I have previously mentioned the importance of sleep in my blog but, it was only scratching the surface. How is our overall self-care linked to our children?
Self-Care and the care of your baby are closely linked. If you have ever been on a plane you have heard the stewardess say, “ If anyone is traveling with a dependent and there is an emergency, the compartment above will open and an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment. Please place the oxygen mask over your nose and mouth first, then your dependent’s.” This is an overall message of self-care. If you do things the other way around then your child is left witnessing the number one person they rely on, unresponsive and unable to do to their most important job!
Self-care is the commitment to good sleep, managing our food intake, getting good exercise, managing a balance of alone time, and managing good support system [with your partner and with close friends]. When we look a little deeper, we can also identify the long-term effects of good self-care. We are modeling for our children on how to best take care of themselves throughout their lives. We assure that we bring our best versions of ourselves when it comes to parenting them. We can also assure we have longer lives spent with our children, and grandchildren.
After all how can we take care of our babies if we are not taking care of their parent?