Worried about stress of the holidays now that you just had a baby? These 7 tips will help you have a successful postpartum recovery during all the festivities that come with the holiday season.
Worried about the holidays during your postpartum recovery?
Holiday season is such a crazy, busy time for you and your family normally, and now that you have a new baby, it’s going to get even crazier. You’re getting less sleep, and you feel exhausted all the time.
How are you going to be able to manage the added stress of the holidays after just giving birth to a baby not that long ago?
I am a mom of 4, and my first baby was born smack in the middle of the holiday season. I want to share with you my 7 postpartum recovery tips for success during the holidays.
Heal faster. Feel better. Live life more comfortably. And enjoy your baby more!!!
Postpartum Recovery Seasonal Struggle
I had my first baby on December 9th, and I remember that month very clearly even though it was 8 years ago.
Her due date was on Christmas day. I was blessed with an early delivery of a healthy girl.
I did not have any serious complications with the birth, and I was able to return home within 3 days of her arrival.
All was well, but I will have to say, the season made postpartum recovery quite the challenge.
I love the holidays, and I was even more excited to be celebrating it with my new baby. I wanted to be making new memories with her and my family.
With these high expectations I put on myself, I quickly started to see things spiral in the wrong direction.
Postpartum Recovery: Lesson Learned
I developed mastitis on Christmas day, the day I was looking forward to the most during the holidays.
It ended up being a day that was quite miserable, unfortunately. The pain and discomfort took over the entire day.
I developed a fever and was unsure how to take care of myself and my baby in a state of illness.
It was difficult for me to get ahold of medical personnel on a holiday; as I waited to hear back from a physician, each hour seemed to drag on forever!
Eventually I was given medical advice on how to treat mastitis after learning that was what I had.
It had never crossed my mind that the increased buildup of milk supply could cause me to be sick.
How did it happen, and why did it happen on that day?
Because I put the holidays first before myself and my baby.
I was too caught up in the traditions, the gifts, the food and the fun.
I lost track of time and got off schedule for breastfeeding my baby, the stress may have played a role and the lack of sleep probably put it over the top.
I handled it all wrong, and now looking back I would have done it completely differently.
I hope you don’t experience what I went through so I wanted to share with you my recommendations for you to have a successful postpartum recovery during the holidays.
Postpartum Recovery Tips For The Holidays
1. Don't Lose Sleep
Sleep, we already know, is hard to come by as a new mom.
But when it comes to holiday plans, decorations, baking and gift giving, sometimes sleep can easily fade away.
Be sure to get as much sleep as you can find time for during the holidays (especially the BIG day). If in the middle of your celebration you need to escape to a room for a 20 minute power nap, go ahead and do that.
I’m sure someone in your family would love to hold your baby for you.
Don’t feel ashamed. Knowing your family, they would probably love to gift you the time of sleep.
Related: 11 Natural Postpartum Recovery Tips For Healing After Childbirth
2. Bake Less
If you are a baker and you love to make Christmas cookies, you may want to cut the recipe in half.
It’s a fun tradition to make cookies during the holidays, but you don’t need to make ALL of them.
Put some limits on what you want to do and realize this is only a season, and next season things will be different.
And even better, as your baby grows up, soon you will be doubling your batches since you’ll have an extra set of hands in the kitchen.
3. Pot-Luck Opt-Out
I would say you have the right to be exempt from this year’s holiday pot-luck.
If your family is cooking a big meal for the holidays and you usually contribute with your famous mashed potatoes, let’s opt-out this year and explain to the family that you spent 9 months making a baby instead of mashed potatoes.
I think they would much rather have the baby this year! Join in on the celebration with only one thing in hand, your precious child.
4. Raise Your Feet
Rather than being on your feet all day in the kitchen cooking or around the house cleaning, sit down, relax and raise your feet.
The last thing you want to be doing is overstressing and overworking with the cooking and the cleaning.
Yes, this is what you used to do during the holidays, but now times have changed and you have a baby.
It’s ok to take a load off this year. Split up the tasks and delegate.
Have your husband vacuum, have your mom bake and have your best friend spruce up the house.
Surely they would all love to help you out in some way. Tis the season of giving!
5. Nourish Yourself
True, there are a lot of extra treats, goodies and sides spaced out throughout the holiday season, but don’t replace the important nutrients that you and your baby need with tons of junk food.
Be sure to keep fluid intake high, specifically water. Avoid eating too much sugar, and be sure to eat your fruits and vegetables throughout the day.
You might find yourself filling up quickly on the holiday treats and realizing you are missing a lot of the key nutrients you need to feel good during postpartum recovery.
6. Ask For Help
So your mind is running a mile a minute and you have 1,000 things to do on your check-list.
Each passing day seems like you got nothing accomplished, except for taking care of your baby, of course.
But your list, that important list of things to do before the holiday celebration is getting longer, and time is running out.
This is a time to ask for help. It’s impossible to get it all done. So you need some reinforcements.
Even if it’s just two things you can check off your list, you’ll feel much more relieved knowing that it was done.
Having that extra time will allow you to rest and take care of your baby, which is most important.
7. Fully Stocked Postpartum Care Kit
Having a fully stocked postpartum care kit will make all the difference come crazy holiday time.
The last thing you want to do on Christmas day is run out of nipple pads.
Postpartum care kits help you to find everything you need in a split second without you having to run through the house looking for the essentials during a uh-oh mommy moment.
Pack yourself a postpartum care kit bag to take with you when you go to your family’s house for the holidays.
You’ll be extra prepared in case any mishaps happen.
Remember, the most important thing you need to do during the holidays is to take care of yourself. In order to have postpartum recovery success you have to have a balance between getting plenty of sleep, eating a healthy diet, drinking lots of water and asking for help when you need it.
And having a postpartum care kit fully stocked just makes for an easier postpartum recovery.
If you want to learn more about what to put in your postpartum basket, continue reading this list of over 21 estential postpartum recovery kit items.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
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