“Winter is coming,” I thought, as I wore maternity sweaters and wore baggy jackets that would fit my baby bump, in November and early December. I wondered what having a new baby in the cold and dark of winter would be like.

And it was not easy. In fact, it was so difficult that I thought winter would never end and that my newborn would be a newborn forever. The dark, cold, windy and snowy days seemed to last for eternity.

I have good news, though: I survived, and you can, too, if you’re having your baby between November and February in the Northeast or the Midwest, where winter is a depressing, drab, challenging and lonely time. Here are my best tips to try to get through a long winter with a new baby.

Try to get outside

I tried my best to get outside, and admittedly, it was hard to get outside every day when I had just given birth. I made a goal to get out a few times a week, because it was a cold December.

My reasons for getting outside were: 1) fresh air and sunshine will remind you there is life outside your apartment or house and 2) getting outside can make your day a little brighter. Because it’s winter, you may just need to wear a million more layers than during other times of year. Leaving my house (even for 10 minutes) helped me briefly escape my life of feeding the baby, changing diapers and feeling holed up inside.

(If you’re scared to take your baby outside in the cold, don’t worry: we were, too, and we didn’t take her outside for at least 10 days because it was so cold in December.)

Helpful Tip

Use verifiable tips about how to safely take a newborn outside, like these ways to protect a newborn in cold weather from Parents.com.

Make the house fun and warm (as best you can)

When I wasn’t napping, resting or feeding our baby, we tried to make the house warm and cozy by using soft lighting, relaxing music like jazz and whatever else we could think of. It was one of my ways of combatting the darkness of winter.

The way I’ve battled winter in the past has been to do these things, plus light candles (but I didn’t want to do that around my brand new baby). What I recommend: make the parts of your home where you spend time a little fluffier, happier and cheerier. That way, having a winter newborn may not seem SO terrible (even though it is really hard).

Go to a new moms or new parents meetup

One thing that brightened my mood on a weekly basis, once I got the courage to leave home, get dressed, shower and take my baby with me, was going to a new parents meetup for parents with babies under 1 (and most were parents on maternity leave, with babies 0-4 months).

It was one of the top things I did on maternity leave that helped me stay sane and survive the cold winter months with a new baby.

Make the most of the dark and SLEEP

One thing I noted to my friends who gave birth during summer was that I certainly didn’t have summer FOMO when I had a newborn. Around December, it got dark at 4:30pm and I needed to sleep as much as I could. I wasn’t missing anything!

Think about it this way: for the one time in your life when you want to sleep no matter what time it is, make the most of the fact that the sun rises the latest it will all year, and it gets dark way before dinnertime. It’s the best time of year to take naps and have night set in early so that you can naturally rest.

I talk about pulling down the shades and darkening the room in my tips for how to get sleep when you have a newborn, but during winter, you may not even need to.

Join a postpartum support group

I wrote all about the benefits of joining a postpartum support group and I am serious about it. With winter being one of the times of year when depression is common, and with postpartum being one of the toughest times of your LIFE, it’s no wonder that being depressed with a newborn in winter is kind of natural.

My support group, which I attended twice a week until summer, helped me survive winter, gave me something to look forward to and put me in touch with moms going through the same thing.

Get out in the real world

The first coffee I got at a Starbucks after giving birth felt like a huge party to me. I trekked in my winter jacket, hat and gloves to the nearest one, and treated myself to a decaf americano (not so exciting, I know).

Whether it’s walking downtown, getting your first postpartum coffee drink or going to the nearest shopping mall for some mall-walking, get out in the real world. It’ll make you remember that life goes on, even though it’s winter and you’re tired, maybe depressed, frustrated, exhausted and caring for a tiny baby.

Do something with a mom buddy

I was lucky that even in the dead of winter, because of that parents meetup I was going to, I found ways to make new mom friends. I would sometimes meet up with a newer “mom friend” at “the warmest time of day” (3pm, when it hit 44 degrees) to look at our newborns in their bassinets in a nearby park we’d both walk to.

