Woah, you're about to be a parent. How did that happen? OK, we won’t go into that bit. But those first six weeks with a baby are about as nuts as life gets, as you realise every second of your existence has been altered FOREVER. But on a practical level, there are a few things you can do to make the mumsition easier, and, if you’re really organised, it’s stuff you can start prepping in these last couple of weeks before you pop, when you’re twiddling your thumbs (if, indeed, your thumbs still reach each other…).
4 Things To Do Now To Make the First 6 Weeks Easier
These are a few things you can do to make the mumsition easier while you're waiting to pop.
Make a nest
You’re going to be spending a lot of time on the sofa and/or in bed in the coming weeks. You don’t have to attend antenatal classes to know that new babies do a lot of feeding and a lot of sleeping, and much of the time these activities will take place on and around your body, at all hours of the day. This means you’ll frequently find yourself trapped, with the items you really want tantalisingly out of reach.
Avoid this by making a nest now. Find the comfiest spot in your house and fill it with nest essentials: cushions, blankets, all the snacks, a phone charger (and therefore a power point), bottled water, some more snacks, nappy kit, muslins, the remote, maybe a few more snacks and even some books, if you think your brain’s going to be up to it (FYI ours wasn’t… we couldn’t even manage a magazine).
Switch up your shop
Going to the supermarket with a tiny baby can be mega-intimidating, no matter how many old ladies coo over their cuteness. Buggy/trolley logistics can be tricky when you’re a rookie, there are never enough of the newborn-friendly trolleys, you’ll be petrified about the baby kicking off while you queue at the checkouts and you’ll have no idea where you’re supposed to put them when you need to unload the car at the other end. This is why now is a good time to take up online supermarket shopping, if you haven’t already been doing it since 2007. Prep your weekly shop while you’re still preggo (make sure you include lots of biscuits…), bulk-buy the essentials without needing to actually carry them and you won’t end up stressing about running out of nappies in the middle of the night. Hugging the delivery person when they arrive with the Oreos/wipes/boring but essential veg IS a bit much, but they’ll understand.
Love your loungewear
Your doorbell rings a lot when you’ve just had a baby, to health visitors and friends and family and the postman and delivery people bringing miracle sleep solutions you’d forgotten you panic-bought at 3am. While nobody actually minds if you’re in PJs, you’ll probably find that YOU feel better if you’re something resembling dressed.
Enter loungewear. Leggings, yoga pants, athleisure, baggy tees and long slouchy cardigans are the staple items of the new mum’s wardrobe. They’re cosy, comfy and, if you’re breastfeeding, provide easy access to the goods. Basically, you need to go through your wardrobe while you’re pregnant and dig out anything you previously only used to wear when going to the corner shop hungover or WFH with no Teams calls on the calendar. Welcome to the new you.
Book the entertainment
You know that nest we told you about? Well, it’s much more fun if it happens to be located in front of the telly. You’ll be amazed at how many box sets you can fire through in those early weeks so, if you’re not already signed up to ALL the streaming services, you should start hinting to friends and family that a gift subscription would be a way more appreciated gift than yet another pack of cutesy sleepsuits.
Aim low – your raging hormones want reality TV, trashy romcoms and comedy. The more cerebral boxsets can wait until the baby starts going to bed at a reasonable hour and you need to find something new to bond with your partner over.