By: Rita Doctor

There’s a meme about motherhood doing its rounds online that says, “Motherhood is a walk in the park – Jurassic Park.” If we may add, with all the dinosaurs on the loose.

Moms probably take on the most number of caps: teacher, nurse, caregiver, sometimes even doctor, chef, nutritionist (dietitian in some instances), cleaning lady, events manager, counselor, discipline officer, clown, coach, referee, umpire, cheerleader, friend, enemy. And oh, it’s true that you don’t get a holiday nor an income from all of these. 

Sounds like we’re on the losing end, huh?  But no matter how crazy our day gets, one kiss, one “Thank you,” one smile, one “I love you, Mommy” from our kids can ERASE all the blues and boo boos of our day.  Yes, our kids have that power!

We might not get our wallets fat from doing all that we do for our family but we do get our hearts immensely full.

If you are a first-time Mom and you feel like you’re about to go nuts, hang on in there.

Read, Watch, Learn. While we all have motherly instincts, we can’t entirely rely on instincts in raising our kids.  Motherhood is one, if not, the most challenging journey in life – and yet we don’t have schools to train and equip us to face what is possibly the biggest responsibility of all -- raising a human (or in some cases a bunch of humans).  Thus, it is important to get our hands on reading materials or online seminars about parenthood.  This will give you an upper hand for the road ahead.

image source: Heidi Murkoff

6 to 8-hour of uninterrupted sleep is a luxury.  If you’re one who values sleep, you may want to condition yourself that you won’t be getting as much rest as you would want to, especially in the first few months of having a baby.  Remember when you were pregnant and while sleeping at night you had to get up from bed to pee? Turns out that your body was actually rehearsing you for that waking-up-in-the-middle-of- the-night routine when your child gets born.  Have you noticed that babies are somehow, for a lack of a better term, jet-lagged?  They sleep all day and are wide awake in the evening.  Nine months inside the uterus can really make anyone nocturnal.  

One piece of furniture that I find useful in helping calm and lull the baby to sleep is the rocking chair.  Boy, those chairs do rock!  When babies catch colds or are feeling under the weather, it’s harder for them to breathe when they are lying down to get some sleep.  Cradling them in your arms while rocking them to sleep has a soothing effect on them.  Next thing you know, the baby will be dozing-off – or you will. 

It won’t hurt to provide babies with a nurturing touch.  Contrary to popular belief that discourages us from holding and carrying our babies lest they become overly dependent, child development experts now debunk that idea and say that our nurturing touch is the foundation by which babies can better develop emotionally, physically and intellectually.   

Babies do not cry to get our attention for no reason.  They cry because of hunger, colic, wet nappies or when having a feeling of discomfort. Infants like to be held all the time especially before they can walk on their own.

To better understand the importance of human touch to babies, you may want to check our previous blog entry:  https://andypandykids.com/Hablogs/news/the-importance-of-nurturing-touch-in-child-development

It’s perfectly fine to call a friend or mom.  Taking care of a baby can be pretty daunting especially if you’re a newbie Mom.   I was a worry wart when I was a first-time Mom.  I was always worrying if I were doing things right; if I fed too much milk or water to the baby; when my baby was sick I would spend the whole night monitoring her fever wiping her with a wet towel just so it won’t lead to convulsion.  Yup, I know my apprehension was on a different level.

Seeking guidance from your Mom and mom-friends who have been there, done that can provide you with the right perspective and a much-needed support.  

Google is not always your best friend.  Googling symptoms that your child seems to manifest is not always a great idea.  Too often than not, it will leave you more terrified than you ought to.  Take it from me.   I learned that it is always best to have your child checked by her pediatrician. 

Invest in a good biodegradable diapers.  There’s nothing more frustrating than waking up at night and finding your baby drenched in their pee because their diapers leaked or worse you see their bum developing some nasty skin rashes.  

This is the reason why it is important to use diapers that would take extra care of your baby’s skin as much as it would the environment.  Enter: Andy Pandy Premium Bamboo Disposable Diapers.

image source: @tiarethomas

To all our Pandy Mommies, no matter how disheveled your hair may look right now, no matter how unattractive you may feel from running a household and looking after your kids, remember you’re loved, you’re special and are doing a pretty good job! Happy Mother's Day!