It really helped to spend time with another mom and another baby, rather than holing myself up in my rocking chair in our apartment, because that was the simplest thing to do. I would also hang out in the “club room” at my apartment complex, with another mom on maternity leave who had a baby 3 months olde that mine.

That was definitely one of the benefits of raising a baby in an apartment.

Take small day trips

While it may seem daunting, get a day trip or a friend visit on the calendar and make it happen. When my newborn was finally two months old, we made plans to visit old friends 25 minutes away, and hang out with them and their 1-year-old toddler (who seemed huge compared to our little one!).

We had so much fun, and we’re so glad we did it, even in the 20 degrees F and threat of snow.

Helpful Tip

By the way, if there is a legitimate threat of snow, make sure to stay home. No one wants to be stranded on the side of the road as tired new parents with a crying newborn.

Do photoshoots inside

Looking for something safe and warm to do in the great indoors when you have a newborn? Setting up a photo shoot for your baby is a cute thing to do, and a nice activity with your partner! Find the brightest room in your home, put the baby in a cute outfit and snap some photos.

If you were wondering whether you should take your own newborn photos vs hire a professional, see how the DIY version goes, and then book a professional photo shoot if your budget permits.

Invite friends over

In February, when it was still cold and mostly dark, but getting brighter, I put time on the calendar to have my two best college friends visit—one, with her nine-month-old, who seemed gigantic compared to my newborn. Inviting friends over, as wild as it seemed to me at the time, was one of the most glorious days for me as a winter mom with a newborn.

We ordered in sushi, sat around and passed around my baby, and watched my friend’s infant eat Cheerios off the floor, which I thought was so mature and impressive. We took photos, FaceTimed our college roommates and had a day to remember.

Even if it sounds daunting, invite friends over, to lighten your mood and to meet your baby. You won’t regret it!

Watch some great Netflix, with no guilt!

I watched old reality shows from the 2010s, and new reality shows from the current season that I never would’ve sat down to watch if I wasn’t feeding a baby and up during the middle of the night, every night.

I treated myself to whatever I wanted on Netflix, hoping that it would help pass winter with my newborn more quickly. Plus, the fact that it was cold out meant there was not much else to do.

Get support from your partner/spouse

Make sure to get support from your partner or spouse—not because you have a newborn, but because you have a newborn during winter. I compared my experience to moms who had a baby even 4 months later, in March, and our experiences were very different, because winter put a damper on everything.

Make sure to ask your spouse for whatever it is that you need, because they should be there to support you as the birthing parent who is recovering. This is especially applicable if you need partner support as a breastfeeding mom, because the physical strain can be so extreme.

DON’T get too holed up in social media

One mistake I made was to follow too many newborn Instagram accounts and too many influencers who were preaching things about newborns that did not apply to mine. It made me more frustrated and confused, on top of the fact that it was too cold to spend much time outside and summer felt very far away.

My best advice is to stay real: control your time on social media, limit what you see on Instagram and focus on ways to stay healthy in the postpartum phase during winter. Prioritize your mental health, and seek help if you need to.

Get out and pamper yourself

If time permits, make a quick appointment for a haircut, manicure, pedicure or massage, in between your newborn’s feedings or naps. It’ll make you feel real, beautiful and deserving. This is something I wish I did more, especially after the stress of getting laid off on maternity leave. Everyone has their favorite ways of going out for some self care or wellness: this is the time to do it, when you just had your baby and it’s the dead of winter.

Find an online community

I found a lot of local support groups on Facebook that were generally helpful. Dan looked through Reddit to find a lot of advice regarding other parents who had “winter babies.” What was good for me was that I had a place to ask questions and get answers from other moms in the same situation at the same time.

Appreciate the little things

Even in winter, the sky can still be blue, the birds can still chirp and the sun will still set. Try to find beauty and serenity in simple things that bring you happiness. For me, it was watching the sunset from a perch at the top of the hill outside my doctor’s office.

I have a friend with whom I always share sunset photos, and she sends one back, and that’s the type of thing that would make me smile for just a moment during the toughest winter time with my baby.