Together with Graco we decided to understand the importance of the 4th trimester: The 12-week extraordinary rollercoaster from birth into parenthood. We talk a lot about pregnancy and the changes that a mother will experience emotionally and physically before birth, but what about the journey after birth? This is very often a challenge that mothers simply can’t have imagined. For many it’s a white knuckle ride where we hold on, question everything and try to do our very best, while tackling unpredictable hormones, sleep deprivation and a fierce drive to protect the little person we have brought into the world.
Numbers
Graco, the baby gear expert, is on a mission to improve our understanding of the physical and emotional rollercoaster of the 4th trimester and carried out research with our very own network of mums. This is what you told them.
Almost 9 in 10 mums feel like the first 12 weeks after having a baby are an emotional rollercoaster. With almost half (47%) of mums suffering from the day three baby blues and more than half (55%) feeling like they lost their identity when they had a baby. It’s clear that being a new parent takes a significant toll on our emotions and none of us are alone with this mix of new feelings.
This research from Graco has highlighted that it takes time adjust to life with a little one and there’s no rule book for how long this will take, we’re all different.
The Graco Village
Today, fuelled by this insight, Graco wants to raise awareness of the pressure parents face during the three months after childbirth and help by creating realistic expectations of the challenges of life with a newborn. So, Graco launches ‘The Graco Village’ bringing together leading experts in postnatal emotional and physical care, parenting media, communities and influencers to provide a destination where parents can get advice, feel seen and not alone.
Graco has a selection of products designed to support a mum’s physical repair post-birth and their wellbeing. Our champion is Graco The All Ways Soother.
A calming soother and rocker – being able to put baby down somewhere they’re safe and happy to give you a little hands-free time is hugely important in those early days of parenthood when you need to rest. The All Ways Soother from Graco is the solution. It’s a multi-use baby swing with a clever 2-in-1 design so baby can be soothed with the powered swing motion or the removable, portable rocker seat can easily be moved around the home.
Why We Love It
It’s no surprise that every baby calms differently. That’s why All Ways Soother has 16 different soothing motions — the most of any Graco swing or soother, and most of any other soother that we came across! Take advantage of all those options to find the perfect customisation of sway, speed, and sound that your baby will love and soothe. They are operated with super easy set of buttons, so as for mum with not great technical skills, this is super important.
When travelling throughout the home or visiting others, the swinging seat conveniently doubles as a removable rocker with calming vibrations.
But that not all, this fantastic Graco soother has to offer! The multi-direction seat allows baby to enjoy either side-to-side or front-to-back swinging for even more soothing options, and also has one button to change the position from newborn to sitting more upwards baby.
The toy bar with soft toys keeps your baby entertained while you accomplish everything on your to-do list.