How to save time and effort in the first year of a child's life

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The first year of a child's life is a real challenge for a young family. How not to become an exhausted parent - tips in our article.

Modern young parents usually have quite little experience of communicating with babies, and the closest experienced people are newly-made grandmothers, confident that in the first year of a child's life, all young parents do not sleep, do not eat and are as exhausted as possible. I will not say that one article can make all parents happy and sleepy, but you will probably feel a little easier.

Sleep when the baby sleeps

No cleaning and cooking is more important than a sleeping wife and mother. Not to mention the fact that rested you are capable of more. If I were asked to choose the most important thing in the first months of a child's life, I would name a sleeping mother. Of course, you can cope without sleep, almost everyone can cope. But, believe me, one day you will understand that sleep was the most important thing.

You may have a lot of hair loss after giving birth

Don't panic! During pregnancy, the content of estrogen in a woman's body rises, because of this, the life of the hair is lengthened. Many people notice that their hair stops falling out. Rejoice in a chic head of hair, but do not panic if a couple of months after giving birth, when estrogen levels return to normal, hair begins to fall out in bunches. Soon new ones will grow in their place. Drink vitamins, especially if you are breastfeeding, cut your hair if your long hair looks too sparse, but stay calm. You can start to panic if a month later you do not see a fluff of new hair in the parting, but this happens quite rarely.

Replace walks with sleep on the balcony

In the first months, children sleep during walks, so why not on the balcony? It will take a little pain to teach the child to sleep without constant movement and motion sickness, but it's worth it. This advice is especially useful for moms who continue to work remotely on maternity leave. But don't forget that you also need fresh air and sun. If you get too carried away with balcony walks, you will turn into a ghoul with bruises under the eyes. Walk outside in good sunny weather and on the balcony in rainy days.

Remember that you can teach your child anything

Peeing in a pot on command, falling asleep without a pacifier, without motion sickness, falling asleep in your crib without any of your participation, wallowing - the list of things that can surprise the average parent is endless. You can do everything, but not all at once. Each such ability will require certain moral and physical resources and strong discipline, above all from you. You must decide which is more important, especially if no one can help you with household chores during the day. If the climate within the family and your own health are important to you, select a few fundamental points and work on their implementation, the rest will have to be sacrificed. Do not envy those who could do more - you hardly know what they donate.

No need to boil bathing water

In city water supply conditions, it is better to buy a filter for a tap in order to retain at least some of the chlorine, which dries up children's skin. Foam for a bath, a decoction of a series - all these are just ways to turn a bath with a baby into a colorful soup (and, possibly, additionally dry the skin, already exhausted by the heating system). Daily bathing of a child is not a hygienic procedure. Where could he get dirty in a day? Hygiene is only due to washing away after a bowel movement, and bathing is best viewed as a way to tire the child before bedtime. Let it splash actively in the water.

Cold feet and hands in a child are normal

Vessels in the feet and palms narrow to trap heat inside the body. The child's body is perfectly adapted to its sedentary role. If a child has hot arms and legs, it means that he is very hot and he is trying to cool down. The principle of dressing a child for a walk "like an adult, plus one layer" is a myth. Thermoregulation in children is such that it would be better to wear one layer less. A great way to tell if you're dressing your baby too warmly is to pay attention to the underarms and under the diaper. If it is redder than the rest of the body, the baby is overheated. And by the way, perhaps that is why he cries, even if dry and well-fed.

Your child will definitely fall off the couch

It will fall, knock with a bad sound and cry. Remember the signs of a concussion:

• fainting of any duration;
• crying for more than 15–20 minutes;
• dilated pupils that do not respond to light;
• vomiting, frequent regurgitation (compared to the personal norm);
• drowsiness;
• lack of appetite (again, compared to the personal norm);
• pallor, sweating;
• twitching of the limbs.

There is at least one of the signs - call an ambulance immediately. There is nothing of this - calm down the child and continue to live on. At the same time, make sure that it does not fall from something higher, for example, from the changing table. You cannot leave a child unattended on the table. Never. You will not guess at what second there will be a leap in development, allowing it to fall over the side.

No need to express if you have enough milk

Your body is now responsive to all requests. If the baby starts eating more, more milk is produced. By pumping after a feed, you are sending a request to increase the amount of milk. The child eats as much as he is supposed to, the rest you have to express to avoid stagnation. Do you feel like you find yourself in a vicious circle? Expressing can be useful if you are low on milk or plan to frequently wean from your baby, leaving the milk in the bottle.

Very short life hacks

• After the umbilical wound has healed, it is not necessary to iron children's clothes.
• Don't buy shoes until your child has learned to walk.
• If a healthy baby does not eat well, feed him less often.
• 37–37, 3 ° C is the normal body temperature of a child in the first year.
• Best of all, the child sleeps warmly dressed in a cold room. In this, by the way, he does not differ from adults.

For men

If your wife was not the eldest in a large family, or if at least for several months she did not take care of the kids (sitting with a neighbor's child while he sleeps does not count), she knows exactly as much about children as you do. Look for answers together, consult with experienced mothers at work, choose the option that seems more logical to you.

If you want your sex life to return to normal as quickly as possible, and just - back, let your woman take a break from the child sometimes. A decrease in libido is rarely caused by hormonal changes, but fatigue and lack of sleep provoke it even in nulliparous. Take on at least some of your evening childcare routines. For example, bathe it yourself. Allow your woman to spend these 20-30 minutes alone with herself.

If you don't recognize your wife, that's okay. She doesn't recognize herself either. Hormones and fatigue bring the modern woman back to the basic needs of a mother and baby, which a friend of mine aptly described as "kill for food, protect territory." This mechanism is aimed at ensuring that the child survives. He worked for thousands of years, be more loyal to these restructuring. In some mothers, the body responds to a well-defined hungry baby cry with an immediate milk production. For a child with his primitive instincts, everything is fine, but parents can be shocked. Gradually, the hormonal and emotional background will return to normal.

The main thing is to remember that all difficulties are temporary. Perhaps your first year with a child will all consist of a series of problems, but try to reassure yourself that today's problems will end pretty soon - children grow up very quickly. Try to support and understand each other and, quite possibly, this difficult year will make you truly close people.