The Price Of Stress In Parents

There is no doubt that having a child is a blessing. But the price of stress in parents raising a child is a whole other talk. You might even say that raising a child is almost like running a marathon.

When a woman is pregnant, people tell her that  stress is a risk factor and that it can affect the baby’s development. However, a woman’s life changes quite a lot when the baby is born, and it is not easy to avoid stress.

A good deal of stress arises  from a trend: Getting children to perform many extra activities. In many cases, these activities lead to a sense of guilt in parents because they do not spend enough time with their children.

Stress in parents: Advice for mothers

Once the baby is born, only a few parents know how to deal with stress or how to avoid creating a stressful environment in the home.

In many cases, people actually think that as a parent “you have to learn along the way”, so no one spends time explaining how to deal with it. On the other hand,  if the mother has a professional career, it usually does not make things easier.

This fact in itself is already stressful. Many experts recommend other habits that might make everything even more demanding, such as getting the baby to sleep in the parents ‘bedroom, but not in the parents’ bed.

In addition, the mother must also be careful about what she eats if she is breastfeeding. And there is always the common idea that if a woman starts working again, then she does not love her baby enough. But if she does not start working again, then she does not love herself enough.

Constantly doing things for his children

All of these factors make parents tired and stressed people. They become people who lead in every corner to get as much time as possible.

As soon as their children are old enough to start music lessons, go to a sport or learn another language, stress can increase further. Running them for these things, picking them up again, keeping up with their schedules… In addition to time, these activities also require financial resources to pay for enrollment and monthly expenses.

Sometimes parents can ask themselves, “Am I able to pay for a better education for my children?”. This leads to more limited budgets in the family and extra work to be able to make money for the activities mentioned.

The true price of parental stress

Being under stress for long periods of time affects your health. Abdominal pain, headaches and sore muscles can occur. The long-term consequences are even more dangerous and include, among other things, high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression.

And this is in reference to parental health. But the truth is that  stress in parents also affects the children. From the moment she becomes pregnant, the mother’s stress can affect the baby’s health. In fact, a study on this shows that stress during a pregnancy can affect a baby’s physiology and mental stability.

In addition, children with parents who suffer from stress and anxiety during the first years of childhood tend to pass it on to the next generation. It also seems that a very controlling upbringing promotes anxiety even more.

You do not have to rush to be a good parent

According to these data, the obvious conclusion is that  stressed parents are in a way a danger to themselves and their children.  Too many activities and opportunities to make a child successful can be counterproductive if stress is present often.

Maybe it’s time to slow down and reevaluate everything again. Maybe many activities are not necessary, or maybe you can replace them with other, more relaxing activities. Even though you may think that the activities close to you are not the best, keep in mind that  your family’s physical and mental health are definitely more important.