Taking A Zen Approach To The First Few Months Of Your Child’s Life

Take A Zen Approach to the First Few Months of Your Child’s Life

Being calm in the face of stress is a vital attribute we all need during the first few months of our baby’s life. The constant disruption, during the day or the middle of the night, can wear heavy on our frame of mind. And while the best defense is a good offence, the preparation is always a great way to keep yourself in check, is there anything you can do to maintain a Zen-like approach to parenting?

Schedule Everything Around Your Child’s Schedule!

They say getting into a routine is something you need to do straight away, but you’ll soon find that your child has their own routine, which you might not see any logic in! It can take a while, and a lot of frustration, but the fundamentals of getting into a routine is first observing, then implementing. This can mean a lot of struggles in the middle of the night, but at this point, it’s all about survival. Once you begin to see a pattern form, this is when you can start to schedule everything around your child. From your meals to the house duties, to the all-important sleep.

Always Have More Supplies Than You Think You Need

Babies make a lot of mess in so many ways, but we can drastically underestimate the number of baby clothes, muslin cloths, wipes and diapers we can go through in any one day. Look at how much you think you realistically need, which is usually one item of clothing per day, now triple that amount for everything. This does depend on the child, and if they are especially sicky, in which case, increase the number!

Understand When You Have Had Enough

It could be the hormones, it could be tiredness, but it’s vital for you to notice when you can’t cope. Don’t feel like you have to do everything yourself, and this is why expressing breast milk is one of the many options, but if you need some time to yourself, then say so. Tell your partner, a family member, or someone, just so you can have that little bit of time to yourself, either to sleep or to mentally even yourself out. There are so many cases of postnatal depression that go undiagnosed, and if you feel that you are suffering from this, it’s far better for you to say instead of suffering in silence.

It’s the biggest challenge any new parent can go through, and to take a Zen-like approach could sound like an almost impossible task, but if you are trying to organize a sense of order to something that doesn’t care about calendars or schedules, it can be very difficult to feel focused and mentally aware. This is why it’s important to have more than the adequate amount of supplies, understand your own abilities or inabilities to cope, but also remember that your baby is the priority. Yes, it’s not easy, to begin with, but it does get easier. Once a sense of structure has been put in place, then you will feel truly Zen-like.