Being a parent for the first time comes with a mix of emotions such as happiness and anxiety. The happiness is for the arrival of a newborn, and the anxiety is because of the responsibilities associated with the child. A new parent often looks to others for tips on parenting, and there are a lot of people providing those tips. However, what most people forget to tell us how you need to manage yourself rather than the kid. Once you are able to manage yourself, you will feel much happier while taking care of your child. In this article, we will go through some tips for new parents on how to manage themselves, and hence the child.
Staying happy is the key to parenting success
You need to stay as happy as possible in order to give a proper upbringing to your child. Now the question is how to remain happy while clearing up the mess of your child all the time. Well, the answer is that there are always two sides to the coin.
One of my friends always keeps blaming her life situation while dealing with the routines of her child. She would do all the work of the child, but not with happiness, whereas there is this other friend of mine who tends to enjoy her time with her newborn daughter. She keeps her mood light and mixes her work along with childcare. More often than not, you will see a smile on her face while she takes care of her child.
So, the point is simple; you need to ensure your mind and heart that caring for your baby is just a cute part of your life. One day you are going to laugh about this, so why not laugh today as well.
Sleep is important for your child and for you as well – sleep tight stay right
Many women complain that they are not able to sleep properly at night because of the child. This is true and a known fact that a child wakes up several times at night. It is thus important for you to find a workaround for your essential sleep. You may also synchronize your sleep time with your baby’s sleep time. This way, when your child sleeps for two hours during day time, you can take a power nap for an hour as well.
You can also take the help of technology and general logic to leverage yourself time to sleep. For example, a friend’s child sleeps in a cradle and wakes up in the middle of the night. The friend wakes up, goes to the cradle, helps her child get asleep, and by the time she comes back to bed, her own sleep is gone. Very soon, she was struggling with sleep deprivation and was thinking of consulting a doctor.
However, to solve this problem, she attached a string to cradle and slept with the string in her hand. As usual, her child cried at night, and she just pulled the string to swing the cradle a little. To her surprise, her child went to sleep again and did not wake up for the next two-three hours. My friend, however, could not sleep that day as well out of the happiness she got out of this trick. Next night onwards, her sleep was better, and a small piece of string had done the trick. She almost started sleeping through the night, and this helped her become more energetic and happy during the day time.
Relax, you are just a human and error making humans are common in this world
There are many new parents who think that the way they handle their children is not the best way. They also keep questioning their parenting skills, and they think that they need to join some American academy to learn these skills. Thinking like this is common for new parents, and this is why these tips for new parents are important.
As a next tip, I will suggest you to enjoy making mistakes and forget them later. Not all mistakes are there for you to learn something from. There are some mistakes that you can just ignore and carry on, especially when you are parenting a newborn. For example, if you forgot to feed your child on time, it is not a crime that you have committed. If you forgot to change the child’s diaper; it is not something you will be sentenced to jail for not doing it.
So, you need to stop thinking that everything about your child is a top priority, and if you forget something, you have sinned. You need to understand that you, too, have a life and some limitations which are common. So, relax and enjoy whatever you are able to do for your child within your limits. Instead of taking things seriously, laugh it off, and make your life easier.
Get out from that room, and that house, and that city, and that state, and that country – Ok wait
When you keep yourself confined to your child, you are bound to become sick by the mind. Even a small plant needs fresh air to live, and so do you. You should plan an outing every now and then in order to feel fresh. Well, don’t leave your child and go out vacationing in another country, but you should go out often.
Some people say that their child is not comfortable outside and starts showing tantrums outside the home. Well, I say that this is all in your mind, and I have examples to prove this to you. I have a friend who thinks in the same way, and thus, he and his wife are confined to their home. However, when my girl was young, we as parents used to take her outside very often. She also bothered us like any other child, but that was only two and a half times post, which she was normal.
We first took her to short trips, then to movies, and then for long holidays. Of course, we took good care of her in each of these events, but the point is that a child doesn’t like going out until he or she is familiar with going out. When I suggested this to my friend, she blankly rejected my advice initially. But when she did step out a couple of times, her life changed in a really positive manner. Her child was no more bothering her, and in fact, the child started enjoying going out as well. So, when it comes to parenting a newborn, the tip is to go out and breathe.
Take help; there is no harm in it
I have seen some parents who keep fighting amongst themselves over small things and ruin their mood. When they are not sure about anything, they will make assumptions, and when something goes wrong, they will blame themselves or each other. However, the fact is that you are not Adam and Eve, and hence, you are not the first parents on this earth.
When I was a new parent, I was also searching for tips for new parents. I never hesitated to talk to other parents to get solutions to some common problems. This helped me a lot during my early parenting days, and life became much easier with all the help I got. And when I became good enough in parenting, the cycle reversed, and people started coming to me for advice. I respect those friends who come to me to take advice on parenting. I help them with my experience, and more often than not, they get what they need.
So, it is extremely important to take help from others wherever you need one. It is not like a war that you need to fight alone; it is rather like nurturing a plant, the more people care about the plant, the better fruits it delivers.
Know your importance, and never underestimate yourself
This is the most important tip that I want to give to new parents. Often, new parents get exhausted and feel like just giving up parenting. This frustration is totally understandable, but you need to understand that there is no one better than you to take care of your child. So, how so ever you are able to care for your child, it is the best he or she can get. So, you should take pride in being a parent, and should acknowledge the fact that you are nurturing a life.
In Conclusion
We all go through the phase of parenting in our respective lives some time or the other. Sometimes, we feel ecstatic while some other times, we feel down while taking care of our child. It is, however, important to keep nurturing the child as well as taking care of yourself. Your child’s health is extremely important, but so is yours, as well. So, enjoy every bit of your parenting time and live your life to the fullest. I hope these tips for new parents become useful for you as well in bringing up your child.
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