6 Important Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting A Family

Are you a newly-wed or just caught the baby fever? While starting a family is usually a dream come true, here are a few important questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge to assess how ready you are for the ride into parenthood…

 1. Are you healthy? Pregnancy sure takes a toll on the body – even the easiest one does. So, is your body physically and emotionally fit to handle with the likely rigours? Do you lead a healthy lifestyle? Are you genetically predisposed to transferring any conditions to baby? Consider having these reviewed.

2. How will a baby change your life? Starting a family will change your life in a lot of ways. It helps to reflect on the possible changes to create a sort of mental picture and brace yourself, noting also that there will be lots of surprises as nothing fully prepares you for the rollercoaster.  This may save you some emotional meltdowns along the way.

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3. Is finance sorted? Considering the current economic recession, you don’t want to be caught stranded along the way. So, are your finances in good shape? Can you afford a baby – very well, a little bit or not at all? If your answer falls in the first two categories, what are the likely bills to expect? How will they be sorted out?

The stress, anxiety and frustration of sourcing for extra resources or borrowing to pay for major and minor expenses before, when and after baby arrives may add several years to your face and cause endless frictions, arguments or fights between you and your partner.

So, discuss finances and map out a realistic plan. Perhaps, redraw or adjust your personal budgets to arrive at a family budget and make room for more savings.

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4. What’s your support system? How much help will you need when baby arrives? Figuring out your childcare options, like hiring a nanny, and the possible costs, especially if you are a working mum, will help you opt for what’s affordable or seek other effective alternatives that will cost very little or nothing. This will save you lots of exhaustion and frustrations about your new life and roles along the way.

5. What is your current job’s maternity policy? What is the company’s policy on maternity leave? Are you qualified for one? How long will it be? Will it be paid? Will having a baby predispose you to job insecurity? If you didn’t know all these before now, there’s need find out and decide what to do ahead of time, so there are no surprises at all.

6. Do you need a bigger home? Depending on your current apartment, how conducive it will be for baby, your pocket, and creating room for a nanny or family member that may need to stay with you after baby arrives, there’s also need to consider if you’ll need to find another apartment and if doing so is feasible or not.

Finally, while you should not wait until everything in your life is completely settled to start a family, putting the major factors above into perspective will save you lots of frustration.