Please, stop being so hard on yourself. When your newborn baby has been screaming for six hours and won't settle unless you're driving, just remember that this phase won't last forever. You looked after this tiny bundle for nine whole months whilst they grew inside you. You are incredible. When you're sobbing into your pillow at 3 o clock in the morning and you're wishing you'd never become a mum, remember that it's normal. Everyone feels lonely, scared and exhausted. It's all part of becoming a parent. Both you and baby are learning about each other and one day, you'll even look back and miss this part of parenting: how amazing it is when your baby looks at you and smiles for the first time; when all they want to do is cuddle you all day; how they depend on you for everything.
Mummy, you've got this.
When everyone else has an opinion on how you should parent, remember that you know best. You know your tiny baby better than anyone else in the world. So what if your friend's baby has slept through the night since two weeks old. One day, your baby will move into their own room and you will be relieved, and you will be devastated, and you will sob because it is the end of an era. Enjoy the nighttime cuddles whilst they last. In the middle of the night, whilst baby will only settle on your chest, and you can't move because you're terrified of rolling on to them, be grateful. One day your baby will no longer be a baby. They will no longer wake you for feeds. They will walk and they will talk and you will be so proud, but you will miss the days when they needed you, and only you.
Mummy, you've got this.
The post-baby blues will pass and even post-natal depression is controllable. It does not make you a failure. It makes you a real person. You haven't slept properly since your second trimester so it's okay to be tired and grumpy. You've just brought a whole new little person into the world so you're allowed to be sore. You are allowed to forget about the washing and the tidying and the cleaning whilst you try to find a parenting method that suits you. When your baby is nursing from 6 o clock in the evening until 4 o clock in the morning it is normal. Like every other stage, it won't last forever and you will truly miss it when it's stopped. They need you to comfort them. The world is a scary place and everything is new. The only thing they recognise is you so embrace your baby when they cry. It's okay. Regardless of the advice you receive, you can’t spoil a new born baby. They need you to be there when they are sad, scared, hungry or tired – all the time whilst they are newborns.
Mummy, you've got this.
Remember that your baby will not be a baby for very long. Take every day as it comes. Some days you will scream and you will cry and you will hate being a parent but when your baby looks up at you with love in their eyes, and a smile on their face, you will fall in love all over again. Becoming a parent is the hardest thing anyone can do and nothing can ever prepare you, but it is so rewarding. Every milestone that your baby crosses will break your heart and fill you with pride. It's difficult to remember that they are only a baby for a short time and, whilst the first months of baby's life are the most difficult, it is incredible and life changing and you are amazing.
Just remember, Mummy: you've got this.