This post is all about is self care important for moms with babies. This post will cover mom's role in the home, what is self care, the truth about self care, identify the 8 pillars of self care, benefits of self care, quick activities and habits for self care, and how self care improves mom's mental health and decreases recovery time after childbirth.
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Table of Contents:
Busy Working Mom
You are the Heart of Your Home
What is Self Care?
The Truth About Self Care for Moms with Babies
Types of Self Care
How Is Self Care Actually Beneficial?
Eating for Self Care
Self Care Activities
How Does Self Care Improve Mom's Mental Health
How Does Self Care Help Your Body Heal and Recover Faster After C Section or Vaginal Delivery Childbirth?
How Often Should You Practice Self Care
Self Care in 10 Minutes or Less for Busy Moms with Babies
Is Self Care Important for New Moms
If You've Just Had a Baby and You're Feeling Exhausted, Mom... You Need Self Care and You're in The Right Place!
Is self care important to you as a new mom? Is self care important enough to make it a priority? As mamas, we have a tendency to put everything and everybody before our wants, needs, our health, and our self care or self love as some call it too. You don’t have time to worry with or think about how many types of self care there are, how self care benefits you or how self care can improve your mental health.
You don’t have time to even consider how often you should practice self care or what self care activities even exist because there is always so much to do... for everyone else! You put on your happy face, a happy face mask sometimes, and tell yourself you can do this. But, the real truth is, this is hard, battery draining, and can leave you feeling overwhelmed, irritable, and quite frustrated to say the least.
Girl, you just had a baby for goodness sake. You're body is trying to recover from delivery whether that was by c-section or vaginal delivery. You are busy changing diapers, figuring out the breastfeeding and pumping schedule, doing laundry, figuring out food...hopefully, and trying to squeeze in some shut eye wherever it may fit in! I know how that feels because I have two kids, I have done it twice... and had 2 c-sections.
Want to start your self care journey today so you can help your body recover from daily stressors and feel better?
Email me at hello@smomslife.com with the subject line:
Self Care O' Yeah Padlet!
AND I will send you a link to FREE resources, music, videos, printables for self care, self love, productivity, motivation, inspiration and so much more!
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Busy Working Mom
If you already have kids, then add on top of all that getting them ready for school, cooking them breakfast, lunch, and dinner, wash and fold their laundry too, cleaning the house, make sure the kids are packed and ready for school and get them to school on time, be sure that everyone has what they need for the day and the list just goes on and on and on.
Not to mention, you’re trying to do all of this before running out the door to for the morning! Whew! No wonder when we get home, you’re just slap worn out and self care is the last thing on your mind.
But mom, it actually NEEDS to be the first thing on your mind and here is why.
You are the Heart of Your Home
As a mom and woman of the house, you are considered the heart of your home. Just like with our bodies, the organs in your body are able to function properly and at full capacity when the heart is healthy and functioning at full capacity. Your body's heart has to pump and life through your entire body in order for you to remain living and breathing.
This is the same for you mom. You pump life into your home, your kids, your family. You are the organizer, the planner, the caretaker, the encourager, the teacher, the bank teller, the Uber driver, and Uber Eats delivery for your family and more.
You are so much and have so much value to your family... even when they don't express it in words or actions the way should. So, in order for your home to run smoothly and efficiently, you have to have your self care in tact. Even more so when you are a new mom.
A NEW baby equals NEW mom. No matter if you have three kids already or if it's your first rodeo as mom. Either way, you're in the new mom category since you are handling a NEWborn baby. So, I will refer to newborn as NEWborn to reference that this is for first time moms with a newborn and for moms that already have kids, including your newborn baby.
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What is Self Care?
The first thing that you will need to do differently, is understand that you are a super mom with a NEWborn, but you are not Supermom with a NEWborn! You can’t do everything, all the time, for everyone and not include yourself in the line up. You will run out of steam so fast that not even your coffee cup, tea cup, or any other caffeinated energy booster can help you recover.
First, let me tell you what self care is NOT:
1. Self care isn’t being selfish or self-indulgent
2. Self care does not take too much time.
3. The effects of self care are not temporary.
4. Self care is not doing anything that soothes you including overindulging in food, excessive tv watching, or drinking alcohol.
