The Expectant Parent's "Must Know" List
[Note: This post was originally posted June 25, 2020 on a previous blog of mine]
This post started out as a post about sleep training, which then evolved into a post about scheduling, which eventually began including info on breastfeeding… and that’s when I stopped writing and decided I couldn’t fit everything into one post.
Because prepping for your first child, or any child, really, takes more than reading a mere 800 words.
When I was pregnant, I read profusely, watched many videos, and listened to mothers. I wanted so badly to be prepared for motherhood. It took months of studying to learn as much as I did, and then months of experiencing life as a mom to figure out how much of that studying had actually been necessary, useful, or even helpful.
So, if you’re an expectant parent, new parent, or wannabe parent, I’d like to give you EVERYTHING I’ve learned through my personal experience and condense months’ worth of studying into several blog posts of my own.
I’m not an expert, nor am I a doctor, certified counselor, or sleep trainer. However, I am an observant, analytical, and studious mother who—most importantly—has recently experienced the challenges of being a brand new parent.
So, maybe you’re at the point where you’ve read so much “baby info” that you’ve already thrown in the towel and have decided “whatever will be will be.” Maybe you haven’t read anything. Perhaps you have been putting off the studying, though knowing secretly you’d be screwed if the baby came early because you’re nowhere near prepared yet (this was us for a while!). I hope no matter how you’re feeling right now, that these posts will help you organize your thoughts and help you settle on a vision of yourself as a parent.
Let’s get to it.
Expectant parent, have you started thinking about your…
…Baby’s sleep?
…Baby’s food?
…Baby’s “awake” time?
If I had to pick 3 of the most important “realms of baby info” to know before baby arrives, it’d be the 3 above.
Have you thought about how you plan to put your baby to sleep? Or even where your baby will sleep? How about what the baby will sleep in? Thinking about the long-term effects of these decisions can also help guide what you do. For example, do you see yourself rocking your baby to sleep a lot? If so, have you thought about what that will be like on the nights you are too tired to do so? Or maybe you see your baby sleeping through the night early on in its life. Have you thought about the steps it will take for that to happen? Furthermore, have you factored into all of this your own sleeping patterns? Maybe you want to co-sleep with your child, but you are a light sleeper. This could be potentially a problem later on, too, when you realize that you are too sleep-deprived to function because you’re not getting any sleep with a baby next to you. Or maybe you know that you’d never be able to let your baby sleep in another room, although you already have a crib set up in a nursery. You might need to think about what you’ll do about that, too.
What about baby’s food? Maybe you are thinking about breastfeeding, but want to go back to work ASAP. Maybe you are staying at home but hate the idea of breastfeeding. Have you looked at all your options?
You get the idea. These are all questions that I didn’t 100% have answered before I had my son, but I wished I had. Now, of course, you’ll want to enter this new period of your life with as much grace as you can muster. There will definitely be some things you’ll realize later on don’t work for you, or that aren’t really that important. You’ll find some things you missed when planning. It’s going to be a crazy transition either way you go—planning or no planning. But, with having a plan to fall back on when you’re so exhausted you can’t think, will be a LIFESAVER. Trust me. Plan now, and just do later.
To avoid making this post too long, I’ve added links here for you to read about the three essential topics for expectant parents to study:
I sincerely hope you find this informative and helpful.
Grace Crocker
photo credits go to Ashley Speights of Wild Olive Photography in Jacksonville, Fl.
