Nothing like a big first holiday season to test your stamina, and your mama bear instincts. We have ALL been there. So, allow us to offer a bit of support. Take a moment to consider your game plan ahead of time so that that the joy of the season is more joy and less stress for all. Here are some of the articles we’ve found helpful in caring for baby and self over the holidays (chocked full of helpful tips that you can apply year-round, really).
Enjoy!
FOOD
Around here, we herald mom as Queen of Feed. However you want to feed your baby, is your beautiful choice and right. Here are a few resources to help you navigate the holidays when breastfeeding, starting solids and/or with food allergies.
• This comprehensive checklist-style survival guide for holiday breastfeeding from The Leaky Boob is your go-to primer for holiday breastfeeding sanity.
• In this helpful article from Native Mothering, you’ll get all the basic tips on how to reduce the chance of unintentionally weaning during the holidays, and other common concerns.
• This one from our friend Jessica at The Leaky Boob gives you some great direction on avoiding mastitis during the holidays (which is apparently a fairly common condition during the very busy season).
• This guide to baby-led solids from Mothering.com is helpful any time of the year, and can be extra-supportive heading into the season of baked goods galore.
• If you have children who are eating and who have confirmed (or suspected) food allergies, you may find this blog article of tips for safe holiday celebrations from the Kids with Food Allergies blog very helpful.
CLOSENESS WITH BABYWEARING
Oh, how babywearing has saved my sanity during the holidays. From keeping close, to increasing sleep, to reducing unwanted touching, carrying and virus-sharing, relying on our Boba Wrap and Carrier has been by far the most amazing holiday tip and trick in my seasonal toolbox. Who am I kidding? They were my go-to tip and trick for every day, all year! But nothing like the holidays to remind me how very much I appreciate them. We all know of the joys and usefulness of babywearing and are all FOR upping your baby carrier use during the holidays, read how you can easily do so, here: How Babywearing Can Help You and Your Newborn Thrive This Holiday Season.
TRAVEL
Whether a car ride across town, or a plane trip across the country, here are some ways we and other mothers like to enjoy travel with a baby. That’s right enjoy travel with a baby. It can be lovely (and easier than you may expect if you’re Bobawearing, too).
If you are air traveling alone with baby, or in partnership, or with an entire airplane cabin of relatives because your grandparents are flying you all to Hawaii (yay!), this article from the Boba Blog on traveling with baby will leave you feeling confident you can do it, and do it well!
For those of you road-tripping home for Christmas or beyond, here’s how to do it more harmoniously with baby (and the emphasis on baby-led itinerary can contribute lots to the whole holiday bustle, we think).
SIMPLER EASE
Above all else, we wish you ease and joy this holiday season. When in doubt, we find that keeping things simple really is the best recipe for a delicious time as a parent. We recommend our archived piece on this topic: The Trifecta of Easier Mothering.
From all of us here at Boba, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a beautiful New Year!
