack of immediate help after delivery –
Everyone in the family is excited to welcome a new born however it is equally important to
know how prepared they are, to provide you with the required support.
There was a phase, I had a tough time when my Taksh was three weeks old. He used to sleep
throughout the day and stay up the whole night. Probably, every parent goes through this
phase, as infants are still adjusting to the day night pattern. In my case this continued for
almost three weeks for him to settle down which left me completely exhausted as this was
an equally important phase for me to take enough rest and sleep.
• Do not expect or rely much on family members or even on your spouse for that
matter who is equally nervous and confused as you are, but still trying to do his best.
Don’t take it as surprise when your mother or mother-in-law tells you that they
don’t remember certain things that you expected them to know. It has been ages for
them and not everyone is expert in everything. They all can help you till a certain
extent.
• They will already have their own routine to follow and a new addition to the family
is only going to increase their work, which will make them even more occupied. They
too deserve a sound sleep after the hectic day.
• Communicate & start planning with your family members, well in advance, as to
who will take up what so that the necessary arrangements can be done beforehand.
• Hire a dedicated care taker if possible. There has to be someone who can take care
of your baby and your needs too in the start, right from the day one for at least a
month or more, depending on case to case.
• Don’t get overburdened by doing everything for your baby alone, this can delay the
recovery process that your body needs initially which can further disturb your
mental peace.
2) Worrying too much about the baby –
Once you get your new born home, that’s when the real journey starts. No matter how
much you have prepared yourself, there’s always going to be so many such instances where
you will feel helpless and will not understand what to do and how to do. That’s when we get
scared and instead of enjoying the beautiful moments, we end up spending these moments
worrying for our baby.

2. When we were back home after delivery, we didn’t know how to swaddle the baby but we
knew swaddling kept him comfortable all this while, not sure why baby was crying even
when fed? was I not making enough milk? scared of clipping those tender nails as we could
see some scratches already on his face and so many such small things. These can sound
funny when you think about it now but they can be equally worrying for new parents.
The new chapter of your life has just begun and you are still building the confidence. Just
take it easy. It’s a phase that shall pass soon. Take help, read, practice and you are there.
3) Lack of knowledge on breastfeeding –
Utilize your pregnancy time in reading and gathering as much as information as you can on
breastfeeding, one of the most precious things that you can gift your baby. With some
difficulty in the beginning, I was successfully able to make it within a week.
• Read about how to latch babies and diet to increase your milk supply
• Arrange for a feeding bed, bending too much towards your baby can increase strain
on your back.
• Take enough fluids
• Don’t take stress and get enough rest
• Go for lactation consultation if required as delay in feeding can harm your milk
supply.
4) Colic and crying – This is one the most common problem that babies go through specially
mostly in their first trimester.
One of those sleepless night, I had spent with just no clue what the problem was? Taksh was
four weeks old when I was at my mom’s place, already having tough time with my sleep and
a colicky baby was like a cherry on the cake. All he wanted was to keep nursing as he looked
to soothe himself.
In such situations, identifying the problem itself can give you half of the solution and that
can be a major relief. You can then try & find some solutions to cope up with it for time
being. Also, when you know the problem is not very serious, you can always wait to consult
your pediatrician the next morning & the late-night chaos can be avoided. Gently massaging
baby’s tummy, bicycle kicks, laying baby tummy-down across knees, warm bath, swaddling,
holding them for some more time can help here.
5) Work – Life balance:
From an independent professional to having a completely dependent child, is a huge
transition and will change your life completely, struggling to find some ‘ME’ time. You will
always have some or the other work lined up back-to-back. All that you enjoyed doing this
while is now a struggle. Besides, meeting everybody’s expectation, unwanted suggestions,
judgements, comparisons and conflicts due to difference on opinion can be more
distressing. One can expect all these coming your way along with motherhood.
Following your passion along with motherhood can be a very challenging task and to balance
it, one need to have a good support. Start preparing & planning on how you can deal with it
in a best possible way that will have a mix of everything. Take out some time for the activity
that you like and do not forget on exercising regularly.

3. You all are doing a wonderful job out there. The feeling that you are always worried for your
little ones, itself makes you a good mother. Don’t look for perfection every time. Let it go
with the flow. People will judge you anyway. So do what is best convenient for both you and
your child. Nobody else is walking in your shoes.
With some foresight, a little knowledge and of course an on-time pediatrician guidance can
make your life much easy and smooth.