Parenting is a beautiful experience full of ups and downs, and sometimes the downs tend to be more. Raising kids can leave parents vulnerable, drained, off-balance, and exhausted. Parental burnout is still a taboo subject that many overwhelmed parents struggle with but fear speaking of due to fear of judgement as incompetent or incapable. However, all parents should be mindful of their health to prevent stress and combat burnout in the following ways.

Prioritise self-care

When you’re preoccupied with parenting, tired, and stressed, you tend to be crankier and more irritable. In such a state, you are likely to react impulsively towards your children, judge or yell at them when you’d rather avoid it. Self-care, as a parent, should be prioritized as you can’t take care of your family when you’re running empty. Self-care can make a difference in your parenting journey by helping you unwind and recharge. Begin by taking time to yourself daily to take care of your needs. You can have a bath, go for a short stroll, visit a friend, or be alone in your space.

Seek support

Parenting is an all-night and all-day job that has no breaks. It’s more challenging when you are doing it alone or have a child with special needs. However, you don’t have to shoulder all the work; seeking support can prevent exhaustion and ease your parenting experience. Seek consent by talking to a professional to determine the help you need or call family members, friends, and babysitters to take care of your child as you recharge. You also have the option of seeking help from parental support groups; physically or through online social sites. Since child care can be expensive, consider getting a child care subsidy to ease the burden.

Exercise

Regular exercise offers irreplaceable physical and mental health benefits. When you’re running on empty as a parent, you can combat burnout by performing exercises. Exercise helps in the release of feel-good hormones that prevent depression and facilitate feelings of completeness and composure. Create time for routine exercises either by going to the gym or working out at home.

Avoid loneliness

When you spend whole days in your house tending to a newborn, it’s easy for loneliness to kick in. Although you may feel like you can handle everything on your own, isolation breeds depression. When you’re depressed, it becomes challenging to take care of yourself and your family. The best way to avoid loneliness is by talking about your feelings and what you’re going through to people you trust. Create a support system with your friends, family, and partner, reach out to other parents and hold conversations. You can do group visits or form online groups to share thoughts and challenges of daily parenting.

Let go of expectations

Sometimes the parental burnout and pressure come from your own doing. When entering parenthood, many individuals have set expectations that they are unable to meet. Similarly, following parents who paint a picture of juggling it all on social media gives one extra pressure. Failure to meet expectations leads to frustration and feelings of incompetence. However, parenting is a learning process. It’s learning to let go of set expectations to give your children what they need and what’s best for them.

Avoid comparison to other parents

Every parent has their personality and parenting style when raising kids. The strategies that differentiate you from other parents are what makes you shine. However, sometimes it’s difficult not to look at what other parents are doing to determine if you’re right or wrong in your methods. While seeking opinion is okay, comparing your parenting skills to others takes away your joy and adds to feelings of inadequacy, stress, and pressure. The comparison also takes away the great work you put in daily as a parent. Instead of falling victim to comparing yourself to other parents, find ways to make a difference and evolve your parenting skills.

Focus on the positives

Parenting is a challenging job, and sometimes it isn’t easy to recognise the positives. While you may be going through many problems with your child, it’s vital to establish the things going well. Scale mountains by acknowledging the small successes you make daily and build off of strengths. Take note of joyful moments, small wins, and positive stories to help you counter stressful periods. Recognise that it’s okay to love your child/children and still experience fatigue from the energy output. However, try and find a balance even when you encounter stress.

Rest

Taking care of children, especially newborn babies, is tough. Between the sleepless nights due to crying, feeding, and changing diapers, it’s easy to burn out. To avoid this, take sleeping opportunities whenever you can. Sometimes it’s difficult to sleep when the baby sleeps as that’s when you get the time to do other house chores. To avoid this, take on fewer chores and express your feelings to friends and family who can take care of the child for a few hours while you get some sleeping time.

Replenish

Parents are often the last people to take care of themselves in feeding or taking showers; their priority is usually the kids. As you take care of your child, do the same for yourself. Ensure you eat nutritious meals and keep hydrating to combat parental burnout. You can make this possible by taking meals when feeding the child and creating a routine around their sleeping schedule. Also, stock up your pantry with foods that you enjoy and remember to treat yourself.

Let your kids help out

Part of loving your children and taking care of them is learning when to stop holding their hand. When you are always at your kids’ beck and call, you shield them from learning how to take care of themselves and wear yourself out quickly. Set boundaries and structures, and equip them with survival skills.

Conclusion

Although parenting is a tough job, it doesn’t have to be lonely, exhausting, and frightening. Make your experience better and combat burnout by seeking help when necessary, replenishing, avoiding comparison, focusing on the positives, and letting go of expectations. Remember to exercise, get healthy sleep, let the kids help out, and prevent loneliness.