Looking after your health, as well as your baby
As a new parent it can be tricky to keep up with your health – both physically and mentally. Adapting to looking after a newborn can be overwhelming, and you can often put your own needs on the back burner, but it's important to still take care of yourself. This doesn’t have to mean gym sessions with your baby strapped to you or getting up at 4am to peel carrots before they wake up!
It's especially important to listen to your body, and take it slowly if you are the parent who has just given birth.
You'll need time for your body to recover, and often for your emotional and mental health to catch up with having created this little human as well, before you try to start doing exercise at a level you were at before.
Keeping active at this time might include a simple walk around the house or getting up and gently stretching (if it is safe to do so; if you had a tricky or caesarian birth especially, please follow advice from your midwife or doctor on when and how to be more active).
Getting out doesn’t have to mean a hike
Fitting in exercise with a new baby can be so difficult. In these early days, leaving the house is a huge achievement, no matter how far you go. Just going for a walk up and down your street with the baby in the pram is a great way to get moving – and a nice experience for baby, too!
Finding ways to eat well can make a big difference
When it comes to food, there are many options for ready prepared vegetables that can simply be thrown into a pan, steamer or on an oven tray, or even healthy prepared meals that can be easily reheated.
You might find it easier to cook only a few times a week, making bigger portions of nutritional meals that can be stored in the fridge or freezer and reheated on the days it feels like cooking is just a step too far.
Don’t underestimate the power of help
Friends and family will be fighting each other to come and see you, or more accurately in most cases see the baby. There is nothing wrong with asking them to bring some meals or snacks for you when they do – in fact, it would be perfectly fine to refuse entry to anyone not holding food when they arrive!
Thinking about shoes and when they might be worn
Now your baby is starting to stand, they may move around a little more. Could this be the right time to buy a pair of shoes? Not necessarily – there is no set time to buy shoes. Yet you may need to consider when a good time is to put shoes on your baby’s feet.
Barefoot walking
How to foster a love of the outdoors in the first year
The benefits of spending time in the great outdoors are not limited to adults or children. They also extend to new parents and babies. Taking a baby on outdoor adventures may sound crazy or overwhelming, but even small amounts of time spent outdoors will be wonderful for you, and your baby’s health, mood, and spirit.
The gift and power of emotional courage – A TED talk by Psychologist Susan David
In this TED talk, psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity over emotional truth and discusses the powerful strategies of emotional agility.
Using a dummy – what does research and guidance tell us?
Your baby might already use a dummy, or you may be thinking about introducing one. The information about the use of dummies (or pacifiers) can be very confusing, so we have looked at what research and guidance tells us.
The still face experiment and what it tells us about talking to your baby
Your baby's smiles and coos probably give you all the encouragement you need to keep chatting. But it's good to know that these conversations support your baby's development. When you smile and talk to them, they learn how to have a chat and make friends. And even if you can't respond straight away every time, waiting for a moment helps them to develop resilience. The still face experiments tell us more about the importance of these early interactions.
The still face paradigm is an experimental design first developed in the late 1970s to see if babies were active participants in communication. In research using this approach, scientists watch babies during three different interactions with an adult. First, the adult responds as they usually would, then they interrupt the interaction, keeping their face still or neutral, before returning to their usual interaction.
Moving and interacting – the importance of your baby’s movements in their communication
You probably see your baby making rhythmic movements with their arms and hands when you interact with them. These will become more controlled as your baby’s physical skills develop, but you might be interested to know that these movements are associated with the development of communication.
Why does my baby cry when another baby cries?
Your baby’s response to another baby’s cry may or may not show that they are feeling concerned for them, but it does show that your baby is aware of those around them.
Feeding, holding and bonding
When you hold your baby to breastfeed or give them their bottle, they are positioned at just the right distance from your face to focus on you.
One mum's answer to the question: 'How's maternity leave?'
If this is your first baby, you might have imagined maternity leave as a time of walks in the park and coffee with friends, and as you settle into life as a new parent you'll have people asking how it is all going. One mum responded to the question on TikTok with a data visualisation of the reality of maternity leave.
