Self-Care for Mums When You’ve Got Absolutely No Time (and Even Less Energy)**

If you’re a mum to a baby or toddler, you’ve probably rolled your eyes at the word self-care more than once.
Because what everyone seems to forget is, most mums don’t have spare time, spare hands, spare childcare, or spare money for bubble baths and spa days.

So when Self-Care Week rolls around, it can feel like yet another thing you “should” be doing, even though you’re already running on fumes.

This post isn’t about perfection, or routines, or forcing yourself to squeeze in habits you genuinely don’t have capacity for.
This is about realistic self-care for mums who are overstretched, overtired, and just trying to keep everyone alive.

1. Self-care isn’t always “me time.” Sometimes it’s “make-life-1%-easier” time.

A hot shower you’re not rushing.
Using the ‘nice’ cup instead of the chipped one.
Five minutes of silence in your car before you walk inside.
Letting the washing wait another day so you don’t snap.

It’s not glamorous, but it counts.
Self-care is anything that stops you hitting burnout.
Even tiny things matter when life feels big and totally overwhelming.

2. Lowering the bar is an act of self-care.

You don’t need to be the perfect parent, the tidy house parent,
or the Pinterest parent.

Some days “We survived today” is a win.

Give yourself permission to do the bare minimum on the days you’re overwhelmed. You need to protect the reserves/energy that you have left. If you're out in the wild, camping, with a torch that has dying battery power, you only use it when absolutely necessary. Treat yourself like a dying torch light, my lovely.

3. Micro self-care: the stuff that fits into real mum life

Think: 30–60 seconds. That’s all.

• A deep breath before you react.

• Letting your shoulders drop.

• Drinking water instead of forgetting again.

• Standing by the back door for a blast of fresh air.

• Putting your phone down and unclenching your jaw.

• Letting your baby have a few minutes of safe play while you sit for 2 minutes and breathe.

Tiny things add up. Especially when your days are made of tiny interruptions.

4. You deserve support, even if you don’t always have it

You’re doing the emotional work, the night shifts,
the thinking ahead, the planning, the soothing, the juggling, all of the invisible stuff.

If nobody has said this to you today:

You matter too.
Not just the mum version of you , you you.

And if all the support you have right now is this reminder,
let it land gently.
You are doing an amazing job in circumstances most people don’t see.

5. Your self-care doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s

For some mums it is a bath.
For others it’s a nap.
For others it’s ten minutes scrolling TikTok once the baby’s asleep,
because your brain needs a break.

Self-care is personal.
And if all you manage this week is one small thing that makes you feel
even slightly more human then that absolutely counts.

And finally…

Self-Care Week is not about adding pressure.
It’s about reminding you that your wellbeing matters too.

To your little one, you are their whole world
and you deserve moments of comfort, calm, and kindness.
Even the smallest ones.