Pregnancy and Babies
See also: Pregnancy and Eating - Diet in Pregnancy“Let’s Start at the Very Beginning…”
Parenting starts during pregnancy, when your body is effectively taken over from within. Most people know about morning sickness, but tiredness, anaemia, and mood changes can also be a feature of many pregnancies.
Pregnancy and Wellness
Our page on Pregnancy and Wellness explains what you can do to stay well in pregnancy, including advice on ‘giving yourself a break’.
Yes, you are only pregnant, but sometimes it is far worse than being ill, and you need to look after yourself to look after your developing baby.
Preparing for Parenthood
As well as being pregnant, and looking after your body, you will also want to make preparations for your baby’s arrival.
Our page on Preparing for Parenthood sets out some of the things you may like to consider.
Consider the Impact...
See our page on Eco-Friendly Parenting, to see how you can minimise the environmental impact of your parenting choices.
Looking After Your Baby
It is possible that nothing could ever prepare anyone for that moment when they first hold their new baby.
Our pages on looking after a new baby help you to get to grips with the changes in your life, and how to look after your baby.
A good place to start is our page on Looking After a New Baby.
But what about when you have problems?
When parents of new babies get together, perhaps the most discussed topics are problems with babies’ sleeping, and issues with feeding.
Feeding Babies
From the issues of whether or not to breast-feed, through to how and when to wean, feeding is a kaleidoscope of issues throughout babyhood, and well into early childhood. For more about specific issues, try our pages:
Babies and Sleep
For advice about helping your baby to sleep, try our pages:
And Don’t Forget About You!
It is easy, when you have a small baby, to get thoroughly caught up in looking after this little person who is depending on you.
When your baby is teething or simply has a day when they don’t want to be apart from you at all, or you have only slept in fits and starts because someone decided that night-time was playtime, it can be hard to remember that you ever existed as an independent person with thoughts and even a career.
But you will be a better parent for looking after yourself.
You will be happier, and calmer, if you meet up with friends, or take yourself and your child out of the house, or even just put them in the cot and take 15 minutes for a shower. You may want to look at Outings with Children to give you some ideas for places to go with babies and very small children.
You may also find our page on Meeting Other Parents useful for helping you to develop your networks, and make new friends who will understand your frustrations and the challenges that you face.
And while of course parenting is not a competition, sometimes just hearing about someone else’s problems can make your own seem so much more trivial.