When is the Perfect Time to Have a Baby? What to Consider

If starting a family and having a child is what you see in your near future, make sure you are as mentally, physically, and financially ready as you possibly can be. Lacking in any of the three key areas can make that precious little bundle of joy into a giant headache, which can take the fun right out of being a parent.

If you think having a baby is like adopting a puppy, you are in for a long surprise. So if you are confused about the stability needed to care for your own child, then start with this basic outline and you should be alright.

No Perfect Time!

I would like to stress this as much as possible, there is no such thing as a perfect time to plan to have a child. I am not joking either, you cannot just plan out 18 years in a few months, nor plan out 18 years within 3 years. This is because becoming a parent is much more than feeding and clothing a child, and you need to be sure that you are ready for a forever life change.

As a parent you are giving up your freedom, you really have to want to give up yourself deeply and forever for the love of your children. Parenting is a lifelong commitment, one with no instructions.

Once you become a parent there is no going back, with limited time and finances, it really takes the toughest of the tough to be that perfect parent. If you still want to have a child after reading the very few challenges listed above, then you might be ready to plan for parenthood.

Job

What is your job like? Does it have long tedious hours that are putting a toll on your back and knees? Does it only pay minimum wage? Does it have reliable insurance and a retirement plan? These are essential things when considering a family, the difficulty of the job, the income of the job, and the benefits of the job. You basically want a job that has the potential to become a career, one that will grow with you and not be too body brutal.

The reason is for when you start aging, lifting 70 pound boxes all day for 20 years won’t be kind to your body, nor will struggling with monthly bills as a senior citizen with no retirement fund. This is the average person’s job with children, but it is not limited to multiple incomes and other forms of money being saved. Regardless, as a parent you will need to start saving, the sooner the better.

Relationship

The relationship between the 2 parents is crucial, not only for the future family, but for the child as well. A safe and loving relationship is what you and your partner should have prior to planning for a child, an abusive relationship is harmful to a child as early as being in the womb.

A healthy relationship avoids the mental trauma that is possible, but also just makes parenting easier. Ensuring a child of a healthy 2 parent relationship not only puts food on the table more consistently, but it will set a long lasting example on your child for the years to come.

Vehicle

So you want to take your new addition to the family home from the hospital, but when you go to strap the carseat in it doesn’t fit! Making sure your make and model of vehicle is large enough and has the correct straps for your child’s car seat, is the first step of bringing your baby home.

This should be done months prior to the due date, so you are prepared and ready to bring your child home. The vehicle itself should be reliable first off, but also legal and safe. If your car shakes or makes sounds, you probably should get it properly fixed or a safer vehicle.

Remember this is your child’s life when it comes to choosing a vehicle, so it may be time to trade it that old stick shift that can never stops shaking. Your child’s safety is the most important thing.

House

Although the subheading above says house, a house isn’t essential to having a child, and a simple 2 bedroom apartment can be plenty of room to raise a family. The fact of the matter is the environment of the living area, meaning is it safe and spacious.

First, your house should be safe, no sharp objects on the floor, clean floors and counters, necessary baby proofing, no animal feces, and most importantly no drugs. As your child gets older, your family might add another addition, giving you a reason to buy or rent your first house.

Before moving in to a house be sure to know your future intentions and ideal size as far as space and property. A house is an important step in parenting, so making sure everything is correct will help minimize future problems and maximize future success.

Insurance

Doctors appointments, dentist appointments, and emergency room visits all cost a lot of money. These are the situations parents without insurance pray don’t happen to them. A simple broken arm can make a family go into debt without the proper insurance plan and company.

That is why insurance is so so important, and making sure your children have the best possible insurance is your key to never going bankrupt by a medical bill. Making sure as a parent to have medical and dental insurance for your kids is by far one of the most important things to do before having a child.

Mental Health

A question that you can not avoid when planning to have a baby is are you emotionally ready to be a parent? This is extremely important to talk about with your partner, many times only one party in the relationship is ready and the other party needs more time.

You and your partner need to be at a point in your lives where stress is handled very well and is not seen as a problem feeding into more stress. If you don’t handle stress well, take up therapy before planning to have a child, because parenthood will never be stress free and knowing how to handle this stress is essential when becoming a parent.

Physical Health

This goes for mothers and fathers, promoting physical health throughout your life can help with every aspect of parenting. Not only is it helpful with parenting itself, the benefits to your body are even greater. Staying in shape will keep you working longer, but will also double your chances of meeting your grandchildren.

As a soon to be mother, your physical health before the pregnancy can play a massive roll on your child’s possible medical problems later in life. Being overweight and diabetic before pregnancy and continuing into the pregnancy gives your child a 50% of growing up to be diabetic and obese.

As a father, your physical health is important for the entirety of your life in most cases. You are typically the working parent, you are the provider. If you were to get to beat up from work that you can’t come back, that makes your entire family struggle, being too diabetic to the point you can’t work does the same thing.

Health is essential to being a parent, making sure you and your partner are physically healthy before having a child is very beneficial to your overall future.

College Fund

Starting a college fund before your child is even born is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your child and yourself. The reality is college isn’t getting cheaper, and scholarships just aren’t what they used to be.

Starting a college fund is beneficial in the terms of education, but if your child decides they don’t want to go to college they have money to start their life. This can be used in so many different ways, it can be used with financial aid for tuition, it can pay for a year of room and board, or even help pay for the first car.

Whatever you and your child decide to do with it, just remember that it was intended for college and to help your child determine their future.

Timing

Don’t rush into things, take your time to determine whether you are ready of not for a family. If you know for a fact that you want to be a parent, take at least a year building up your income and figuring out what you need to do soon.

If you don’t sit down with your partner and discuss time frames and goals, when it’s time to actually have the baby you both will be struggling to stay afloat. When establishing a multi child family, always give at least a 2 year gap between the siblings so they 2 children aren’t fighting over the mother.

When it comes to planning for your first child, there is never a real perfect time. Only way to know if you are ready is to ask yourself and your partner, are we financially stable, emotionally stable, and physically stable. But the most important question is, are you ready to have a child at this point in your life? If you answer yes to all 4 of those questions, congrats you might just be ready for parenthood.