A bundle of joy. The apple of an eye. The light of a mom’s life. This year, many moms celebrating Mother’s Day will be new moms! After countless sleepless nights and messy days, new moms are ready to be pampered on their newly-included special day. If they’re lucky, loved ones will give them the gift of comfort and luxury with bamboo bedding (for when there is time for a good night’s sleep) or stylish bamboo clothing for when they’re post baby body returns.
But perhaps the best gift a new mom can receive is the gift of advice from seasoned moms.
1) For busy moms (and who isn’t a busy mom?), remembering to journal, scrapbook and photograph milestones can be one too many things on the to-do list. But you know you will take your baby to the doctor so use that time in the waiting room to make some notes about your baby’s growth, funny habits and take some photos.
2) Tell people what you really need. Everyone will want to hold the cute new baby but what you may really need is help with housecleaning, cooking meals or doing the laundry. Let people hold and coo to the baby but in exchange, ask for a little help to keep your sanity intact.
3) Slow down. We are used to running a mile a minute in our lives but babies only go at their own pace. They set their own schedule, they have no awareness of what needs to get done but only what they have to do. Move at their pace and enjoy that time with your new baby.
4) From one of my funnier friends: “Other moms are really, really competitive. Make stuff up. Tell them your baby started muttering the phrase ‘Einstein was wrong’ while thrashing in the crib at night.”
5) Don’t invest in a lot of small clothes – babies grow too fast. Instead, buy in larger sizes and let your baby grow into them. For extra softness and comfort, invest in organic baby clothing from Green Earth Bamboo!
6) Boys smell slightly of pee most of the time. They really do. Make sure to have plenty of natural odor removers on hand!
7) For middle-of-the-night groggy changings, pre-fill newborn diapers with ointment before bed to save time.
8) For sore baby gums, put a cold, peeled cucumber in a mesh teether or use a frozen washcloth to soothe sore gums.
9) Lay your baby on your chest; skin-to-skin contact is comforting and encourages bonding. An added bonus: it strengthens your baby’s neck muscles!
10) And the best advice for new moms: Go Easy on Yourself! It’s tough enough to be a mom but putting pressure on yourself to be a supermom will make it harder.
To all the new moms out there, have a wonderful, happy, joy-filled 1st Mother’s Day!
