Best Way to Fight Fatigue during Postpartum Period

The most common complaint about recovering from a birth and car­ing for a newborn is the overwhelming fatigue. Most parents simply cannot believe how tired they are, and they wonder how long they can continue getting broken sleep. Happily, newborn “boot camp” doesn’t usually last long for most families.

Here are some tips on fighting fatigue:

•  Start gentle exercises and stretches. Even five minutes of stretch­ing several times a day is beneficial. This will relax you and ease muscle strain. Avoid doing exercises just before bedtime at night, as this activity may simulate you and cause wakefulness.
•  Cut down or cut out caffeinated beverages like tea, coffee, cola, and chocolate. They may be keeping you up at the wrong times or, worse, keeping your baby up.

•  Fight the urge to stay up and clean or do other things when your baby is sleeping. The rule in the immediate postpartum period is to sleep or quietly rest when your baby does.
•  Get help from your partner, your family, and friends. Encourage family and friends to bring meals when they visit or help with weekly chores like laundry or grocery shopping. Don’t be shy about asking for help. Most will be thrilled to be of service.
•  One or two days out of the week, let your partner get up and bot­tle-feed the baby with pumped breast milk or formula. This will give you a longer stretch of uninterrupted sleep. If your partner is also exhausted, ask a friend or relative to spend the night. An occasional bottle-feeding without you will not harm your baby, but wait to start this until your breast-feeding is well established.

Eventually, it will be time for family members or friend to return home, and your partner to return to work. You’ll be alone with your baby. At first it may be a relief to have some time alone with your baby at home. This time may help you and your baby get into more of a routine and maybe give you more time to sleep. But your home can get very quiet. And the quiet may only be punctuated by the screams of your baby trying to communicate some discomfort.

You may feel uncomfortable in this new circumstance, especially if you had a very fast-paced, people-filled life prior to the birth of your baby. Try to keep this phase of your life in perspective. You will never have this time with your baby again. He or she will get older and more independent and you will have other needs pulling you in other direc­tions. Relish this “just the two of you” time, document it with photos, journals, and recordings.

You may still feel the need to schedule events to break up the time alone. Get out the baby stroller and take walks, weather permitting, or arrange to meet with other new moms you may have met during your childbirth preparation class or with coworkers. Call friends, to talk, ask questions, and get reassurance. Your baby will be sleeping a lot. Use this time to rest but if you feel rested, consider taking on small projects such as thank-you notes, birth notices, or plan­ning a christening party or other baby-welcoming event. If these sound overwhelming, it’s too soon to start doing these activities. Pace yourself. You’re having to adjust to this new life with your baby, and you are still recovering from nine months of pregnancy, labor, and delivery.