At Austin Baby Guru, we strive to offer a balance of practical and emotional support. We focus on providing information that helps you make choices that feel good and right to your family, while also holding space for all the feelings. As the holiday season approaches, we have a variety of resources and reminders we’d like to share with pregnant and newly postpartum families.

Revisiting Boundaries

As postpartum doulas that also have lived experience as parents, we have some insights into boundaries that can help you not just survive, but thrive, during the busiest weeks of the year. It’s essential for you and your family to get clear on what you most want and need in order to protect your peace during pregnancy and postpartum, especially as it intersects with the holiday season. These are a few considerations:

• Keep your rest and recovery at the center of your decisions. Let your need for rest and recovery guide the decisions you make. Staying close to home, and close to your couch or bed, is important in the first month postpartum, especially. That said, we advise families to take it easy during the end of pregnancy and for the first few months after birth– at least.
• Communicate early when possible. For example, if you have boundaries around things like reducing risk around viruses and illnesses, let people know your expectations ASAP. If there are specific ways loved ones can show up for you, like meal trains or help around the house, try to line this up earlier than later.
• Streamline whatever you can. Whether it’s ordering a holiday meal from a restaurant, skipping the travel, or keeping decorations simple, take to-do items off of your plate!
• Take it one step (and one holiday at a time). This year your capacity may be low, and you may be saying more “no’s” than “yeses,” but this doesn’t mean every year is going to be like this. Focus on this first holiday season and take it one week at a time.

Holiday-Focused Resources for Families

Check out this small handful of articles about the holidays that we’ve written in the last few years + some of our favorite parts.

How to Enjoy Your Holiday Season with a Baby

Our most impactful tip from this blog is the following: You are allowed to choose to attend or NOT attend parties or gatherings. This is a time in your parenting life when you have the perfect excuse for skipping out of family gatherings and/or travel. People– including you– may be disappointed by the boundaries you set, and that’s okay! If you know that quiet time at home is just want you and your family need this holiday season, remember that you have a choice. Your needs and baby’s needs are valid!

4 Tips for Holiday Decision-Making with Baby

We stand by this statement always and forever (holidays or not): If we are going to give any piece of general advice, it’s this: Make a commitment to do less than past holidays. Be careful and deliberate with your “yeses,” and give yourself grace if you need to change a “yes” to a “no.”

6 Ways to Build Traditions with Your Growing Family

This reminder feels really good to revisit:  You may choose to celebrate in ways that are new or ways that you grew up with. Either way, when you center your values and beliefs, the decisions you make will feel authentic and meaningful. You will also be better equipped to navigate boundaries with loved ones when you are making choices from your values and beliefs.

Making Gift-Giving Intentional

You may be trying to figure out what to buy your baby and/or what to tell loved ones you want and need for baby. Because let’s face it, everyone wants to treat baby! These are a few guidelines we typically follow when looking for gifts for babies:

• Focus more on toys that require interaction and exploration and less on battery-operated toys. These are higher engagement between you and baby and they also encourage more critical thinking. 
• Make a list that includes items that focus on different senses. For example, a silicone teether, a high contract play mat, and stacking cups each offer different sensory experiences.
• Keep it simple. A short list is totally fine! And if you want loved ones to contribute to a savings account instead of buying material items, let them know how/where they can do this.

Find our gift guide of what to buy babies here! 

ABG is Here for You

We are here to support you as you navigate the holidays with your growing family. Check out our 1:1 consultation services here! If you’re looking for something else, we offer in-home doula support, classes, and referrals; reach out and let us know how we can support you.

*Photo credit: Eli Pluma on Unsplash