Are you having a hard time coping with your new life after baby?
This forum is about the challenges of motherhood... You have a new baby, who you love, but you are having difficulty with guilt, anxiety, depression... Maybe you are lonely and nervous about being alone with the baby, Please share your experiences and your coping strategies, you will be helping other moms to know they are not alone and sharing solutions to these common problems... If you are having difficulty coping, you are not alone! 1 in 5 women experience a post partum mood disorder.

Read Jessica's story of her life after delivery.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm having difficulty transitioning to parenting two this time around.  I keep telling myself that I'm only six weeks into my "new job" but unfortunately it's a job I don't love that I have to do on not enough sleep!

Hi "A"
Just remember that sleep deprivation is a form of torture... seriously!  when people are sleep deprived it is very hard to enjoy things we did before.  Give yourself some time and a break, ask for help... there is also a lot of support in the community.  if you have little or no support there is a great program called good beginnings where you can have a volunteer visit with you at home during the daytime and help you with the baby.

It's okay to be a little selfish, ask your hubby to watch the kids while you catch up on your sleep.  he can take the kids for a walk in the evening while you take a snooze and extra two hours of sleep each evening adds up to feeling a whole lot better at the end of the week.  Another recommendation is go to sleep as soon as the kids are in bed. if the baby wakes up ask your hubby attend to the baby until he is going to bed and then you will have more energy to do the night shift. 

Invest in slow cooker and make lots of stews so that you don't have to worry about cooking everyday.  and most importantly ASK for help! if you don't ask people will assume you don't need it.

There is a wonderful program called Transition to Parenting offered through York Region Public Health as well LWAB has an amazing 8 week Parenting Confidently Workshop which increases confidence and reduce anxiety and nervousness... please look into these and see if you can attend.

Does anyone have any other suggestion of how to get through the first three months?

-Claire

Hi Shana,

I really relate to what you're saying.  My angel is 2 wks old, and I'm a first time mom, although quite a bit older than you.  Honestly, even finding time to email for 10 minutes once every three days is a challenge.  But I will try to connect with you just the same.  There's strength in numbers, right?

Lois