Crash Course: Prepping For A Baby

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We’re all told that life will become a rollercoaster after baby arrives, but there’s nothing that will prepare for just how high and low that rollercoaster goes. Literally every aspect of your life has to change when you find yourself entirely responsible for someone else’s well being - someone who can’t take care of themselves in the slightest. Needless to say, that’s a pretty heavyweight task to take on. The good news is that despite the upheaval, you won’t need to see your life slip into complete chaos and disorder. With purposeful planning, you’ll manage to organize your life (at least enough) to meet all of your little one’s needs. Here’s a quick crash course on a few areas you might want to focus on while you’re preparing.

Create a Space

Even if your little one might be bunking in a bassinet by your bed or co-sleeping, creating a separate space just for baby from the get go is crucial. First of all, it gives you a place to store baby items, which means you get to keep some sense of your own space in your own room. And considering everything else you’ll be going through, giving yourself this little bit of mental clarity is going to really come in handy (trust us). From the crib to toys, to clothes, bibs, changing mats, nappy supplies, milk supplies, and anything else, keeping the main baby items more or less contained will keep the rest of your house feeling sane. On top of this, you’ll find that you have a ready-made space for your baby to sleep in when you feel ready to move them from your room to their own as they grow older. Anything you can do now to ease future transitions, you’ll be thanking yourself for later.

Reducing Anxiety

Most new parents feel anxious taking their little one home for the first time. After all, you’re entering completely untraversed territory while handing a whole lot of brand new responsibility. And guess what. That’s never going to change. Those of us who have already have children still feel this way. Welcome to the club. But if you’re anything like us, researching and learning (from the right sources - skip Web M.D.) can help you feel a lot more prepared, which will in turn, help with anxiety. While you don’t have to listen to a thing they say, signing up for childcare and childbirth classes can be extremely useful - less for the actual information and more for just feeling completely prepared . First aid and emergency care for babies and infant classes are another essential and are also a great idea for your close family members as well. Lightly brushing up or at least finding trusted resources on common conditions, like what type of cough does my baby have, will help you keep from feeling entirely lost. Knowing the difference between when things are fine and can be dealt with at home and when you need to seek medical assistance or advice is an ongoing process, but prep definitely comes in handy.

Picking Up Skills

Guess what. You have a new job. And you’re going to have to pick up a whole lot of new skills -and stat. While you’ll be picking up a lot of it on the job, we suggest getting the following down before the wee one shows up:

Changing a Diaper

As soon as your baby is born, changing diapers is going to jump the scale of tasks you carry out most often. It’s estimated that the average new parent will find themselves changing diapers between ten and twelve times a day, so nailing this skill before your baby is born can put you at a serious advantage and save you tons of time (that you can use to maybe, you know, brush your teeth). After all, diapers that aren’t put on properly come hand-in-hand with a whole lot of you-know-what, not to mention irritation and diaper rash. Take a class and practice on a doll with a bunch of other pregnant strangers (it’s worth the weirdness we promise), or take advantage of the massive number of online videos and tutorials available. Either way, hands on experience will be your biggest help.

Swaddling

People have been swaddling their babies since ancient times and it’s a method of relaxing your baby that is still hugely popular today. Wrapping your baby in a snug swaddle makes them feel safe and prevents them from moving their arms or legs about, encouraging them to settle down. It also prevents babies from rolling over easily, which can help you to rest assured they’ll remain in a safe sleeping position (at least for the first few months). If you’re lucky, you may even find that it reduces the amount that your baby cries. Like diaper changing, there are a number of video tutorials that will show you exactly what to do, allowing you to learn proper folding and tucking techniques.

Weaning

Weaning is something we wished we had read up on a little more pre-baby. Since gradually moving a baby from breastmilk or formula feed to solid foods comes later, a lot of parents don’t do the research until the time for weaning comes around. However this also just so happens to be around the time you’re adjusting to a world of other parenting responsibilities, so having a little foresight can help make the process easier. From baby-led weaning to more systematic introductions to soft baby purees, there are a ton of different methods to wean your little one so getting an idea as to what you’re most interested in trying ahead of time will help you feel less overwhelmed down the line.

Sleep Training

While a newborn will lead the sleep schedule more than you will, sleep training is another of those hurdles you might want to do a little reading up on for 6 months or later. From books to in-home sleep coaches to online/virtual sleep coaches, finding the right method for you can be super personal.

Of course, there’s a whole lot more than this that you’ll have to learn in order to fully prepare for your baby. You’ll also find that you pick up many things along the way that you’d have never even considered before having a child. But that’s the best part of all of this. As long as you love your little one and try your best, you’re bound to be a wonderful parent.