How to be a CALM Mom: simple framework to feel good every day
Helping your baby feel better is about so much more than changing your diet.
You are probably working hard to find and stick with the diet that works best for baby, but it’s so important that you don’t forget to take care of yourself and make feeling good a priority.
Sometimes, taking care of yourself can feel like just another thing to add to your already long to-do list and to stress about. But before you start thinking of all the reasons you don’t have time take care of yourself, change your mindset. Instead of another thing to do, think of this as empowering you to be in more control of feeling good and helping baby feel good.
Does food stress you out, give you anxiety, or make you feel guilty?
As you work to heal your baby, know that your stress levels and how you are feeling are just as important as what you are eating.
Whether or not you feel like you have a handle on your diet, if you feel like you don’t have a handle on your stress levels and allowing yourself to feel good, then you have a chance to make some changes that will make a big impact.
I want your baby to feel better but not at the expense of YOU.
What are you struggling with outside of your diet?
Motherhood is hard. Breastfeeding is hard. Changing your diet to heal your baby’s symptoms is HARD. 2020 is HARD!
This CALM mom framework is a simple practice you can do to help you become more in control of feeling good every day.
Check in
Commit to checking in with yourself: what are your needs and how are you feeling? It only takes a split second. Do this whenever you get a moment. You can even set a reminder in your phone a few times a day.
Accept
This one is difficult, but incredibly impactful – with practice. Accept the situation, accept your feelings about it; this will help you move through it. Instead of thinking and analyzing and trying to change and manipulate every little thing, a level of acceptance can help you move on with your life and feel good. This does not mean you are ignoring a difficult situation, it just mean you aren’t letting it take over your life.
Love Yourself
Understand what makes you feel good. Know that these can change with your season of life. They don’t need to be elaborate. You can find a way to make them a part of your day, trust me.
Meditate/Mindfulness
One key benefit to a meditation or mindfulness practice is SLEEP. Sleep is SO important, especially as you are working to heal your baby’s symptoms. This trains your brain to relax instead of always problem solving and planning. The better your brain gets at relaxing, the faster you will be able to fall asleep and fall back to sleep when you need to wake up with the baby at night.
Watch this <15 minute video to hear some more details and examples to help you start practicing being a CALM mom.
Remember, food AND mindset are both powerful, and you need BOTH of them to feel good and to help baby feel good.