3 Tips For Preparing To Become A First-Time Parent
If you’ve got a baby on the way, your mind and heart is likely filled with emotions spanning the gamut. While you’re probably excited to meet your new little one and create a close bond, you’re also likely worried about almost everything under the sun happening to you or your new baby. Luckily, there are some things you can learn and do now to help you be ready for when your little bundle of joy decides to finally appear on the scene. So whether you’re carrying the baby yourself or are becoming a parent through surrogacy or adoption, here are three tips for preparing to become a first-time parent.
Work Together With Your Partner
Raising a child is tough work. While it can be done completely on your own, things are often much easier to manage if you have a partner working with you to ensure that everyone is healthy and happy and well taken care of. However, the stress of preparing for the baby and all the stress that develops once the baby arrives can drive a wedge in even the most solid of relationships. To keep this from happening to you, David Sparrow, a contributor to Parents.com, recommends that you spend the time leading up to becoming parents to work with your partner and plan how you’ll do things together when the baby arrives. Sometimes, it can be helpful to split up certain tasks so that everyone is helping and feels involved.
Practice Swaddling
One of the first things you’re going to want to know about your baby when he or she is born is how to soothe. Depending on your child, their preferred ways of being soothed might vary. But in general, many babies are soothed by being swaddled. So to ensure you’re able to adequately swaddle your baby as soon as he or she is born, Dr. Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, a contributor to KidsHealth.org, you should learn how to swaddle beforehand and practice your technique before baby arrives. This will allow you to shorten your learning curve once you actually have a cranky baby on your hands.
Be Gracious With Yourself
If you’re like most soon-to-be-parents, you likely have this image in your head of what being a parent will be like and how your child will act and things you absolutely will or won’t do with or for your child. But as soon as your baby is born, all bets are off. So for the times when what you thought parenting would be like doesn’t align with what your reality is, Heidi Murkoff of What To Expect wisely advises that you learn to be gracious with yourself. Mistakes will happen and you might not know what to do sometimes. But as long as you’re putting your baby first and doing what you think is best, things will turn out just fine.
If you’re about to become a new parent, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare for this new chapter in your life.
