All Things In Life Benefit From Planning

Whether you’re just looking to assure the following day goes well, or you’re taking pains to manage a long-term project, advance planning is very beneficial. Children are the project of projects. Your daughter or son is a little “you” being put forth in the world. They’re an extended branch in the tree of humanity that will itself bear fruit in season.

Parenthood is something for which you can never truly prepare yourself mentally. However, you can at minimum take the advice of those who have gone before you and provide yourself with resources to handle the unexpected. In doing so, though you can’t “truly” prepare yourself, at least you can align your mind and resources to the task.

This is best done one step at a time. For mothers, first you must deal with the pregnancy, then the birth, then infancy, the toddler years, later childhood, early adolescence, early adulthood, the child’s formative years, and finally that pernicious “empty nest” syndrome. That’s a lot to think about! It’s a cycle between seventeen and forty years, depending on the child’s maturity.

So don’t focus on the big picture. Instead, focus on things that are immediately before you. If you’re pregnant, one of the most important things you’ll need to do once the baby leaves your body is provide proper nourishment. Breastfeeding is best for mother and child in terms of health, and there are things you can do to prepare; we’ll explore a few here.

1. Maternity Clothes Designed For Breastfeeding

Most ladies’ garments aren’t designed for breastfeeding, as this is a temporary biological situation.

Unless you’re willing to ruin a few bras and sweaters, you’ll be wise to find maternity wear that breathes, is flexible, and may even be specifically designed for breastfeeding—such as the options in this link. Breastfeeding “fashion” helps you feed your baby whenever necessary.

2. Bottles And Breast Pumps

If you’re producing milk, you’ve managed to get yourself in a health routine that keeps you from being too fatigued after each feeding, and the baby is latching well, there still may be situations in life where proper feeding just isn’t possible. What makes sense is buying breast pumps and bottles beforehand so you can store your milk.

Some nutritional value is lost in this way—breastmilk doesn’t keep very long, and if you’re warming it, that does have an effect on the substance overall. However, it’s still going to be leagues ahead of traditional formula. Also, it’s a lot easier to have bottles and breast pumps you use together on occasion than to keep a wet nurse in the basement.

3. On-Demand Consultation Help

Providing yourself with external resources in advance, like an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, as an example, makes a lot of sense. Lactation consultants can let you know if there are health issues you’re contending with, if there are ways you can do something better, and where you’re at in terms of healthy lactation.

Many lactation consultation solutions today are remotely available through the web via Zoom or other online video conferencing apps. As 2020’s crisis came and went, remote infrastructure became more prevalent, and is likely going to stick around for a while.

Healthy Outcomes For Mother And Child

On-demand consultation, bottles, breast pumps, and maternity wear represent three areas of preparation you may well want to consider as an expecting mother. Certainly, all moms are different; but the more planning you put into something beforehand, the more likely you are to see the outcomes you expect.

Even so, parenting is something that—as noted at the beginning of this writing—can’t really be prepared for. Surprises will happen throughout the process, and they will make you a better person, and they will make your child stronger (hopefully); but they may not be predictable. So, lastly, whatever you do, maintain a flexible mindset as much as you can.