Advice to New Mothers

New mothers often need some advice but don't need the wrong kind of advice. First, let me share the simple wisdom that a nurse told me in the maternity ward where my son was born. By the way, I had hoped to give birth at home with the midwife who had provided prenatal care. Over in the UK they allow that but are cautious. I was just slightly anemic so they did not let me give birth at home. I had hoped to. Now, back to the topic at hand. The nurse in the maternity ward told me that with new babies it is usually really 1 of the following 3 things:

1) the baby needs to be cuddled

2) the baby needs to be fed (breast milk or formula from a bottle)

3) the baby has excreted and needs to be cleaned up and given a new nappy (diaper).

That actually covers like 80% - 95% of causes of your baby crying or fussing and the correct course of action. It can be confusing at first asone has to learn which cry means which, but at least one knows what is most likely to be needed.

The Parents

As new parents, there are a few basics that will help you deal with your new life. 1) Yes, that was the baby in the middle of the night. It's up to you but what I did was keep the baby's bed right beside ours. That way, I did not stub my toes etc. staggering around the house in the middle of the night. I believe the location of the baby crib reduced my personal suffering about 98% from what keeping the crib at the other end of the house would have done to me. Still, that's just me.

2) You do need to sleep but you can learn to sleep in like 3 different portions of the night without totally losing your mind. You and the other parent - if you have one will feel very effected.

3) Life phase change: this is a real change. You may find it drastic or easy enough to deal with. The more you were prepared to become a parent the easier you find it. In my own case, my child arrived as a bit of a shock and I was not mentally all that well prepared. Because of that, I genuinely mourned the loss of my pre-maternal life even though I was happy to be a mother and had plenty of love and maturity for it.