5. Self care in not the same for everyone.
The truth About Self Care for NEWborn Moms:
So, what is self care? Self care is taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy and live well. It is being able to do your job in order to provide for your family. It is being able to do some of the things you need and want to accomplish in a day.
Self care is how you re-energize and refill your cup before pouring into someone else, including your new baby. Self-care is a missing piece of the puzzle for the answer to how you as a mew mom can better cope and recover from daily stressors, especially those attached to your body recovering from delivery and the demands of caring for baby as well as your family.
Types of Self Care:
When we talk about self care and explore ways to incorporate self care, it is important to first understand that there are different kinds of self care. You will need self care for different reasons and specific types of self care at different times. Check out the 8 types or as some refer to as pillars of self care.
8 Self Care Pillars
There are basically 8 areas of self care. The main areas of self-care are physical, psychological, emotional, social, professional, environmental, spiritual, and financial.
1. Physical self-care is possibly the most critical form of self-care because it is about taking care of your physical body which can help you stay healthy.
2. Mental self-care involves your psychological thinking. It is your mind’s ability to understand and process information and experiences.
3. Emotional self-care involves your feelings. It is learning to understand yourself and your emotions better so that you can love and accept yourself as you are.
4. Environmental self-care is your physical space around you. You can create a healthy space that is best suited for you to grow and flourish.
5. Financial self- care is building a healthy relationship with money.
6. Social self-care is the ability to build and maintain healthy relationships with others.
7. Recreational self-care is taking time to have fun doing things that you enjoy or make you happy.
8. Spiritual self-care is focused toward nourishing the soul. It is different for everyone.
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How Is Self Care Actually Beneficial?
As a NEWborn mom, you have some many added tasks to your daily "to do" that is almost virtaully impossible to check everything off the list! Think of the remote control to the television.
Everyone is picking it up all day long to tune to a tv show, record a show, watch a move, adjust the sound up and down, throw it on the couch and the floor when their done.
Even the older toddlers in the house want in on the action! They want to press the buttons to see what will happen, bite it, and throw it in the trash too! With this one remote control doing so much and really going through it... poor remote control. 🥹
Eventually, the batteries are doing to need replacing in order for it to operate at its full capacity and continue to do all these things and more for everyone who needs it. If the batteries aren't replaced, you will pick up that remote one day to tune to your favorite episode of ______ (fill in the blank) and there will be crickets sounds .
Of course, not literally cricket sounds, but you get the idea. Then, you'll really be upset because no one knows how to work the tv without the remote, no one cared enough to get batteries before they ran out, and the remote can't do what you need it to do now.
Hence, your favorite show of the new season is airing and you can't tune it. I know this was a long story for The Life and Times of the Remote Control novel.
But you are the remote control! Your batteries have to be replaced!
The only difference in remote control and is that you can't go days and months at a time without having your batteries replaced. It as to be done daily.
Self care implementing self care is how you recharge those batteries so you can function. Having your internal emotional, physical, and mental batteries recharged daily is the biggest benefit of self care.
Eating for Self Care
Eating healthy provides your body with the nutrition and energy it needs for you, your growing baby (especially if you are a breastfeeding mom). You need tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, and fiber from foods such as oats, chia and flax seeds.
Consider self care as some think of blueberries in their diet. It’s a must in order to keep you regulated (or calmer) and it just seems to makes things flow a little bit smoother when you engage in self care.
Self Care Activities
Engaging in self care activities can also be beneficial as it is a way to encourage you to tap into your inner child. If you already have younger kids, think of all the times you've heard, mommy will you play with me?
This is an opportunity that gives you time to take part in activities that don’t really require too much brain power. Doing things like adult coloring with your kids, listening to music for a 3 minute dance party, even sitting on the floor with your littles and doing some lite stretches and yoga.
It is all about taking these small moments. Only 5-10 minutes of enjoying moments either with your kids or alone that bring you happiness and peace.
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Social Self Care
Social self care is beneficial because when we make time to gather and connect with friends and family, you are building and maintaining healthy relationships (outside of your kids). These social connections help you to feel loved and less alone. It also helps with developing and improving our communication skills.
