When you have a baby on the way, there is obviously so much that you will need to get ready before they arrive, so that you can be sure that you are fully prepared for their arrival. It is something of a distinct challenge to actually feel like you know what you need to focus on here, and it is no real surprise that most parents find it more than a little stressful to try and work out. In this article, I am going to try and make it a little easier by focusing on some of the real essentials that you will need to think about. As long as you get these preparations under way, you should feel that you are in a much better position overall.
Your Mental Space
Having a baby does have a huge effect on your mental wellbeing too. You will need to try and prepare yourself for this as best as you can, which is not something that is going to come easily, but will be essential to ensuring that you are a happy and loving parent. Prepare yourself mentally as fully as you possibly can, and you should find that you are going to be able to feel much better about having your baby.
For me personally, I found out that the more I knew, the more prepared I felt and that made me feel calm before my Lily joined us :). ParentEducate.com is where parents-to-be and current parents go to learn from an ever-growing library of 100+ online research-based courses. I love that everything you need is in one place. That being said, you don’t need to read so many books or look through the internet to find some answers you’re looking for. With ParentEducate.com, parents can quickly become fluent in infant, toddler and preschool care through brief 20-30 minute courses. On top of that, all of their courses are available 24/7 on any device and can be started/stopped at any time, allowing families to conveniently learn how to parent like a pro.
For instance, I’ve just finished another course on there “What is growth mindset?” course and I love all the information I got from it! I had no idea about the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset! I also found out the importance of helping children establishing growth-mindset practises at a young age. Their course on finding a work-life balance is also a great one!
The Nursery
Obviously, you are also going to have to prepare the baby’s nursery, and in a way this is one of the most exciting parts of the whole process. It is certainly one of those rites of passage that people often think about, and it is for that reason something that you are probably looking forward to greatly. Make sure that you have some kind of an idea about what you actually want from your nursery, and how you are going to decorate it, so that you can work on making it the ideal space for your baby. If you can do that, you will find that you are going to be able to feel much more ready for your baby to arrive.
The Family Car
Finally, you might find that you need to upgrade your vehicle to one that is going to be suitable for all the family. Of course, finding a family car is not always straightforward or easy, but as long as you are happy to work on it you should find that it is surprisingly easy to do. A good family car should have a good degree of space and should be of a good size, and it should also be as reliable as you can possibly get. Not to mention that you will probably be looking for as safe a car as possible, as the last thing you want is any accidents on the road with your child in tow.
Speaking of car seats, another course I took on ParentEducate.com was “Boost your booster seat safety IQ”, which was very insightful and showed me when to start using a booster seat, what to look for in one, and when a child can stop using it.
I loved ParentEducate.com’s courses and I’m sure you will, too — that’s why I’m sharing a link to sign-up for their free one-week trial. And, if you use code “MN1Month” now until 9/11/22 you can get 20% off your first month of a monthly subscription once your trial is over!
*This post was part of a paid partnership with ParentEducate.com.
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