Tips for new parents

Try to make time for yourself each day - at least 15 minutes to start with. Where you do something that you enjoy.  Put your feet up and drink a cup of tea, or have a bath or play some music you enjoy,  do something that gives you a break so that you can recharge your batteries.

Try at least once a day when your baby is asleep to have a rest or a sleep yourself, don’t worry about all the undone chores waiting for you

Accept Help, accept all offers of help - rather too much than too little. Accept offers of meals, cleaning, running errands, "winding the baby" etc

 Surviving the early weeks is also easier if you can honestly express all aspects of the experience, preferably sharing what is going on with people who will not judge you.

This is another overwhelming aspect of being a new mother - people offering you "well meaning advice".
Because babies cry - everyone makes out that a crying baby means that something is being missed. This is not usually the case, it is a baby doing what babies do best. Try not to let the crying rattle you. Again, thank the person for the advice, and re-enforce that you will consider, if that is the way you want to do things with your baby. If you can cope with listening to what they have to say, listen, and if it sounds like it "suits" your style - try it for yourself. It may work for one Mum or one Baby, and it may work one time and not the next - try - try and try again - of course you can’t be an expert in a minute.

Even an expert with newborn babies often have to try different "tricks" with different babies, before one finds one that works and occasionally nothing will seem to work, some days just end up being a difficult day - keep your baby with a trusted friend or your partner and go and have a short break. When you feel a little refreshed, you’ll most probably find that the sweet darling has fallen asleep, perhaps after a little wind/gas has escaped into the diaper - often that is all that is causing the problem.