Tips On How To Become A Yummy Mummy

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday November 21, 2007

You've weathered the childbirth aftershocks and have been happily cocooned with your snuggly baby for weeks, or even months, now.

You're still finding time to shower, most days, but comfy tracky daks have replaced the tailored slacks you once wore to the office. And your make-up and hair dryer? They've become abandoned relics of a more carefree era.

Going underground for a while after having a baby is natural. After all, you two need a chance to figure each other out. And the relentless rounds of feeding, changing and crying can be exhausting.

But a time comes when every new mum must reclaim some degree of "yum". For the sake of your sanity, your friendships and even your marriage, it's time to become a yummy mummy. Or, as your own mother might say, "Honey, don't let yourself go".

Becoming a yummy mummy is partly about looking good, even with baby in tow, to help maintain your self-respect. But it's also about reconnecting with the adult world and feeding your intellect so you can participate in that world.

Even if you're on a tight budget, the following tricks can help you feel your best even on the days you have run out of nappies and have just discovered you've been walking around for hours with vomit on your shoulder.

* Get the best haircut you can afford and consider keeping it somewhat long. One good mummy haircut is shoulder-length or a little longer, with a longish fringe and some long layers. This style frames the face and can be ponytailed during nappy changes, but still looks sexy for a night out.

* Find some big, trendy sunglasses. Cheap designer knock-offs are fine. They hide the black circles and puffy lids that accompany sleep deprivation, hold your hair out of your face and secretly make you feel like an Angelina Jolie-style Hollywood mum.

* Sign up for a mother and baby yoga class or some sort of exercise class you can do with your little one. It will keep you moving, give your baby a chance to see the world and help you meet other parents.

* Find a babysitter you trust and go to dinner or a movie with your partner. When you get home, make sure baby is deeply asleep, then share a glass of wine and a cuddle.

* Whenever possible, wear dangly, sparkly earrings - at least until bubs can grab. Then go for pearl studs.

* Get yourself some pretty nursing bras. Replacing the nanny pants you wore during pregnancy with lacy undies wouldn't hurt, either.

* Find some camouflage pants and buy a few pairs. They're great for hiding stains and won't show pet hair and carpet fuzz after floor time with baby.

* Subscribe to a daily newspaper or magazine unrelated to parenting or celebrity gossip. Your brain needs this, and so do your conversational skills.