A guide to Preparation and management for a productive & effective life of the new member of family.

Here, preparing for the coming new member does not mean preparing clothes, shelter and food. The word preparation is very comprehensive. It means…

1.Preparing yourself –

Most of the parents are not mentally ready while having a baby. It might be easier to have a baby, but it is surely difficult to raise a kid, when you have no vision and preparation. Without preparation, it would lead to chaos, and it would hinder the future of kid to have a successful career. It is also parent’s responsibility to upgrade themselves mentally, physically and emotionally to deal with kids and be able to give a good upbringing.

How to prepare yourself—->> We all have some qualities with us and at the same time we lack many other qualities to give 100% to our kids. Some parents are good at listening, some are good leader, some are friendly, some are full of positive energy, some are only concerned about providing basic needs to their kids, some are full of humor, some are sincere and disciplined etc. To prepare ourselves, we can follow these ways.

a. Read about ways of parenting and necessary skills – There are tons of books in the market about ways of parenting and skills needed. A couple soon going to be parent shall read those books to enhance their knowledge. Books written by psychologists are worthy to read.

Internet is another way to gain knowledge about parenting. A good parent shall learn about growth development and basic skill development in a growing kid; it would help parent to keep tract of development and focus on weak area which they miss to achieve.

These books would explain us how gaining an extra skill and knowledge would affect our parenting. Example – If, a parent want to be very closer to their kids, it is suggested to be playful, have humor and get involved in every activity of your kid.

b. Observe other parents – It is not an embarrassing thing to observe other parents to get an idea about thing which you are not an expert of. Every parent has different parenting style, but our ultimate goal is to imitate good practices those parents are carrying on. Observing other parents can give us practical examples of how it shall be done and how a certain style affect kid in a particular way.

Example – Imagine, you are sitting in a park bench and saw a couple are sitting in the same park with their 4 years old kid. Suddenly that kid starts to cry and rolls on the floor. That couple in panic turns on an iPad and gives candy to that kid. Soon after getting a candy and a chance to watch a video on iPad, the kid stops crying and parents were also happy. ——–>>>> This is not a good parenting style we shall have objective to learn about. This is a spoiling parenting style.

c. Ask to other couples – We shall be ready to ask those whom we feel have better parenting style. Never feel shy to ask for tips and practical ideas about parenting. Again, each parent has some genius styles and idea which they might be using in their family.

Example – You went to eat dinner at one of your friends’ houses’. You observe that saw walls and bedroom of kids was full of pictures, proverbs, quotes, sayings, science stuffs etc. You feel excited and decided to ask about it. You would learn that sticking works of kids, quotes, proverbs and science stuffs on walls in the house is to make kids adopt those words in their habits, thinking process and daily life. Repetition is very important in kids.

So, prepare yourself mentally, emotionally and physically to give the best to your kid. No-one is perfect, so learn to collect knowledge and skill necessary for it.

2. Managing the home space and environment

# Preparing room for the newcomer with beautiful wallpapers, stickers, toys etc.

# Decorating house for the newcomer with pictures, drawing, paintings, science stuffs etc.

# Buy basic stuffs – tall chair for kids, flash cards to teach kids from an early age of 6-8 months, cradle, educational toys, charts to stick on the walls of house, light cutlery and rubber napkins for kids etc.

# Look for any risk areas in the house – Risky spaces such as power outlets shall be covered with a tape or a power outlet safety cap.

Corners of tables, chairs, stairs shall also be covered with tape.

# If financially possible, you can also arrange a toddler floor bed to prove enough space to sleep and give freedom to learn crawling and walking safely.

# Baby car seat is a very important thing in this 21st century. Please invest in a comfortable and durable seat. Please take out any sharp objects from the car, such as knives, screwdriver or keep them safely.

# Manage the kitchen to make it more safe for kids; sharp objects, knives, glasses, forks, hot ovens, door to prevent tripping over etc.

# Manage heavy stuffs in the house to prevent from falling on kids; kids have habit of pulling down table cloths, curtains, wires, ropes, so keeping these stuffs not on high space can prevent injury.

# Mothers who are planning to give breast milk to their kids, they can buy a breast pump. The more you pump the breast milk and take good nutrition, the more the body would produce breast milk. So to store the excess break milk, you can arrange a deep fridge to froze that excess milk to be used later.

How to store the breast milk in the fridge – Buy sanitized milk storage bags and store milk in them. Write dates of milk pumping on those milk bags and place those milk bags in the deep fridge in an order. You can use the frozen milk with “FIRST IN FIRST OUT” formula.

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