Tips for Moms: Best Ways to Boost Your Mental Health 

Being a mom is one of the most challenging lifetime jobs there is. Moms are so busy taking care of everyone else that they sometimes, or more precisely very often, neglect themselves in every sense. However, neglecting your physical and mental health can have detrimental effects both on you and your loved ones. So, you need to find time and dedicate it to yourself. You’ve probably heard people saying that a happy mom equals a happy family. So, moms, brace yourselves as we’ve compiled a list of things for you to do to boost your mental health.

Tips for Moms: Best Ways to Boost Your Mental Health
*This is a guest post and all opinions are those of the author. This post may also contain affiliate and/or paid links. Rest assured that we only work with companies and individuals that we trust. While some of those companies and individuals may work in the medical field, this post is not intended to be a substitution for medical advice. Always speak to your doctor if you have concerns about your mental or physical health.

You can start with practicing thankfulness. We all have plenty of things to be thankful for. We just often overlook them and forget to appreciate them. Being thankful can really boost your mental health. As beauty and health come from the inside out, we should be mindful of our diet as well as physically active. Moreover, it’s essential that moms have some time for themselves. Also, opening up to somebody such as a family member or a close friend can help you relate and realize that other people also have similar issues or worries. And lastly, we can’t be at our full mental capacity if we don’t allow our bodies and mind to rehabilitate during sleep. 

Practice thankfulness 

To set a positive mindset, you should remind yourself from time to time about things you are thankful for. That can be your family, health, job or even some little things that mean a lot to you. However, it’s often way easier to focus on negative things rather than positive things around you. It’s not easy creating this kind of mindset. What helps is noting down three things you are grateful for each day. You can write them down in a journal perhaps. Writing them down creates a habit for you. By doing it regularly, eventually, you’ll be able to do it even without writing them down.  

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Pay attention to your diet 

Our mental health can easily be jeopardized with the choice of food we take in on a daily basis. For instance, many people have reported feeling anxious, nervous or under stress when eating too much junk and sugary food. Similar feelings are evoked with too much caffeine. What we put in our bodies has a significant impact on our mental health. To boost your mental health, you should have a well-balanced diet. Such a diet is based on fresh, nutritious food including fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, dairy products, fish and meat. What you should avoid is highly processed, sugary food and too many simple carbs.  
 
By maintaining a healthy diet, you not only help yourself but your child as well. You teach your child good nutrition habits in that way, which is an essential thing for their overall health as well. When choosing a suitable early learning center, pay attention to their meal choice – it should be based on healthy food mostly for your child’s optimal development. 

Get active 

Getting physically active and engaged in some kind of sports activity can help you in terms of boosting your mental health. When we don’t feel our best psychologically, the easiest thing for us to do is stay in and watch TV. However, such behavior won’t aid your mental health. Instead, you should get a grip, get up and do something physically engaging. You can opt for jogging, taking a brisk walk, riding a bike, swimming or simply going to the local gym. You can even engage in some family time sports activities and play badminton or some other sport. It will help keep your spirits up. 

Dedicate time for yourself 

One thing that’s key and that many moms don’t have is time for themselves. As we already mentioned, moms have so many things on their minds that they very often, neglect themselves. There are simply too many things regarding their work, children as well as household and other obligations. If you realize that you are in this kind of situation, you should stop for a moment and make a different plan that involves some you-time. In this time for yourself, you can do whatever you enjoy doing. You can go to the hairdresser, practice yoga, take a long, soothing bath or simply do nothing. Don’t feel guilty whatever you do – you’ve earned it! This you-time can recharge your batteries in no time, making you happier and in a better mood. 

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Open up to a family member or a friend

It’s essential to have some kind of support, regardless of whether you have an issue or not. It helps us just to speak to someone we trust. It can be a spouse, family member or a close friend. By connecting with someone on such a level, we can learn a lot about ourselves. It also helps us calm our psyche down. And if you are struggling with some issues, it would be most beneficial for you to have someone who’s been through something similar to talk to. It should definitely be a person you can trust. 

Get enough sleep

Quality sleep is the essence of good mental health. This is a basic human need and you shouldn’t allow yourself to be sleep deprived as it affects both your mental and physical health. You should have approximately around 8 hours of sound night sleep. Your bedroom should be quiet and dark, the bed and pillow comfortable and the bedding soft and clean. All of these things promote good sleep habits. 


