Tips

The first six weeks are all about rest and recovery for both you and your baby. Your job is to feed yourself and your newborn and to allow both of you to get to know each other’s rhythms. The key words are “rest” and “more rest.” Enjoy this special time when you can shut out the world and get to know your new family member.

1. Visitors. If you thought you couldn’t sleep in the hospital, wait until you get home. The doorbell and phone may never stop ringing. Just when you think you’ve settled your newborn down and you have time to take a nap, Aunt Millie knocks on the door. Even if you have a cute sign on the door such as “Shh, Baby Sleeping,” Aunt Millie is sure that you don’t mean her. Appoint a sentry—someone to turn away visitors who show up unannounced. Don’t even let them in the door. Or post a sign saying, “We’re so sorry; we’re all unavailable at the moment. We’ll be receiving visitors tomorrow between one and two. Hope you’ll stop by then.”

You get to decide when you are ready to have people come by. Limit the time you are willing to be disturbed. Pick an afternoon or an evening when you feel up to having one or two visitors. This is your time to take care of yourself, not to make everyone in the neighborhood happy. If they truly care about you, they will realize that having a new baby at home is hard work, and you’re not being rude, just protective.

A friend of mine turned off the ringer on her phone and had the following message on her machine: “Thank you for calling about the new baby. Mother and baby are doing well and are either resting or feeding. Please leave a message, and we’ll call you back when we can. We appreciate all of your good wishes. We’re having a ball.” This simple message left her long stretches of quiet time. Her husband would check the messages at the end of the day and return phone calls at a convenient time.

2. A bedside cooler. Your main job is to stay in bed and nourish yourself and your baby. Imagine making a nest where you can be comfortable and have easy access to everything you need. Place a cooler full of water, juice, fruit, and other nourishing foods beside your bed or sofa. If you are breastfeeding, it is important that you remain well hydrated and take in healthy calories. A cooler makes it easy for you to reach down and grab something to drink when you are thirsty. It is much harder to stay well hydrated if you have to ask someone to bring you something.