7 Essential Tips To Survive The First Week With Your Baby

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for. – Anonymous

Alright, it’s over, and you are done with delivering your baby. Before you think you could relax and sleep like a log after that intense labor, take a deep breath and get ready for a roller-coaster ride. Yes, rest assured that your tiny tot will not only keep you wide awake but also turn your world topsy-turvy while he seeks everyone’s attention.

Surviving the first week with your newborn is one of the toughest phases of motherhood. But, don’t fret. Be prepared mentally and know what is in store for you in the very near future, and this will help you face the situation better. Here’s what you can expect the first week to be like:

1. Anxiety: You are anxious to part with your baby and get obsessed checking on him, sometimes on his breathing too. The fear of your baby being unattended always lingers on your mind. You want the baby to be soil-free and keep checking on his nappy. It’s all overwhelming.

2. Aiming for perfection: You want everything to be perfect for your baby right from his burp to his crib. Anything out of the ordinary alarms you, and you don’t want to leave anything to chance.

3. Green poo: The first few days the baby’s poo will be green, which is normal. It is black and sticky initially and changes to green and eventually yellow unless he is formula fed.

4. Feeding: If it’s your first baby, you will be new to breastfeeding and wouldn’t know how to hold the baby. You tend to psych up if the baby isn’t latching and perpetually check if he is hungry or not and want to feed him promptly.

5. Post-delivery pain: Your body still feels raw and sore whether it’s a normal or caesarean delivery. The aches and pains will hinder your movement for a few weeks.

6. Sleepless nights: Your baby might be awake throughout the night and sleep during the day, that’s because his biological clock is not regulated yet. It means you will have sleepless nights.

Sounds scary? We are not trying to scare you anyway. Like we mentioned above, it is just a preparation. Therefore, we help you with a few tips to survive the first week with your newborn.

• Take support of your immediate family – husband, mother, mother-in-law, sister. Talk to your friends if you are feeling down.

• Sleep when your baby is sleeping. Take regular power naps so that you don’t deprive yourself of sleep. Get the baby used to the bedtime routine by dimming the lights and create a soothing environment that induces sleep. You and your partner or other family members might have to take turns to sleep.

• Cuddle and snuggle your baby instead of panicking at every movement of his.

• Get some sunshine in your life. Expose the baby and yourself to sunlight. It’s good for both of you.

• Set a routine for feeding, bathing, massaging, and visiting time. A newborn usually has a lot of visitors.

• Keep your pediatricians’ number handy to contact for any emergency.

• Enjoy these moments and take a lot of pictures.

Dealing with the changes in the first week and the following weeks after the baby is born is something that has to be learnt while you are at it. It exhausts the mother, but watching the tiny tot sleep blissfully with a toothless smile makes all the pain and effort worthwhile. And take our word, you will get used to it and handle the baby with élan.

How did you survive the first week with your baby? We would love to hear from you.

Was this article helpful?

Community Experiences

Join the conversation and become a part of our vibrant community! Share your stories, experiences, and insights to connect with like-minded individuals.