The early weeks of postpartum can be incredibly exhausting and overwhelming as you learn to care for your little baby while also recovering from labor and delivery. As a first-time mom to a three-month-old, I am finally on the other side of the newborn trenches. Overall, I have been blessed with an incredibly smooth postpartum experience. Though there were certainly days when I felt overcome by exhaustion and weariness, I learned the importance of caring for myself so that I could better care for my baby.
These are some of the habits and daily priorities that helped me have a smoother postpartum experience:
- Get ready every day. Basic routines like brushing my teeth and putting on a fresh outfit each morning helped me feel more mentally ready for the day. Taking a hot shower also helped me wash away the grime of the day and feel more refreshed and put together.
- Lower your expectations. In the early days of postpartum, it can be easy to become overly critical of your new level of productivity. Your body and mind are recovering while you adjust to caring for a new baby, and your capacity will naturally look different than it did before. Give yourself permission to accomplish less and recognize that caring for your baby and yourself requires a slower change of pace. Initially it’s okay if the only goals accomplished are meeting the basic needs of the family (feeding the troops and keeping them safe).
- Make a physical to-do list for the day. When tasks only live in our minds, our brains can feel cluttered and overwhelmed. I found that writing down five or six priorities that I hoped to accomplish each day helped me manage my home even when I was exhausted. In addition to practical tasks, I would also include self-care items such as exercising, stretching, taking a shower, or painting my nails. This helped me balance caring for my home, my baby, and myself. Plus, there is something satisfying about checking a task off a paper to-do list!
- Prioritize quiet time as early in the day as you can. Quiet time with the Lord can easily take a backseat during the early days of postpartum. However, I found that on the days when I made my quiet time a priority in the morning, the rest of my day felt more rooted. Continuing to build my relationship with and dependence on the Father has helped me see the larger picture in my motherhood journey. Find what works for you—listen to a Bible audiobook, read a chapter, listen to worship music, or write down God’s blessings and your prayers.
- Maximize sleep at all costs. In the first couple of weeks postpartum, it is critical to get as much sleep as possible. Your body needs sleep to heal and recover. Guard your sleep by accepting help, letting nonessential things wait, and avoiding things that cut into your rest, like scrolling on your phone or watching a show when you could be sleeping. When you have the opportunity to rest, choose sleep.
- Consider sleep training your baby. When born, babies need help establishing their circadian rhythm as they tend to largely sleep during the day and stay awake at night. Helping them to transition towards sustained nighttime sleep allows for greater mental clarity. This allowed me to begin getting longer chunks of uninterrupted sleep. There are many resources that can help parents navigate this transition; my in-laws were able to have all seven of their children sleep through the night by 9 weeks. Similarly my baby began sleeping through the night at 8 week while following the book, Babywise.
- Move your body. My background as a competitive swimmer taught me that exercise and movement are some of the best ways to care for my body and mind. Movement can boost mood and help with mental clarity, but postpartum exercise does not need to mean intense, hour-long workouts. The goal is simply to get your body moving in ways that are appropriate for your stage of recovery. In the first couple of weeks, this looked like taking short walks. Now, it has progressed to getting back into running and bodyweight exercises.
- Fuel your body well. Regardless of how you are feeding your baby, your postpartum body needs plenty of nutrients to support recovery. When you are exhausted, it can feel overwhelming to think about feeding yourself, your husband, and your children. Planning meals in advance, preparing snacks ahead of time, and making double batches of dinner so you have leftovers are all simple ways to combat the daily struggle of, “What should I eat today?” Taking the time to nourish yourself is one practical way to care for the body God has given you.
- Drink an absurd amount of water. Water is a powerhouse. During postpartum and breastfeeding, staying well hydrated is especially important. Water supports breast milk production, tissue recovery, regular digestion, and overall energy. On the flip side, dehydration can contribute to fatigue, irritability, and brain fog. To keep up with my increased need for water, I would drink a tall glass every time I nursed, drink water with meals, and drink after exercising.
- Get outside and get out of the house. It can be difficult to want to leave the safety of home with a newborn. However, getting outside can have positive effects on both the body and mind. Sunlight helps regulate our circadian rhythm, while being outside and getting some fresh air can be a simple way to break up the monotony of being home all day. I found that getting outside helped me remember that the world was bigger than the four walls of my home. There is also something refreshing about getting out into God’s creation and remembering that motherhood is only one small part of the world He has made.
- Be with people. Postpartum can feel extremely lonely and isolating, especially when investing in community feels difficult while you are exhausted. Yet God designed us to live in community with others. For me, a sustainable weekly schedule looked like calling friends once or twice a week and getting together with other moms about once a week. This allowed me to continue pouring into others without overwhelming myself. It also reminded me that I was not meant to navigate motherhood alone.
- Pour into your marriage. It can be easy to let your relationship with your husband take a backseat after bringing home a newborn. But your family works as a whole. When I invest in my husband and our relationship, I find that I have more capacity to care for myself and our baby because he has more capacity to care for us. Caring for our marriage is not something separate from caring for our baby; it is part of caring for our family. Our marriage is another relationship God has entrusted to us, and it is worth intentionally nurturing even in a busy season.
Postpartum is a crazy rollercoaster of intense highs and lows. Yet it can be a positive experience when your body and mind are supported by healthy habits, meaningful relationships, and, most importantly, the truth of God’s Word. Taking care of yourself is not selfish—it allows you to continue caring for the little lives God has entrusted to you. More than anything, these first few months of motherhood have reminded me that I cannot do this in my own strength. I need God’s grace, wisdom, and strength each day. And I am grateful that He meets me not only in quiet moments with Him, but also in the ordinary work of eating a meal, getting some sleep, taking a walk, loving my husband, and caring for my baby.
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