7 Practical Stress Management Tips for New Moms

Becoming a mom is an exhilarating experience but it’s also exhausting! As a new mom, it can seem like all you have time for is feeding your baby and changing diapers. To add to that, you still have a lot of other responsibilities and it can become overwhelming.

When you go online to find ways to manage your stress, most suggestions include things like taking a relaxing bath or going for a massage. While there’s no doubt that these things can help you feel good in the moment, they are not going to help you manage your stress on a long-term basis so that you can have better mental health.

Practical Stress Management Tips for New Moms

1. Get Emotional Support

Getting emotional support will help to ease your worries and anxieties which in turn, will make you more productive. In addition to talking to your partner, family members and friends, consider talking to a therapist. Therapy offers you a safe space to process your thoughts and feelings without any fear of judgement.

Your therapist will also be able to identify early symptoms of postpartum depression and give you strategies to help you cope which will go a long way in managing your stress. There are plenty of online therapists these days but it’s not easy to find a good one. An independent review of affordable online therapy services will give you the chance to weigh the pros and cons of each one before making a choice.

2. Ask for Help

Most new moms believe that they need to be “supermom” so they focus only on the needs of their babies and their families while putting their own needs on the back burner.

This is one of the worst mistakes that you can make. You need to make your health a priority because if you neglect yourself, you will get overwhelmed and stressed which will increase your risk for postpartum depression and other health issues. One practical way to reduce your stress is to have fewer things to stress about.

Instead of trying to juggle all your responsibilities, ask your partner, friends, and family members for help. You can discuss what chores they would be comfortable taking over whether it’s grocery shopping or helping with home cooked meals.

3. Create a Daily Self-care Routine

Creating a daily routine is a great way to stay on top of all your responsibilities and eliminates the burden of remembering everything that needs to be done during the day. Many moms create routines for their chores and decide that they will rest and relax only once they are done with everything else.

This is not a good idea because you’re still recovering from pregnancy and childbirth so you need to include self-care practices throughout your day. Spending time in a relaxing atmosphere, pampering your skin, and following a soothing night-time routine are excellent ways to manage stress.

4. Lower your Expectations

You’ve just had a baby so give yourself permission to lower your expectations, especially when it comes to housework. If you were the one who did most of the housework before your little one came along, you need to talk to your partner about taking over most of those chores.

Create a plan that works for both of you. Remind yourself that your house doesn’t have to be picture perfect, it just needs to be clean and clutter-free. Visual clutter can cause a lot of stress so having things in place will make you feel calmer and happier.

5. Delegate Responsibilities

Delegating responsibilities to others – whether it’s your partner, older kids, or even hiring someone, will go a long way in reducing your stress. The first step to delegating responsibilities at home is to create effective team dynamics with your partner.

Have a calm and open discussion about daily tasks and workloads and if possible, schedule weekly planning sessions to make sure that both of you are on the same page. Create contingency plans for when either one of you cannot manage your allocated tasks.

If you have more kids, get them involved by assigning them age-appropriate chores. This will not only reduce your stress but also help them develop their confidence and self-esteem.

6. Limit Visitors

The last thing you need as a new mom is to spend any time frantically trying to tidy your home to make sure that it is “good enough for visitors”! It’s normal for family and friends to want to meet your little one as soon as possible but let them know that they may have to wait a little while to meet in person.

Most health experts recommend that you wait for two-three months before extended family and friends can visit so that your baby’s immune system is stronger. Once your baby is old enough, you can plan visits to their homes – this will give them the chance to coo over your baby while you get to relax and enjoy your visit.

7. Get Daily Fresh Air and Exercise

The vast majority of new moms don’t exercise on a regular basis. Making time for just a short morning walk every single day will help to improve your mood and reduce stress. Research shows that regular exercise also helps to reduce postpartum depression and anxiety. Once you get used to your daily walk, you can increase your pace and duration.