Congratulations! After surviving a challenging nine months, you and your partner have managed to oversee a successful delivery and the arrival of a healthy baby. And now that you’re reading this, there’s a huge chance that you’re a first-time parent!
Even so, being a first-time parent doesn’t mean that you’re unaware of the many new and thrilling challenges awaiting you. This might make you anxious, scared, or even excited. But don’t fret. You really don’t have to worry as long as you anticipate what’s coming and prepare well for the days, weeks, months, and years ahead! This list will feature five of the most expected challenges faced by new parents today, and some quick tips on how to deal with them.
Your daily schedule will be turned upside down…
You knew this was coming. You’ve seen it in movies and TV shows, and you’ve heard it directly from other parents. Having a new-born at home means that you and your partner will be spending plenty of time attending to your baby’s needs, and you’ll be doing them during the day as well as the wee hours of the morning.
Before you get overwhelmed with all the feeding, entertaining, bathing, and diaper changing, it’s important to note that these tasks can become much easier if you prepared yourself in advance.
Things you can do: make sure to take care of your own wellbeing in between taking care of your baby (like finding your own time to eat and get some rest), set up arrangements with your partner on who is responsible for what, get help wherever you think you need it (like a babysitter or a relative), and finally, prepare to accept that your home and schedule will get messed up pretty often—and that it’s perfectly OK.
Remember that there is no hard and fast rule to preparing yourself to take care of needy baby as long as you know what to expect. Even if things don’t go according to plan (and they often won’t) being ready to face any challenge will go a long way to making life easier as a new parent.
Put aside your social life for a while
You’ll be too busy parenting to hang out with your buddies for a while. But it’s okay, they’ll understand. (Image Credit: Alasdair Elmes)
Yes, during the first few months or year, you’ll notice that you won’t be seeing much of anyone other than your new-born baby and spouse within the four walls of your home. Any previous social life that you used to have will be put on hold for a while as you learn the ropes of being a parent and slowly but surely adjust to the needs of parenthood.
Sure, you’ll miss out on fun parties, new movies, and hanging out with your friends. But remember that your baby comes first and that you’ll eventually be able to go back to some form of socializing as they grow up and become less needy.
Soon enough, you’ll learn better time management and figure out how to fit in the things you want to do. It’s all a matter of time.
Be smart with screentime
Along with your social life, having a new-born will also present a vacation from romance. It’s almost self-explanatory—the weeks and months right after birth comes with plenty of sleepless nights, exhaustion, and most of you and your partner’s energy spent on caring for your baby. Not much time to get intimate, unfortunately.
During this period, you can expect there to be some frustration and disagreements—even over very small things. But just remember it’s all normal. Whenever you can, take advantage of moments where you can spend time being with each other, talking through your differences or just enjoying each other’s company. When the pace of parenting gets somewhat more manageable, you can even get someone to help babysit so you and your partner can spend a night out together.
You will feel emotions you don’t usually feel..
New parents will experience overwhelming emotions often. But don’t let them get to you! (Image Credit: Tengyart)
Believe us, being a new parent comes with a whirlwind of unwanted emotions. You might suddenly feel a bit of overwhelming anxiety, perhaps confusion, or maybe a bit of panic at the most random times.
Just know that this is normal for all new parents. After all, the emotional bond you have with your new baby is an incredibly strong one that will cause you to constantly think of how you can better protect, provide, and care for your child. Couple these with the demanding tasks you need to perform (preparing meals, changing diapers, cleaning up messes, trying to understand why they cry, etc) and it becomes even more apparent why.
When you encounter these emotions, don’t be afraid to let them out. If you need to, talk them through with someone close to you.
A whole new world!
There’s no right or wrong way to be a parent. Just do the best you can! (Image Credit: Tanaphong Toochida)
Finally, being a new parent will be confusing, challenging, and scary at times, and it’ll often feel like swimming for the first time. But no matter what happens, the most important lesson to keep with you always is to never count anything as failure.
If your baby keeps crying and you don’t know what to do, or if your whole house a complete mess, or whenever you feel like you’re doing a bad job at parenting, keep in mind that the same does happen to other parents, too. All of these are experiences to help you learn how you can be better in the future, and you’ll be thankful for having the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
Every parent has their own style, so never compare.
Just make the most of it!
As you adjust to the trials of being a new parent, it’s important that you always try to make the most of every situation involving you and your baby. During precious moments where its just you and you little one, you should take the time to do meaningful activities together such as singing, reading, and bonding over engaging and stimulating content.
For the moments such as these, we’ve got just the tools to help.
Our line-up of sing-along sound books such as the Rasa Sayang Sing-And-Record Children Fun Book will give you and your baby to chance to sing and enjoy beautiful music together, while our Press-and-Learn English Malay Chinese Words Sound was specifically made to help you teach your baby the most basic words and sounds and help them identify the world around them.
If it’s a fun story you want, our story sound book Bawang Putih & Bawang Merah presents a modern classic about a girl named Bawang Putih and the struggles she faces on her way to finding happiness.
All come with included sound module to ensure fun bonding sessions that will become priceless treasured memories that you’ll keep with you for years!
Check out our store to see our collection now!
