The hardest time postpartum is often considered the first 6 to 8 weeks, due to extreme sleep deprivation, physical recovery from birth (especially with C-sections), intense hormonal shifts, feeding challenges (breast/bottle), emotional volatility (baby blues), adjusting to a new routine, and bonding with the baby. Some parents find the period between 2 to 4 months even tougher as sleep deprivation continues and fussiness (colic) peaks, while others struggle most with specific challenges like PPD peaking around 4-6 weeks.
In reality, the third week might be the hardest week postpartum, since everything seems to feel “normal,” but so much is happening at the same time. This being said, the third week will be an important week to focus on your mental health.
Once babies start to self-soothe around 3-4 months, you will start to feel more like yourself. With a consistent sleep schedule and environment, your baby will sleep in longer stretches at night and take better naps during the day! This will give you time to nap, perform some self-care, or do some housework.
Healthcare providers commonly classify postpartum into three distinct phases:
Postpartum starts immediately after childbirth and generally lasts six to eight weeks. Your body goes through many physical and emotional changes during this time, with some symptoms lasting months after you give birth.
Immediately after delivery
However, the stream of labor hormones will take a nosedive in the days following delivery. Here's why: Progesterone and estrogen: Delivery of your baby and placenta will trigger a sharp drop in both of these hormones during the early postpartum period.
Post-Pregnancy Health
The postpartum period is considered to be the time from after giving birth and continuing until anywhere from three months to as long as a year later. As the body recovers from pregnancy, certain symptoms may occur, including depression.
Here are the top challenges new moms can expect to face, and how you can get through it all in one piece.
Most new moms experience postpartum "baby blues" after childbirth, which commonly include mood swings, crying spells, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. Baby blues usually begin within the first 2 to 3 days after delivery and may last for up to two weeks.
These can include: Significant postpartum bleeding resulting in a patient soaking through a pad for several hours in a row. Severe headache that doesn't go away with Tylenol. Dizziness or feeling like you are about to faint.
The 2-hour rule for babies means they shouldn't stay in a car seat (or travel system seat) for more than two hours at a time, whether in or out of the car, because the semi-upright position can strain their developing spine and restrict their breathing, increasing the risk of low oxygen levels, especially for newborns and preemies. For long journeys, parents should take breaks every two hours to take the baby out, allow them to lie flat for a while, stretch, and feed, ensuring they get proper head/neck support and circulation.
The first three months with your baby often seem the hardest. Sleep-deprived parents can feel overwhelmed, but that is normal and you will quickly learn how to read your baby's cues and personality. Don't worry about “spoiling” your baby at this stage.
The 7-7-7 rule of parenting generally refers to dedicating three daily 7-minute periods of focused, undistracted connection with your child (morning, after school, bedtime) to build strong bonds and make them feel seen and valued. A less common interpretation involves three developmental stages (0-7 years of play, 7-14 years of teaching, 14-21 years of advising), while another offers a stress-relief breathing technique (7-second inhale, hold, exhale).
It can last a few minutes to a couple of hours. For most babies, the witching hour starts to occur around 2-3 weeks and peaks at 6 weeks. It will typically completely resolve by 3-4 months.
The first hour after birth, the “Golden Hour”, when a healthy baby is calmly placed skin-to-skin on the mother's chest, not only facilitates a smooth transition from the womb to the outside world, stabilising the baby physiologically, but also offers a unique opportunity for the mother and baby to connect emotionally ( ...
Expect your baby's sleep to be a bit wild during the newborn period — i.e., irregular sleep times and durations. By their first birthday, however, your baby's sleep will have calmed down, becoming more predictable with fewer sleep disruptions. Don't wait another night for better sleep.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that maternal anxiety usually spikes right after delivery and up to six weeks postpartum but can emerge at any time until a baby's first birthday, including breastfeeding transitions or the return of your periods.
A 2017 study confirms what many parents already instinctively know: You should pick up babies every time they cry. The research from the University of Notre Dame found that it was impossible to spoil an infant by holding or cuddling him, according to an article at News.co.au.
It has been assumed that women recover from pregnancy and childbirth within 6 weeks. Recent research shows that women's fatigue levels are the same, or higher, at 6 weeks postpartum as at the time of delivery.
A numerical rating scale (NRS) of 0–10 was adopted to evaluate maternal pain, with 0 describing no labor pain and 10 describing the most severe labor pain. The higher the score, the more severe the labor pain is.
Experts suggest that moms need just as much sleep as the average adult—7 to 9 hours per night. These 7-9 hours pave the way for a healthy mom and baby. This may seem nearly impossible, but in most cases, it's just not prioritized.
“At three months postpartum, we saw a remarkably large decrease in biological age, by as much as eight years for some individuals, so while pregnancy increases biological age there is a clear (and pronounced) recovery in the postpartum,” O'Donnell commented.
Before your last postpartum visit, your ob-gyn should help make sure you're set up to continue your care with routine visits. These visits can give you ongoing help with any concerns, and they are a chance for continued screening and prevention of future health problems. Don't skip your postpartum checkup.
By 14 days postpartum, a placental scab forms and you may see an increase in red bleeding when the placenta scab falls off, which may go unnoticed because the uterus is already shrinking.