Six weeks On: Some Tips On Coping With Life After Baby

We've made it to the six-week milestone. Theoretically, from this point on, things change: the JOOBzilla is no longer a squalling newborn with random sleeping patterns, but a responsive baby with regular sleep-feed-and-play cycles.

Theoretically.

We'll see how it all pans out.

What we've learnt so far:

• Do the barest minimum housework neccessary for daily needs ie. laundry, meals (and dish-washing). You will not have time/energy for anything else.
• Sleep when the baby sleeps. You won't get another chance. (This one is particulalry hard to stick to - you always want to catch up with housework. You won't. Just go sleep).
• One-pot cooking, or one-step meal preparation. You won't have the time or energy to cook more than one dish at a time, or deal with the washing up afterwards.
• Prepare meals you can eat one-handed and eat quickly - preferably without slopping it all over the screaming baby whom you will be nursing in one arm at the same time.
• Oh, and get used to never finishing a meal while it's still hot. Even the simplest bowl of cereal may go two hours between taking the milk out of the fridge to downing the last spoonful.
• Snack. Sensibly, of course. You won't eat properly at meal times anyway, so you'll have to graze whenever the opportunity occurs. Always carry fruit or snack bars on you.
• You can never have enough nappies, or baby wipes, or baby wraps, or changes of clothes, or clean bed linen, or...
• Therefore... Easy-care baby clothes and linen. You may not have time even to hand-wash laundry, much less dry-clean.
• Infacol. Get some. It'll help with wind-related colic.
• You will not have much time or energy for a social life or the internet. Maybe a half hour a week. Just get used to it.
• You will not have much time or energy for your own family. Make time. Even a few mintes each day. Let them know they're appreciated. Your sanity depends on it.
• It'll seem like forever at the time, but it'll soon be all in the past.

Tags:

• Baby
• Tips