Are you Ready to Have a Baby ?

Having a baby is a lifelong commitment, you’ll worry about your child from the day it is born and even when he or she is a grown up with children of their own.
Life won’t be the same again and as well as the highs there will also be lows, so are you ready to have a baby?

I don’t mind curtailing my social life

Yes, you can get babysitters, but you won’t be able to go out every night of the week, like you can when you’re childless. You might also feel too tired for the all night clubbing you used to do and funnily enough once you have a baby, you might not want to leave it. So if you can get used to nights in then you’ll be fine. Of course that doesn’t mean the end of your social life. You can invite friends round for meals. You’re just enjoying yourself with your friends in a different way.

I can cope financially

If you plan to go back to work, then you’ll need to make sure you have childcare in place. If you want to be a stay at home mum, you will have to budget for the loss of your earnings. As soon as you know you are pregnant, try and get used to living on one wage and put the other in the bank. This will give you some savings when the baby is born and by then you’ll be used to budgeting and only having one wage won’t come as so much of a shock.

My Partner wants a child too

It’s important when you are in a relationship that you both want the same things at the same time. If your partner isn’t ready to commit to a child, then maybe you ought to wait a while. If you have both talked it through and are ready, then go ahead. If you want children, but your partner doesn’t, then you have to think about your future with that person.

I can live on not much sleep

You might have a baby who sleeps all through the night from being tiny and then again you might get one that hardly sleeps at all. You must be prepared to be woken up throughout the night and learn to take naps in the day, when baby does. Being a new mum is exhausting, but the good thing is that it really doesn’t last forever and eventually you will start to get a good night’s sleep again.

I don’t have a partner

If you really want a child and you haven’t found ‘the one’ you can go ahead and have a baby alone. Many women nowadays are choosing to become single mothers. You can become pregnant by using a sperm donor, either privately by looking through relevant websites or, through a fertility clinic. Talk it through with friends and family and if you feel you are in a position to have a baby, then start off the sperm donation process.

I have lots of patience

If you have lots of patience, love kids and enjoy their company, then you’ll like being a mum. You’ll need the ability to answer a thousand questions. You’ll need to be able to read the same book without missing a word hundreds of times and sing the same song over and over again. Kids are also unpredictable, so if you’re the nervous type, who hates mess and likes everything organised, you’re going to be in for a shock.
Being a mum is a wonderful experience, but it is hard work and you can’t be selfish. If you’re ready to make the sacrifices and you love children, then take the plunge!