New Mom - Tips to stay sane in the first year

Once the congratulations come down a bit and you bring the little bundle of joy home - does the real life with the baby begins. I remember my pediatrician called it "ACID TEST." The first night with DS was a sleepless night and every night after that, he is 30 months old as of today and still gets up at wee hours of the night. Although that is rare now.

The new parents are so characterized with sleep deprivation, endless laundry, crying baby, cranky baby, an unfathomable amount of poop nappies, having the constant demand of boobies, and finally all those crazy hormones. Just enough to make you insane. And Lord save you if you are planning on the cloth diapers like in the much older days. 

I was lucky to have my parents around to help me stay sane initially, however at the end it all came to ME. I had these hand-me-down tips from my Mom to avoid such a fate and definitely stay SANE:

1. Go outside every single day.  Make sure to go out for a little walk around the street and please do take your child with you. You can take the baby with you either in the pram or the baby carrier, or good old-fashioned carrying. Getting outside has its own charm, it does wonders. It helps keep your sanity in place. It is fine to take your baby out even they love being out.
2. Now that you have the baby do something that you haven't done before. I played Ant Smasher while feeding him. You can either read a book, play your Nintendo DS, gaze at your iPod/iPhone, play silly games. Even in the middle of the night, you can turn on a little lamp, and indulge.
3. At times these tiny guys are extra naughty and they wake up in the middle of the night and cry for an hour and then go back to sleep. All this while you need to be next to them patting your heart out, willing to go to sleep. With every passing minute you tend to lose your precious sanity. All you can do is to urn your tiny music system on with volumes just to soothe the tiny one and keep you going. My DS loves music and during such periods we played Baby Einstein - Baby Beethoven. It is soothing music and gets your baby distracted really well.
4. Meet and talk with other Moms REGULARLY. When you talk to peer mothers you have no idea how big a comfort that is gonna be. If you think your child is doing something odd?  Talk to your friends it is so reassuring. Me and my friends even talked about the little breakdowns and the silly feeling you have right after.
5. Read parenting a baby in the fist year book. I was recommended "Baby and Child Care by Dr. Spock.” They provide some invaluable information, handy and quite helpful.
6. I <3 nap!  Yes old saying but so true sleep when the baby sleeps. Even try to get naps. You’re no good a mom if you are cranky, half asleep and short fused.
7. Finally get dressed and try to look good. You’ll feel so much better. This was the saying in my hostel - whenever we felt low advise was to dress up. Wear nice clothes, comb your hair nice, maybe use a little kohl. Please do not use any other make-up stuff. Tiny ones are crazy guys and they sometimes start licking you as well. I even kept away from perfume for the first 6 months.

Remember your child learns from you. They do as they see you doing. If you are HAPPY your Child will be Happy.
Cheers to Motherhood