Real mums reveal the 26 things nobody tells you before you have a baby

We’ve all had those moments throughout our parenting journey when we have thought “I wish someone had told me THAT before I became a parent!” or “Is this normal?”

We don’t all have ‘mum friends’ we can ask about the realities of parenting so we asked our Healthy Mummy Community what parenting truths they wish someone had told them before they had children.

Here are 26 things they don’t tell you (and we wish we knew) before having babies

1. Freeze lots of meals. You and the rest of your family will still need to eat dinner each night, and some days you will be too exhausted to prepare anything. For some great recipe ideas take part in our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge for thousands of family-friendly and healthy recipes.

2. Start looking after your health straight away and don’t put yourself last so that it won’t be so hard later on.

3. Buy 78 tubs of nipple cream!

4. How bad cluster feeding can be. Some babies want to be latched on for HOURS on end. Don’t make too many plans.

5. That afterbirth pains can be worse second time around.

6. Sweating profusely – nothing worse then waking for bubs next feed in a pool of sweat!

7. Don’t assume everyone else has their head together and you don’t. What people portray in life and on Facebook isn’t necessarily what happens behind closed doors.

8. Each baby is so different. Don’t beat yourself up over breast or bottle feeding; fed is best!

9. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or to accept it when it’s offered. It doesn’t mean you’re failing, it means you are human.

10. There will be days where the fact that the baby is alive is more then enough! Try and savour every minute of those night feeds, because one day your baby will sleep and you will give anything to go back to having a night snuggle (well, maybe just once…!).

11. Have a rest when bub does! Your sleep is so important, as well as your mental health.

12. Breastfeeding is hard. Be prepared to be up every few hours in the first couple of weeks.

13. Just leaving the house will become an exercise in organisation!

14. Never let anyone tell you you’re doing it wrong. Every baby is different, every mum is different. Trust your gut instinct.

15. Wonder weeks… No one told me about the wonder weeks.

16. Don’t get cocky! Your second child will be the opposite of your first, so sadly you still don’t know what you’re doing next time around.

17. Parenthood is bloody hard work – you can’t prepare for it. Being mentally exhausted will become the norm in those first few weeks! It’s ok – this is normal.

18. Don’t compare what your baby is doing to what other babies are doing. They are all different and hit milestones in their own time.

19. Breastfeeding, although natural, can hurt. But once you get the hang of things, it’s fantastic.

20. Don’t stress out if things don’t just “come naturally”. You are learning how to parent, just as they are learning. Take what information you need from those trying to help but mix and match it to find what works for you and bub, as every mum and child is different.

21. How different life is with your partner afterwards. You won’t go to bed at the same for a while, you won’t eat together all the time either. It will get better, just remember to take time when you can to hug your partner or give them a kiss.

23. Trust your gut. Mummy instinct is a powerful thing.

24. Having children is like watching your heart running around outside your body and when they’re upset it can break you.

25. Everything you do WILL be enough. Even though it feels otherwise.

26. Breastfeeding doesn’t mean the weight will all magically drop off.

Can you relate to a few of these?

Many of us here at The Healthy Mummy can definitely relate to all 26! But we are sure there are so many more pearls of wisdom out there – and we’d love to hear them! Feel free to share your experience in our Healthy Mummy Facebook group

More on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge

Our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is a family-friendly, breastfeeding-safe program designed FOR MUMS to help them improve their health and lose the baby weight. 

Every week you are given a different meal plan to follow and each month we add NEW recipes to our Challenge Recipe Hub. That way, you’ll never get bored and stay on weight loss track while digging into healthy, yummy recipes. Some mums also choose to add in Healthy Mummy Smoothies to their meal plans, but it’s totally up to you.

Learn more about our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge HERE.

If you would like a sneak peek at some of the meals, snacks and exercises from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge you can download our FREE recipe packs HERE.