Why Planning Ahead For Your New Baby Will Save You Money
Why Planning Is A Must For New Parents Well, if you've ever had children you will certainly know the feeling when your child first enters the world.
It's a feeling that I find hard to put into words but we all know how great it feels, right? After the months of worry as the big day looms ever nearer, when it finally happens, apart from the utter joy that seeps through your whole being, at some point you have to come back to reality.
The reality of course being the day to day effort involved in caring for this new human that you have created.
It may start with the diapers and the lack of sleep, the constant feeding, trying to get you and your baby into some kind of a routine.
You, of course, are inundated with gifts from friends, colleagues, family.
Perhaps one set of grand parents is seeming a bit too keen for your liking and getting involved just a little too much.
Your partner (usually the male) thinks everything is fine and can't quite understand the odd bad mood.
Eventually, it can be easy for all this attention and effort to get on top of you, but it's important that you can take a deep breath and just relax for a few minutes every day.
A little bit of me time will help immensely.
Although you will have received lots of gifts, there are almost certainly going to be something that everyone has forgotten about that will need to be bought.
It's important that unless it is absolutely vital, i.
e.
food, diapers, then it is possible, depending on the item, that you may not need to rush as quickly as you initially fear.
Thinking Outside The Box A friend of mine had her first baby a week earlier than planned and it was all a little bit hectic.
When she came out of the hospital and got home, she found that her husband had forgotten to get a bassinet.
Problem solved, they emptied one of the drawers in her dresser, put some bedding in and baby had a great nights sleep.
I should say though that they didn't close the drawer when the baby started crying! It was very much a make do scenario, but to be honest, I'm sure some people can't afford a bassinet, and this solution might be something that has been used though several generations of a family.
This is just one example of how to overcome what can at the time seem like a huge problem.
Don't panic, because there is usually a way around it.
Plan Ahead And Save Money The best way to make life as easy for yourselves as possible though, is to plan ahead, With the build up to the birth of your new baby, as it lasts for nine months, we are usually fine when it comes to planning for all the necessary things that we will need.
Parents, friends will all offer advice on items you will need.
Some of them as well will state certain brand names are much better than others blah blah.
Think of it as if you were buying a car.
If one person has a bad experience with a Toyota and says you should never buy one because he had a bad time with his, does that make Toyota a bad car? Of course not.
Every brand has some disgruntled customers, and don't forget, when you are reading reviews, more people are happy to complain about a product or service than those who were happy with what they actually received.
When it comes to the larger items, like cribs, cots, baby walkers, prams etc, then the actual cost can be quite large.
This is when advance planning and research can really pay off.
With the internet ever present in our lives now, researching and buying any kind of product has never been so easy.
It is not unknown for people to go to their local store to 'try out' a product, then go home and order it online for 20% less.
You may have some items of furniture that have been passed down though generations of the family that you can use.
This often happens in particular with cribs and bassinets, and this option will save you a lot of money.
However, there is plenty of stuff that you will still need to shell out your hard earned cash for.
From child car seats to stair gates, there is an unbelievable amount of products that many of us have either forgotten about or didn't know existed in the first place.
The important thing to remember is that use your time wisely.
Don't just plan your baby names, and don't leave the expensive planning to the last moment.
It's a feeling that I find hard to put into words but we all know how great it feels, right? After the months of worry as the big day looms ever nearer, when it finally happens, apart from the utter joy that seeps through your whole being, at some point you have to come back to reality.
The reality of course being the day to day effort involved in caring for this new human that you have created.
It may start with the diapers and the lack of sleep, the constant feeding, trying to get you and your baby into some kind of a routine.
You, of course, are inundated with gifts from friends, colleagues, family.
Perhaps one set of grand parents is seeming a bit too keen for your liking and getting involved just a little too much.
Your partner (usually the male) thinks everything is fine and can't quite understand the odd bad mood.
Eventually, it can be easy for all this attention and effort to get on top of you, but it's important that you can take a deep breath and just relax for a few minutes every day.
A little bit of me time will help immensely.
Although you will have received lots of gifts, there are almost certainly going to be something that everyone has forgotten about that will need to be bought.
It's important that unless it is absolutely vital, i.
e.
food, diapers, then it is possible, depending on the item, that you may not need to rush as quickly as you initially fear.
Thinking Outside The Box A friend of mine had her first baby a week earlier than planned and it was all a little bit hectic.
When she came out of the hospital and got home, she found that her husband had forgotten to get a bassinet.
Problem solved, they emptied one of the drawers in her dresser, put some bedding in and baby had a great nights sleep.
I should say though that they didn't close the drawer when the baby started crying! It was very much a make do scenario, but to be honest, I'm sure some people can't afford a bassinet, and this solution might be something that has been used though several generations of a family.
This is just one example of how to overcome what can at the time seem like a huge problem.
Don't panic, because there is usually a way around it.
Plan Ahead And Save Money The best way to make life as easy for yourselves as possible though, is to plan ahead, With the build up to the birth of your new baby, as it lasts for nine months, we are usually fine when it comes to planning for all the necessary things that we will need.
Parents, friends will all offer advice on items you will need.
Some of them as well will state certain brand names are much better than others blah blah.
Think of it as if you were buying a car.
If one person has a bad experience with a Toyota and says you should never buy one because he had a bad time with his, does that make Toyota a bad car? Of course not.
Every brand has some disgruntled customers, and don't forget, when you are reading reviews, more people are happy to complain about a product or service than those who were happy with what they actually received.
When it comes to the larger items, like cribs, cots, baby walkers, prams etc, then the actual cost can be quite large.
This is when advance planning and research can really pay off.
With the internet ever present in our lives now, researching and buying any kind of product has never been so easy.
It is not unknown for people to go to their local store to 'try out' a product, then go home and order it online for 20% less.
You may have some items of furniture that have been passed down though generations of the family that you can use.
This often happens in particular with cribs and bassinets, and this option will save you a lot of money.
However, there is plenty of stuff that you will still need to shell out your hard earned cash for.
From child car seats to stair gates, there is an unbelievable amount of products that many of us have either forgotten about or didn't know existed in the first place.
The important thing to remember is that use your time wisely.
Don't just plan your baby names, and don't leave the expensive planning to the last moment.