Physical Self Care
Self-care is about taking care of your physical body which will help you stay healthy so you can continue to do good for yourself and the ones you love. It is essential for our mental health as it helps to eliminate stress and anxiety from our lives.
How does Self Care Improve Mom's Mental Health
Mental self-care practices can help to stimulate your mind. It can improve your brain’s functionality, but it can also help you to develop a growth mindset. Self-care and lifestyle changes can help manage mental health problems.
It may also help prevent some problems from developing or getting worse. Self-care is important to help you build resilience toward stressors in life that are beyond your control.
How Does Self Care Help Your Body Heal and Recover Faster After C Section or Vaginal Delivery Childbirth?
A woman's body has to go through many changes after having a baby whether is was a vaginal birth or C-section. The last thing on your mind may be self care, but it should actually be up in the top 10 things, at least. There is a huge drop in hormone levels after childbirth, not to mention a major shift in day-to-day responsibilities, sleep, and much more.
Feeling tired, a little overwhelmed, or worrying about your new role is completely normal after giving birth and will happen so practicing self care is vital to your recovery process. When you get the sleep you need your body is able to recover and regulate your mood. So, let someone step in to help so you can get a little extra shut eye and a break from baby.
Nutrition and exercise are also vital to your self care and healing. Eat healthy to ensure your body gets the vitamins and minerals it needs and add in supplements like fish oils for Omega 3’s for regulating your mood. Exercise such as walking is always great for recovery as it helps keep things moving and blood pumping.
It may seem small, but laughter is great during recovery because it can help reduce stress hormones and decrease blood pressure. This doesn’t just apply to women after childbirth, these may be used after having had other surgeries as well (as long as it’s doctor approved of course).So, self care such as eat a well-balanced diet, walking, laughing, and getting a good amount of sleep every night to boost energy levels and can positively impact your life after surgery.
Want to start your self care journey today so you can help your body recover from childbirth, daily stressors and feel better?
Email me at hello@smomslife.com with the subject line:
Self Care O' Yeah Padlet!
AND I will send you a link to FREE resources, music, videos, printables for self care, self love, productivity, motivation, inspiration and so much more!
ALSO INCLUDED!!!!
It’s 30 days of self care ideas that you can do in 10 minutes or less. Make your self care a priority because you are a priority!
Email me at hello@smomslife.com with the subject line:
Self Care O' Yeah Padlet!
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How Often Should You Practice Self Care
Self care can be a daily activity to help you feel and be a better version of yourself. There are things that we are already doing that you may not have even considered as self care. It isn’t always about soaking in a bubble bath for an hour or so.
Now, it is great to be able to to that, but we can’t always put an hour bath time in the schedule as a busy mom. However, you can always devote 5 to 10 minutes of time for your daily self care, especially when you are just starting out.
The most important thing is making a conscious effort daily to begin your journey of self care in order to maintain your overall health. Check out some of these activities below to get started with your self care today… like right now!
What are some quick self care activities and habits for NEWborn Moms: 11 ideas for Self Care That You Can Do In 10 Minutes or Less!
-drink 8 oz of water
-check your bank statement for your monthly expenditures
-go for a walk
-go for a run (if you are medically approved to do so)
-eat your favorite meal
-meditate
-give yourself a face mask
-say no to doing an additional task today
-make a cup of tea
-journal writing
-schedule your postpartum visit and annual with your doctor
You know why self care is so important? Self care is important because you are important! You're body has just done a miraculous work. It has provided a healthy home for 9 months for a beautiful baby to live and safely grow. It provided all of the food, nutrition, and nutrients this baby needed to thrive.
It provided a place for this beautiful baby to learn his/her first sounds and the see what it feels like to see for the first time. You are a walking miracle house and your body is beyond deserving of receiving special treatment.
So, give your body the special treatment it needs. Give yourself the special treatment you need. Give yourself the self care that you need and deserve! You can't pour from an empty cup, so fill HER up!
After all, did you forget that you are super mom? Super moms deserve self care. Is self care important to you? Afterall, it is simply necessary, not selfish.
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