When being a mom, it’s important to take a break every once and a while and dedicate some quality time to yourself. It perhaps seems not so relevant, however, try practicing these things and you’ll see a boost in your mental health. After all, it’s true that moms are almost almighty, but they are still made of flesh and blood, just like everybody else. 


Author Bio:

Jess Cooper is a part-time journalist and blogger based in Sydney, Australia. She is an energetic, creative highly motivated person with plenty of interests. The most prominent areas of interest include makeup and cosmetics, fashion, style, event organization and decoration, healthy food, fitness, learning languages as well as home improvement. Jess loves learning about new things and having the chance to combine those insights with her ideas and spread them to the world. She enjoys having a mindful and well-organized, healthy life, filled with all kinds of different activities and interwoven with close friendships.  

How to Create a Self-Care Routine as a SAHM

Fitting in a self-care routine for stay-at-home moms may sound easy to do with all the time spent at home…

But trying to find the time and space to do it in is where the challenge lies.  Stay at home moms very rarely have any time throughout the day where their kids are not following them around or in need of something.  Even nap time presents moms with the decision of either getting caught up on work or taking time for themselves.

Developing a self-care routine is so important for stay at home moms.  It’s a way to stay positive and energized throughout the day.  Taking care of ourselves should be as much of a priority as taking care of the children, the household, or the finances.  It may take some time to figure out how to create a self-care routine that works for you.

Here are some tips on building the essential self-care routine for stay at home moms.

(Plus – download a free workbook to help you put these tips into action!)

How To Create A Self Care Routine As A SAHM
*This post contains affiliate and/or paid links which means that if you click on one of these links and buy a product, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Rest assured that I only recommend products that I love from companies that I trust. Furthermore, I am not a medical professional and nothing in this post should be taken as medical advice. I am simply a mother who has been there and lived to tell the tale.
How To Create A Self Care Routine As A SAHM

Eliminate the Guilt

Feeling guilty about taking care of yourself is normal for stay at home moms.  We are inclined to put others first and take care of their needs, pushing our own to the bottom of the list.  We keep thinking that we’ll start our self-care routine once everyone and everything else is taken care of.  But no matter how much we do in a day, there is always something else that needs to be done.  We need to make ourselves a priority.  It can be hard to feel worthy enough, especially for moms battling postpartum depression.

The best way to avoid feeling guilty about time for yourself is to think of it as something that we are also doing for our loved ones. 

  • Following a daily self-care routine means that we will be happier and healthier. 
  • We will be more pleasant to be around, more present in the moment and less inclined to be frustrated and moody at the end of the day. 
  • We are setting excellent examples for our children by taking care of and respecting ourselves.

In order to eliminate the guilt associated with self-care, you need to answer Why, Who and What:

WHY do you need a regular self-care routine?  Are your mood swings out of control? Do you feel exhausted and overwhelmed all the time?  Is there a health concern you want to focus on?

WHO you are doing this for?  In addition to yourself, what else is important in your life?  Do you want to set a good example for your children?  Do you want to be a better partner in your relationship?  Is your work or family life suffering?

WHAT is your ultimate goal?  Do you want to be happier?  Healthier?  Have more energy?  Are you struggling with postpartum depression or anxiety?  Are you trying to wean off of medications that you’re taking?

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Timing is Everything

Finding the time to fit in a self-care routine is probably the biggest obstacle for a stay at home mom.  Usually we are surrounded by children from the time we get up in the morning until they go to bed, at which time we are too exhausted to do anything else.  There are a few moments throughout the day when a stay at home mom could choose to fit in her self-care.

The first step is identifying the changes in your mood throughout the day.  Try keeping track of your moods on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to see how and when they fluctuate.  Often, the winter months can be worse for our moods, especially if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder.  To make it easier, you can download a printable mood tracker from Shine Sheets.

Early in the morning

If you’re a morning person, this could work for you.  Getting up early before everyone else is up and taking a nice, hot shower in peace sounds amazing.  Drinking an entire cup of coffee and eating a warm breakfast while watching the sun rise is a great way to start the day.

Not so early in the morning

But if you’re not a morning person, then the idea of sacrificing those last few moments of sleep are a crime against humanity.  There’s nothing wrong with fitting in that shower and coffee when you get up in the morning, it just means that your children will probably also be awake and ready to start their day at the same time.  Try holding them off by offering them a small snack, a sippy cup of milk and a half-hour show to buy you some time.

Lunchtime

Make it a point to eat lunch together.  Don’t feed the kids and expect to grab something later because later may never come.  Eat when the kids eat and make yourself something healthy, don’t just pick at their leftovers.

