Dealing With The Emotional Rollercoaster Of New Motherhood
Seeing your baby smile for the very first time is an amazing experience that instantly gives you a dazzling feeling of high and elation. A couple of hours down the line, a relative might ask you why your baby is not sleeping and you suddenly find yourself on the verge of a breakdown. Does this sound familiar to you?
Look around you and you will see that any new mum is experiencing the same whirlwind and rollercoaster of emotions, especially in the first few months of motherhood. Having a new born baby in the house brings in a huge tumult of conflicting emotions that can be difficult to manage especially if you are all alone.
Mixed Emotions
What is important to understand, is that it is perfectly normal for every mother to experience the entire spectrum of emotions, from a feeling of great joy and happiness to disappointment and sadness, within a short frame of time. Clinical psychologists are of the opinion that although motherhood can be incredibly rewarding, it can also bring with it a whole slew of frustration.
You might notice that during the course of a day, your emotions would be constantly changing like that of your baby’s nappy, but with the correct approaches and techniques you will be able to control and even steer unhappy moods into happy ones.
Rebirth
Almost every mother feels that along with having a new baby, they have also received a new personality. New moms are constantly overtired and experience over sensitivity not only from the day’s work but also from doing a job that they have never experienced before. Psychologists claim that most mothers tend to lose their confidence during this time and along with the loss in confidence, they start to take things personally and become oversensitive to people and things around them.
Being Vulnerable
Child experts reveal that in some way being oversensitive is a good thing as it helps in understanding your baby’s cues better and building a stronger bonding with the child. However, if you are finding yourself spiralling dangerously towards a meltdown, it can help to take a moment’s breath and observe the signals in your body. If you notice your neck getting tensed and your heart is beginning to palpitate rapidly, start concentrating on breathing in a deep and steady manner. Once you have begun to discern the warning signals that your body is giving you, you will find it much easier to control your emotions.
How to deal with it
Early motherhood also brings with it in some amount of rage and anger. Parenting coaches suggest that there is nothing to feel guilty about seeing red. It is important to be kind to yourself and understand how to manage the feeling that counts, while making yourself understand that it is neither unusual nor wrong with becoming angry in a given situation. At such times, place your baby in a safe place as you begin to calm down. Request a family friend or a close relative to babysit while you take the opportunity to renew and recharge yourself. Do not feel guilty about raving and ranting to another individual, but ensure that your baby is out of earshot and does not grasp on your emotions during this time. It is important that someone is aware of what is going on in your head, so that they can help you to manage your situation in some way or the other.
About the author:
This article is written by Malvika Agrawal, a working professional and blogger. She loves to write about Parenting Tips, Baby Care Products etc. Follow her on Google+.
Creative Commons image source
