“Looking After Yourself While Juggling a Newborn and a Toddler” is a collaborative post.
Two children under school age need you in different ways at once, so looking after yourself with a newborn and a toddler has to fit around both of them. Rest, food, help and small moments to yourself do the most good, and each can be set up in ways that don’t add to the to-do list.
Sleep and Rest in Short Stretches
Sleeping whenever the newborn does isn’t always possible with a toddler awake, so rest comes in short pieces. One UK survey estimated that new parents lose up to 44 days of sleep over a baby’s first year, which makes even a short lie-down while the toddler watches a programme worth taking. With a partner at home, splitting the night so each of you gets one longer block works better than both of you being half awake, and a daytime hour handed over to a relative can do the same job.
Sharing the Jobs When Two Children Need You
Write down what has to happen today and hand over anything that doesn’t need you, such as the supermarket order, the pharmacy trip or the toddler’s bath. Timing toilet training around the new arrival is worth settling early, and some parents get guidance on when to start through toilet training consultations held online and tailored to each family. Visitors who ask what they can do are often glad to be given a job, and folding washing or taking the toddler to the park for an hour both count.
Eating and Drinking Without Planning It
Keep snacks and a water bottle wherever you feed the baby, because meals are the first thing to slip when two children are asking for attention. Porridge with banana and nut butter, eggs on wholegrain toast or Greek yoghurt with berries all make meals you can eat one-handed while a baby feeds, and a glass of water each time the baby feeds is an easy way to keep drinking. Batch-cooked portions in the freezer mean dinner is a few minutes in the microwave on the days when the toddler skips a nap. A treat has a place too, such as dark chocolate with nuts or a few berries with yoghurt.
Small Moments for Yourself
A shower with the bathroom door open, a hot drink finished while it’s still hot or ten minutes in the garden or park with the pram all fit around two children without any planning. A two-minute skincare routine of cleanser and moisturiser, done at the same time each day, gives you something that’s yours. Handing the baby to a friend or relative for twenty minutes while you wash your hair or walk round the block alone is a reasonable thing to ask for.
If tiredness, low mood or anxiety linger or start to feel unlike you, tell your health visitor or GP rather than waiting for things to settle. Support is available, early help makes a difference, and asking for it is a sensible next step once the small habits above stop being enough.
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