New mums often put their needs last, especially if they don’t have the support they need or have work obligations. Prioritising the value of self-care and looking after yourself, can have amazing benefits for you and the entire family. Here are some important self-care tips for mums!

Benefits of Self-Care

Mental Wellness

Self-care is critical for promoting mental wellness. This is especially important for new mums, as it can help prevent post-partum depression or the “baby blues”. Consequently, keeping yourself happy is essential for your overall well-being and a successful transition into the next chapter of your life.

Promoting Overall Health

Mental health impacts your overall health dramatically. Therefore, self-care should also involve directly supporting your physical health. Keeping sickness at bay is important, but increasing longevity, mobility, and agility will certainly help you in your role as a mother. You will need to carry around a child who won’t get any lighter as time passes, and they will be active before you know it!

Increasing Attentiveness

New mums need to remain on high alert throughout the day. Unfortunately, without proper self-care and mental clarity, it’s easy to lose our attention spans.

Self-Care Ideas for New Mums

Now that you know why self-care is so important for new mums, let’s put it into practice. Here are some simple self-care ideas for mums to get you started!

Start Early

Beginning with a simple but consistent morning routine is a great way to start the day. This routine will help you establish a sense of being awake and alert, and can help reduce anxiety and depression.  This can be as simple as starting every day with a coffee or cup of tea.

It’s important to have a steady and predictable sense while at home, and a morning routine sets the tone for the day and can help you feel in control. Even if it doesn’t always involve things you love, like cleaning up or doing the dishes, it can still offer these benefits.

Don’t Neglect Hygiene

Even if you aren’t trying to impress anybody, it’s important to keep up with hygiene. Cleaning ourselves, grooming ourselves, and practicing good dental routines are important for our physical and emotional health, helping increase our confidence and sense of self.

Remember to Exercise

Starting an exercise program is difficult to adhere to, especially when you have a baby so a good place to start is with small goals and work your way up. There are important exercises for new mums including kegel exercises, core exercises, stretching, and light cardio. This can be as simple as taking your baby in a pram for a walk down the street. You could start with 10 minutes a day of light exercise and build it up only when comfortable, making it part of your day no matter what!

Eat Well

Healthy eating is essential for your overall health. Eat a wide variety of whole foods throughout the day, including whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and dairy products. Eating well will help improve your energy levels, and so much more. This will lead to a better, healthier, and happier you.

Overall, try to avoid eating too many processed foods, especially ones that contain high levels of refined sugars, oils, or simple carbohydrates. These will only reduce your energy levels and put you at further risk for physical and mental illnesses, including depression.

Exercise Your Mind

Your brain is a very important organ in your body and it’s important to have enough brain stimulation that challenges but also relaxes you.

Try adding a reading an article, starting a crossword puzzle, sudoku, or writing a paragraph in journal – this mental stimulation has so many benefits to our mental health.

Do What You Enjoy

An important part of self-care is taking time to do what you love. Don’t feel guilty if this is entirely separate from the baby. We all need time to ourselves. We know this is hard with busy schedules, especially for working or single mums. However, if you can, scheduling even 10 minutes during the day to enjoy a moment to yourself, can make all the difference to feeling a sense of grounding. Whether it’s listening to a podcast, having a cup of tea on your own or mediating, take a moment to enjoy it.

Take Care of Yourself

Now that you know some important self-care tips for new mums, put these ideas to use and prioritise taking care of yourself. Your family needs the best you that you can be, so find what works for you when you can and commit to it!

Stay up to date with our latest tips for you and your little ones, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Note: This article is designed to provide general advice for parents and guardians, for specific health advice, please consult with your child’s healthcare practitioner.