After extensively planning and talking about it, you and your significant other decided to have a baby. This is probably the biggest decision you’ll ever make in your life as raising a child is certainly no small accomplishment. On the flip side, the next nine months are going to be filled with some of the most exciting moments of your life. You’ll go from being a couple to being a family of three. You might even consider having more if all goes well. However, don’t get wrapped up in the excitement just yet. There are a few important tasks to take care of before you can start snuggling with your little one. In this post, we’ll be covering how you can prepare for parenthood.
Think About Your Own Childhood
Our childhood can have a significant impact on how we raise the next generation. After all, children, despite eventually becoming their own person, are going to exhibit traits from you. If there’s one thing that every parent needs before conceiving, it’s mental preparation. How was it for you growing up? Did your parents practice authoritative parenting or another method instead? What’s your relationship with your parents? Consider these questions as you think things over. It might also help if you ask your parents what it was like raising you. This can give you a better understanding of how to approach positive reinforcements, meter out punishments and how to deal with temper tantrums.
Save as Much Money as You Can
Before you even think about conceiving, you need to prioritize saving money. Raising children may be exciting, but they’re also a massive investment. In fact, did you know that it can cost almost $20,000 a year to raise a child these days? That number alone may cause you to slow down and reconsider your options for a little bit. Everyone knows how difficult it can be saving money as you’re always parting with a lump sum of it every month. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can get your finances in order before it’s time for your baby to arrive.
Your first course of action is to make a budget and stick to it. This will help ensure that every dollar goes where it should such as paying bills on time and ensuring you don’t go overboard in the grocery store. You should also factor in saving for your baby’s college education fund as well. Home and auto insurance is another big expense. It’s what keeps your personal property covered in the event of something bad happening, like theft or someone having an accident on your property.
However, managing the premiums isn’t always the easiest thing to manage because of the interest rates. You’d be surprised how much of your savings can be drained from the interest rates alone. But that doesn’t mean you should let it; a great way to help lower the cost is to check the Marketplace by Navient. Navient is a platform that manages different loans and debt payment options. They can help you lower what you have to pay with their repayment plan options.
Get Ready to Have a Few Sleepless Nights
If there’s one thing every experienced parent will tell you, it’s to make sure you have a good night’s sleep before the baby arrives. Babies are a lot of work, but new parents are often taken back by how often a baby wakes up during the night. Some can even go for hours before eventually falling back asleep. However, crying might not be the only thing you’ll be dealing with. It’ll be a great help if you come up with a plan for how to handle your newborn’s first cold. You’ll need to suction their nose to get the mucus out, keep them hydrated at all times, let them rest and ensure the air moist.
