It’s Okay If Your Baby Cries

The sound of your baby crying? It’s intense. And when it’s your first child, chances are instinct has you scrambling to get to your kiddo immediately and take care of whatever it is that ails them.

But here’s the thing: You’re not just responsible for taking care of your new baby. You’re also responsible for taking care of you, and if that means your crying baby has to wait a minute or two while you finish washing your hair, it’s going to be okay.

Today, I’m sharing the advice I got from my friend Lindsay around crying babies and ‘fourth children’—advice that’s given me a lot of comfort as a new mom. Listen in as I share my approach to acknowledging my son’s not-so-subtle demands for attention while still making time for moments of self-care.

The Startup Pregnant Podcast Episode #052

Some quotes from the episode

• “Kids’ crying is genetically engineered to be one of the worst sounds ever.”
• “[Crying] is literally their only way to get your attention and tell you that they need something.”
• “As a new mom, if you have to wait a minute or two before you get to your kid, then you wait a minute or two before you get to your kid.”
• “What I love doing is sending them a little love energy or a short verbal check-in: ‘Hey love, Mama’s getting her coffee. She’s going to be right out to listen to you.’”
• “You aren’t just taking care of one person in your life as a new mom, you’re taking care of two people, and … you also have to maintain your own sanity and take care of yourself throughout the day.”
• “Fourth children? They’re fine. It’s fine. We don’t have to run and scramble—although I have done it— over ourselves across the house just to fix everything for this person, even though it may feel like a necessity.”

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• ‘The Pause’ on Startup Pregnant
• Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman

THE STARTUP PREGNANT PODCAST & HOST

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