In all the excitement of preparing for your very first baby, there are some things you may not have thought to prepare for. After all, you are thinking about everything from names for your firstborn to how you will decorate the nursery. Of course, you eagerly await the time when your doctor is able to tell you the gender, but even then, it’s all about preparing for the birth. The truth is, it’s not uncommon to get so bogged down in those early months that new mums aren’t really prepared for what comes after. Let’s talk about that for a few moments.
Simplifying Clean-up of Unavoidable Spills
No matter how careful you tend to be, kids will be kids and they will spill food and drinks more often than not. While you may try to keep your toddler out of carpeted areas with food or drink, there’s no keeping them down once they learn to walk. No matter how much money you spend on sippy cups, very few are actually spill-proof. If you don’t want to be washing wall-to-wall carpeting weekly, you might want to tile floors in common areas. There are beautiful tiles you can find on sites like originalfeatures.co.uk that can actually add a sense of style to an otherwise plain and ordinary room. A tiled floor is certainly easier to clean daily!
Childproofing the Home
It’s so exciting to watch your child learn to raise up into a crawling position and even more exciting as they take their first steps. However, what most new mothers can’t foresee is that it’s almost impossible to keep them stationary for any length of time. From this point on you will want to have every room where your child has freedom of movement childproofed. This means latches on all cupboards and drawers they can reach as well as safety covers on all reachable electric outlets. Quite a lot of information is available on childproofing the home, so do take the time to read that early on as those days come quicker than you can imagine.
Learning to Let Go
When you compare notes with other parents you will often find that one of the first words your child will learn to say quite clearly is an adamant, “No!” Some child psychologists believe that this is the beginning of the natural process of asserting their independence. Other signs include wanting to feed themselves instead of being fed. Unfortunately, there are some things babies want to do for themselves that are really not safe for them to manage just yet. They may scream and throw a tantrum, but you must be patient whilst helping them learn how to manage the task at hand. It can be a trying time but it’s important to understand the developmental stage of your child. It’s time to begin learning to let go.
These are all things you should be thinking about, even before baby’s birth. Those early months fly by so quickly that you may be totally unprepared for the next stage in development. Being prepared will free you from those last minute ‘fixes’ so that you have more time to enjoy that beautiful bundle of joy.
