Bringing a new baby home is an equally exciting and scary prospect.
If you’ve never done it before, you might not even know where to start in your preparation process.
Not to worry.
We have 5 handy and useful tips to help you through the process.
Bulk Buy in Advance
The last thing you want to do when you have a newborn baby in the home is make lots of visits to the shops. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and bulk buy most of the things you will need in advance, for yourself and the baby.
Nappies, toilet roll, wipes, cleaning supplies, long-expiration food items, any pet food you need.
Get it all in the house and tucked away before the baby comes, and there is one little everyday stress dealt with in advance.
Decorate in Time
Make sure everything is painted, decorated and built long before your baby is due.
The last thing you need when a new baby arrives is wet paint and unbuilt cribs.
Make sure your nursery is 100% ready for the baby to move in, even if it will be staying in your room for the first few weeks.
No-one wants to do DIY in their post-partum stage.
If you want to wait for the gender reveal at birth, finish your nursery with neutral colours. You can repaint further down the line when you have more time, if you want to.
Create a Calming Environment
Make your house a sanctuary of calm before you bring your baby home.
This is for you and them.
Whenever your baby is home and you are looking after them 24/7, you will be stressed and sleep-deprived, and everything will get messy.
Give yourself a head start by decluttering and cleaning everything in advance. Make everything as cosy as possible and get it ready for both you and the baby to relax and unwind.
You won’t have any time to rearrange or declutter when the baby actually comes, so make sure to do it in advance.
Check For and Remove Potential Dangers
Baby-proof your house before the baby comes home.
Even though your baby won’t be crawling or walking just yet, it is always a great idea to make your house as safe as possible before a baby comes home.
Check all your fire and carbon monoxide alarms and make sure they’re fully functional.
Get rid of anything sharp or dangerous from counter tops and low tables.
Remove candles or air diffusers.
Make sure your pets will be away from the baby’s sleeping area.
Look around your home and imagine a baby in that space unsupervised, and then plan and baby-proof accordingly.
Meal Prep for Yourself
One of the best things you can do for yourself in advance is meal prep lots of meals for yourself to have in the freezer.
Anticipate being tired, busy and overwhelmed.
Save yourself the task of having to make lunch and dinner for yourself everyday and get things ready beforehand.
Things like lasange, chilli and pasta bakes are all great options for this.
Simply defrost and re-heat and you have a homecooked meal ready in minutes.
You’ll thank yourself for preparing well later, trust me.
