Crying More Than Your Baby? Baby Blues Vs Postpartum Depression

Is life with your new baby so much less enjoyable than you thought it would be, and are you, in fact, feeling sad, irritated, or overwhelmed much of the time? You could be dealing with a classic case of the Baby Blues, or you may have postpartum depression. What are the differences between the two and what can you do to feel better?

What Are The Baby Blues?

You've been building up to that end goal — your baby! — your whole pregnancy. For approximately 40 weeks, your body was ravaged by a novel hormonal cocktail, subject to constant physical changes, and, all too often, faced with unpleasant side effects like pregnancy nausea, heartburn, and back pain. While you were expecting your baby, you will have thought about what they'd be like and how they'd fit into your family.

Now that the little one has finally arrived, you're most probably exhausted from labor and birth. You'll also inevitably lack sleep. Newborns don't keep to the same schedule that allows you to function optimally, after all. In addition, each and every baby is different and this new human will take you a while to "figure out". Then, there's the hormonal changes. Yikes.

The so-called Baby Blues tend to hit between four and five days postpartum, and though there's no official medical explanation for the phenomenon yet, the sheer amount of changes you experience after having a new baby really do a plenty good job at explaining their cause.

Have you been hit by a typical case of the Baby Blues? If you have, you'll find yourself sad and even crying "for no reason", or perhaps irritable. You'll be impatient, go through mood swings, and could have feelings along the lines of "what did I get myself into?". You'll probably find yourself scatter-brained, unable to remember whether you changed that diaper already or not realizing you're still wearing your bathrobe until after you've left the house.

Your moments of feeling "weird" and "emotional" will come and go, however. You may actually feel fine most of the day. Feelings of self-harm, suicide, or harming your infant aren't part of the clinical picture of the Baby Blues.

READ Overcoming Postpartum Period and Its Difficulties

The Baby Blues are unpleasant, but normal. So long as you are pampered by others and given the opportunity to sleep enough as well as interact with other humans in a meaningful way, these initial symptoms will wear off by the time your little one is around two weeks old. That doesn't mean parenting your infant will suddenly be easy, but it does mean you generally feel positive about your life again.

New moms going through the Baby Blues do require help. That help should ideally come in the form of a mother's helper, a partner who runs you a nice aromatic bath, or a friend bringing you a huge tub of ice cream and some cute baby outfits — if you have the Baby Blues, you won't need to see a psychologist or psychiatrist.