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Nap time

If this is still a thing at your house, then congratulations!  It hasn’t existed at my house for three years and I miss it so much.  Nap time is the perfect time for fitting in a self-care routine.  Don’t do the dishes or laundry or mop the floors…  Rest.

Binge watch Netflix or read a few chapters in that book that’s been collecting dust on your nightstand. Don’t think of it as “being lazy.” Escaping into an imaginary world, whether it’s through the pages of a book or the television, is a way to relax your brain for a little while.  You need to shut that thing off sometimes otherwise it overheats and doesn’t work as well.

When your shift is over

If your day has been an overly exhausting one, there’s no harm in asking for help.  Calling in reinforcements just so you can have some time to yourself is not being selfish.  It’s something that is essential to your well being and mental health.  If there is a time when your spouse is home to watch the kids, of if you have family or a friend who can watch the kids for an hour – then take it!

After bedtime

Once the kids are in bed, if you’re like me, you have no energy left for self-care.  (Is sleep training stressing you out?  Check out this post. But you’d be surprised how easy it is to fit it in.  A hot shower before bed will help you sleep better.  Turning on an essential oil diffuser in your bedroom as you go to sleep will help to calm your mind and relax you after a long day.  A few simple yoga stretches or meditation are perfect to incorporate in your self-care routine at bedtime.

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Figure Out What Works

Your self-care routine should consist of things that specifically work for you.  Sure, yoga is great but if it’s not your thing, then forcing yourself to do it isn’t going to help you relax.  Unfortunately, there is no one-size fits all self-care routine, so this is something you’re going to have to figure out for yourself.

Categorize Your Favorite Activities

Things that make you feel energized should be scheduled for the beginning of your day.  Maybe it’s going for a walk or a run, listening to your favorite music or podcast, or taking a refreshing shower.

Save the things that make you feel relaxed for your evening self-care routine.  Maybe you prefer a hot shower or bath before bed. Or having a warm cup of tea and watching the sunset.  Guided meditation is another great way to calm the mind before bed.

List off all the things that make you feel happy and try to include them throughout your day.  These could be things such as cooking or baking, gardening, crafting, chatting with a friend or anything else that you love to do.

Consider things you do for yourself all year round.  Do you need a monthly trip to the salon?  Or a spa day each year on your birthday?  If summer is around the corner, schedule yourself a pedicure.  Cold weather coming? Prepare for a round of the winter blues.  Don’t put off these important tasks, schedule them today!

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Make a Bucket List

Taking care of yourself doesn’t have to be tedious and boring.  While it’s good to have a regular routine in place, there are sure to be things that you could only dream of doing.

Make a list of things that you would love to be able to do for yourself SOMEDAY.  And dream big…  It could be something like taking a vacation somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, meeting a celebrity you idolize or attending the concert of your favorite artist.  It’s alright if some things on your self-care bucket list are unrealistic, but having them written down will keep you motivated and inspired to live your best life.

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Schedule It

Thinking about a self-care routine is a great first step.  But writing it down and scheduling it makes it real and harder to avoid.  Schedule in your self-care on the calendar or set a reminder in your phone.  Your self-care appointments should be handled with just as much importance as medical appointments, meetings or sports practices.  Adding it to a calendar lets everyone else know that you plan to make yourself a priority too.

If for some reason, you didn’t get a chance to fit in your self-care, don’t ignore it.  Re-schedule it for another time.  If you are strict about keeping up with your self-care routine, then the rest of your family will follow suit.

Try signing up for a monthly self-care subscription box.

Having a box delivered to your door is like a regular reminder to take care of yourself.  Plus, the anticipation of getting a box full of goodies is something to look forward to each month and can get you excited about self-care. 

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Download this FREE Self-Care Workbook to help you create a working self-care routine.
My Self Care Workbook - A Free Printable PDF
download the workbook

Once you’ve incorporated a regular self-care routine into your life, you should be able to see the difference it makes.  Over time, taking a few minutes each day to do something just for you won’t seem so foreign, both to yourself and to your children.  They will learn that mom’s going to take that shower and then she will feel happier.

Mothers with postpartum depression or anxiety should especially focus on maintaining a proper self-care routine.  It’s a great way to keep symptoms under control, regardless of what other form of treatment we are seeking.  While it might seem impossible to make lists of things that bring joy, mothers with postpartum depression can focus on small things and work their way up.

Download a Free Self Care Workbook

How to Create a Self-Care Routine as a Stay-At-Home Mom