19 Healthy Habits for Busy Moms - Baby Chick
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19 Healthy Habits for Busy Moms

Life can get busy and we moms can forget to take care of ourselves. Here are 19 healthy habits for busy moms to incorporate into daily life.

Updated July 15, 2024
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As moms, we often neglect ourselves because we are just so busy. Caring for our families, homes, and careers is a lot of work, making it hard to remember to focus on ourselves. We tend to put healthy habits on the back burner to get ALL THE THINGS done.

Healthy Habits for Busy Moms

There are some simple healthy habits that you can adopt to improve your health. These are things that you can do daily or weekly. Many don’t take long but will make you feel better, especially in combination. Try incorporating some (or all!) of these healthy habits into your routine.

1. Make Sure to Drink Enough Water

Water can make us feel better and (bonus) help us lose weight. If you’re breastfeeding, extra water intake is critical to avoid dehydration, which is easy to do during this time. Drinking a glass of water every time you breastfeed is a good guideline to combat this. Some people also get dehydration headaches. Motherhood is hard enough without your body feeling worse.

2. Get Sleep When You Can

Sleep can be rough and segmented with kids, but getting it when possible is essential. This may mean going to bed earlier some nights or catching a nap yourself occasionally during their naptime. Listen to your body and let it rest when it needs to.

3. Breathe Some Fresh Air

Getting fresh air can do wonders for your body and mind. On milder days, be sure to bundle up and get outside. Not only will your kids enjoy it, but you will also, too, after being stuck inside. Even if the cold is too much for extended periods, just stepping out for a couple of breaths can be helpful.

4. Talk to Your Mom

Adult conversation can be hard to come by when you’re a mom. Kids are challenging, and having someone to commiserate with your feelings is invaluable. No one understands quite like your own mom. She can be a great sounding board for your feelings about motherhood and anything else.

5. Take Your Vitamins/Eat Well

It can be hard to eat great all the time. Eating healthy food is essential to feel your best and get what you and your baby need. If you find you’re deficient in specific vitamins, be sure to supplement them to help you feel your best.

6. Socialize With a Friend

It can be hard to foster adult conversation when knee-deep in motherhood. Reconnecting with friends is a great way to vent or talk about something unrelated to kids. It will also remind you of the person you were before your kids.

7. Meal Prep

When we are hungry, it is easy to reach for something unhealthy. Preparing meals will help you have food ready to go when needed. It also lets you control what is in your meals to keep them healthier.

8. Find a Way to Relieve Stress

Kids can cause a lot of stress. They may be fighting with you, whining, or fighting each other. It can be overwhelming. Finding a way to relieve stress is essential to your health. This could be taking a long shower, walking, reading a book, getting a massage, stretching, or doing yoga. Find something that works for you.

9. Know When to Take a Movie Day

Giving kids too much screen time is a hot-button issue. Of course, you don’t want your kids just camped out in front of the TV all day, but once in a while, having a chill family movie day can be good for everyone. Whether you don’t feel good, are tired, or just need an unscripted day, a movie day may just be what you need.

10. Make a Routine

Sticking to a routine most days can help foster good habits in you and your kids. Kids thrive on routines, and keeping one in place will help avoid fights and ensure you get to everything you need to do.

11. Eat Breakfast

It may seem like skipping breakfast is a way to get a headstart on the day, but it will only make you hungry and cranky.

12. Plan Family Time

We are constantly in motion, and losing sight of family time can be easy. Plan time that you can spend together doing different activities.

13. Practice What You Preach

We all want our kids to be happy and healthy. Getting them to listen is rooted in the things that we do. If we want them to eat better, we must also eat better. They will take on all our bad habits, so demonstrate some good ones too.

14. Communicate With Your Partner and Take Date Nights When You Can

Taking care of kids is all-consuming and can be super overwhelming. Some nights, we may need to turn in early, but other times, it’s important to connect with your partner. Keeping these relationships strong is an important aspect of our lives.

15. Move Your Body

Even if you don’t have time for a full-fledged workout, move your body daily. This could be as simple as indoor fitness activities for kids, such as having a dance party or taking a walk with your kids, which will benefit everyone. Sitting for too long is bad for you, so try to do what you can.

16. Play with Your Kids

It can be tempting to send your kids off to play by themselves. While this can be helpful and important, it is also a good idea to take the time to play with them sometimes, too. Not only is this fun for your kids, but it also benefits you. Taking out time to pretend will help you bond with your kids. Plus, it’s just fun.

17. Take Breaks From Your Phone

We all spend too much time on our phones. Detoxing from them for a few hours will help you feel better.

18. Set Boundaries for Work

Many of us have work email access on our phones. Answering emails or calls outside of work can be tempting, but you must set boundaries. When you’re off of work, be off of work. Everything will be there tomorrow, and nothing terrible will happen if you take some time away to pay attention to your family entirely.

19. Ask For Help

All of us get overwhelmed and need a break. When you need help with something, ask. Trying to take everything on when you’re experiencing burnout will end poorly.

Many factors go into being and staying healthy. Keeping ourselves at our best takes a lot of work. Even if you can only focus on a few things at a time, you will still feel better than you would have otherwise. These healthy habits may seem simple, but they will go a long way to helping you feel your best.

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  • Author

Kristen N. Winiarski spends much of her days battling her kids' hangry moods with bacon and Cookie Monster impressions. She also encourages dance parties as P.E. whenever possible. Kristen started writing at just 10 years old and she loves to write about motherhood and classic movies. She also writes fiction.

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