I'll never forget that moment, when my first son was maybe 1 month old, when I hit my breaking point. I hadn't slept in a month, he was going on hour two of non-stop crying, and tears were streaming down my face. My mom was asking to hold the baby, my partner was asking to hold the baby, but I had it in my mind that I was the only one who could soothe him. Me. His mom. But there are times when you should let someone else deal with the crying baby, you guys! Trust me! And it was in that moment, when my partner straight took the baby out of my hands and, pretty forcefully, ordered me to our bedroom so I could get some actual sleep, that I realized I didn't have to do this whole parenting thing on my own.
As a new mom, the pressure to be absolutely everything your baby needs, automatically and as if raising another human being comes naturally to you, is no joke. As a new mom I had no idea what I was doing, but I sure as you-know-what felt like I had to present a strong, put-together, confident front. And that meant constantly holding my baby, constantly being the one to feed my baby, and constantly being the one to soothe my baby. I was the one getting up at night, I was the one scheduling all the pediatrician appointments, and I was the one giving all the baths. And it wasn't that people didn't offer to help! They did! My baby's dad was begging to, you know, actually parent. I just couldn't let go of the overwhelming feeling that if I wasn't doing everything, I was a bad mom.
But I needed a break, my friends, and I absolutely needed to let go and let the other people in my circle help take care of my baby. And that meant learning how to let someone else deal with the crying baby, especially in situations like the following: