It’s easy for first-time parents to feel anxious about raising their newborn child. From worrying about whether your baby is sleeping too much or not eating enough, every little thing can play a monumental role–and take a monumental toll–on your mental and physical health.
Over time, though, this parental anxiety will go away. And, If you had or have postpartum anxiety, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be an anxious parent later on, one study shows.
Here are 5 simple and easy ways to ease parental anxiety.
- Talk To Your Partner More
It’s easy to engage in negative self-talk that perpetuates parental anxiety. The easiest thing to do is simply talk to our partner about how you feel! You can then work on holding each other accountable if caught engaging in negative self-talk. By doing, this you are reassuring each other that you are on the right track towards fostering an environment in which your kids feel loved and develop as much self-confidence as they can so they can take the world head-on with their strengths and interests.
- Expose yourself to your fears
Exposure therapy involves incrementally experiencing the things you’re afraid of to be able to deal with them. Though it may seem a bit wacky, research suggests that exposure therapy may be effective for easing parental anxiety. This is not to say that you should throw your child onto a busy highway to get over your fear that they’ll be hit by a car. But, could you teach them how to ride in a bike lane near or on the side of the street (depending on their age and ability) and then supervise them doing so until they’re ready to go solo.
- Take Proper Care Of Yourself
If every little facet of your child’s existence consumes your own thoughts and worries, you may not be in the best headspace. You need to take care of yourself to be the effective parent your child needs.
Ultimately, easing one’s anxiety isn’t one-size-fits-all. Explore different things. Find something that works for you. Whether it’s morning meditations, hot yoga with your friends, using CBD oil, or joining your local kickboxing gym. Relieving stress comes in many, many forms. Find what works for you and stick with it!
- Understand what you can and can’t control.
It is of the utmost importance to put your efforts into what you have control over and let go of what you don’t. Write out bullet points of all the things you can and can’t control when it comes to your child. After writing all the things you can’t control, throw the uncontrollable list away. Though this may seem corny, this will mentally dump out all the things that are making you anxious. This will help you feel calmer and allow you to deal with the fact that your child will have to make decisions for themselves.
- Talk To Other Parents
Engaging with other parents will help you affirm the fact that anxiety is a normal thing to go through. Whether you meet other parents at your child’s daycare or wherever, talking to other parents allows you to find commonality, strength, and encouragement to help you meet the demands of parenthood.