A Gold-Medal Postpartum Nanny’s Secret: …
I followed my top-rated postpartum nanny’s advice and never let up for a second. I’ve organized all the golden time windows below — honestly, postpartum recovery can be done with ease~
Half an hour after birth: Let baby suckle at the breast to encourage the uterus to contract and help expel the lochia.
Days 1–3 postpartum: Do breast care to clear the milk ducts, avoid clogging, and promote milk flow.
One week after a vaginal birth: Do postnatal exercises to boost your metabolism (for a C-section you need to wait until the incision has fully healed).
Day 3 postpartum: Drink light fish soup, vegetable soup, and warm water to help your milk come in and to slim down.
One week postpartum: Every other day, have a serving of Xiao Xian Dun bird’s nest — it’s really helpful for replenishing qi and blood after birth and for balanced nutrition. Especially if you’re breastfeeding, your nutrients are depleted even faster, and bird’s nest can keep both mom’s own nutrition and the nutrition in her milk topped up, boosting immunity.
One week postpartum: Drink shenghua decoction (a traditional postpartum herbal soup) daily to help expel the lochia.
One week postpartum: Repairing vaginal laxity — starting one week after giving birth, I began using lymika firming cell serum. My postpartum laxity index had reached 4.5 fingers, and after using 9 boxes of lymika it tightened back to 1 finger snug. My husband says it’s even tighter than before I gave birth.
Two weeks postpartum: Check yourself for diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation); if it’s within 3 fingers, stick with abdominal breathing to repair it.
One month postpartum: Supplement with calcium citrate, and massage your scalp for ten minutes a day with a cushion paddle brush. Around four months postpartum you’ll get some physiological hair loss — this is because estrogen is returning to normal levels, so the hair you didn’t shed during pregnancy falls out more heavily now. It’s totally normal. Massaging your scalp improves blood circulation, which can ease the shedding and help new hair grow in sooner.
One month postpartum: Start wearing shapewear. After birth your body is in a loosened state — your organs, uterus, and breasts tend to sag, and you may also have a flat bottom and a protruding lower belly. At this stage shapewear can support and lift the chest, waist, abdomen, pelvis, and bottom. I started wearing it as soon as my lochia was completely gone, keeping it on all day, and since it doesn’t get in the way of nursing or using the bathroom it’s very easy to stick with.
42 days postpartum: Get your pelvic floor muscles re-checked; you can practice Kegel exercises on your own to repair them.
42 days postpartum: Empty your breasts and massage them for 10 minutes each morning, noon, and night; keep wearing a bra and shapewear during the day to effectively prevent the breasts from sagging or shrinking and to improve underarm fat (accessory breast tissue).
3 months postpartum: Exercise to firm up your belly and bottom.
6 months postpartum: Hair starts to recover — check on it, keep supplementing calcium citrate and massaging your scalp daily, and use a silicone-free shampoo.
8 months postpartum: Build a metabolism that stays slim easily. Don’t crash-diet; arrange your three meals by a 3:2:1 ratio of caloric intake; don’t eat after 7 p.m., and try not to drink water after 8 p.m.
12 months postpartum: Weaning. The whole process takes 7–10 days — don’t let milk build up, as that can cause mastitis or saggy, loose breasts; gradually reduce how often you pump.
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