Nobody is born knowing exactly how to be a parent. We might have some instincts we can follow and things we can learn along the way, but every new parent has a pretty steep learning curve ahead of them. Even if you have previous experience with babies and children, whether at work or in your personal life, actually being a full-time parent is different. But don’t worry if you’re concerned about getting it right when your baby arrives. There’s time to brush up on some basic skills and knowledge so you feel more prepared. And remember that every parent gets it a little wrong sometimes too.

Feeding

When your baby arrives, they won’t do much but eat, sleep, pee, and poop. They might be adorable, but they have some pretty basic needs in the beginning. One of the most important things is obviously feeding your baby, something that you’re going to be doing every few hours. Whether you breastfeed or bottle feed, learning how to do it safely and efficiently will obviously help you a lot. And although you can’t practice for real until your baby arrives, there are resources and even classes that can help you out. Get some tips from other parents and from experts to help you prepare.

Changing Diapers

It’s definitely not the most pleasant bit of being a parent, but babies need to be changed regularly. You need to know how often to change a diaper, how to clean your baby up properly, how to prevent diaper rash, and how to secure a new diaper. It’s also important to make sure you change diapers safely, especially if you’re planning to use a changing table. And if you’re planning to use cloth diapers, that adds a couple more things you need to learn too. You can try practicing these things on a doll, unless you have a baby you can borrow from a friend or family member. But even if you don’t get a chance to give it a go, just knowing the theory can be helpful.

Dressing Your Baby

Getting a baby dressed might seem like it would be simple. But babies are wriggly and trying to get their head, arms, and legs inside their clothes can be harder than you think. You also need to know what to dress them in to ensure they’re safe and comfortable. Your baby needs to be warm but not too warm. The rule is generally that they should have one more layer than you. You can watch videos on how to dress your baby gently and safely. Make sure you’re guiding their arms and legs, not pulling on them, and ensure they’re safe when using a changing table.

Dressing your baby for the weather can be tricky. In hot weather, it’s crucial to prevent your baby from overheating. If you’re going outside, you should also make sure your baby stays in the shade as much as possible. A sun hat will keep the sun off their face, and it’s also important to remember sunscreen. When it’s cold, your baby needs enough layers to keep them warm both inside and outside. How much you need to dress them up will depend on just how cold it is.

Putting Your Baby to Bed

Safe sleeping practices are essential to learn about before your baby arrives. They help to reduce the risk of SIDS, but they’re also there to help you and your baby get a good night’s sleep. Learning how to practice safe sleep early will help you to remember the rules even when you’re at your most tired.

Some of the things to remember include:

• Place your baby to sleep on their back – babies should only sleep on their front when they are able to roll over both ways
• Your baby should sleep on a firm mattress, with their feet at the end
• Don’t share a bed with your baby or sleep with them on a chair or couch
• Keep your baby’s head uncovered – blankets should be tucked in and no higher than their shoulders
• Keep any toys or other objects out of the crib
• Your baby should sleep in the same room as you for the first six months

How to Give Baby a Bath

Bath time can be a lovely experience with your baby. It’s a good time for bonding, and it’s a nice way to wind down before bedtime. But knowing how to give your baby a bath safely is important if you want it to be a good experience. Your baby doesn’t need to have a bath every day. In fact, sometimes it might not be recommended to do so, especially for babies with dry skin conditions or very sensitive skin. Instead, you can wipe their face, neck, hands, and bottom.

But when you do give your baby a bath, make sure you start with warm water that’s not too hot or too cold. You can just use plain water in the first month, but you might choose to use baby soap and shampoo later. Support your baby in the water, keeping their head clear, and gently move the water over their body. You might want to wash their face and hair before this, holding your baby on your knee to make it a little easier. You can bathe with your baby too, but it’s helpful to have someone else to hold them while you get in and out.

How to Work Various Baby Equipment

You can get by without too much stuff when you have a newborn, but you can also find that you quickly accumulate a lot of stuff. Some of the baby items you use can take some practice to use, so it’s definitely worth spending some time figuring out how they work. This can include things like your car seat, stroller, or baby carrier, or gadgets like bottle sterilizers and warmers. Giving these things a couple of test runs is really helpful if you want to be able to use them for real later on. Knowing how to fold and unfold your stroller or work your baby monitor will really help you out. And if anything doesn’t work, it’s best to know now rather than when you really need it.

Calming a Crying Baby

Of course, newborns have one main way of communicating with you, and that’s crying. When you’re dealing with the shock of being a new parent and lacking sleep, your baby crying can sometimes feel like the worst thing in the world. And knowing how to get them to stop isn’t always easy. Babies may cry for lots of reasons, but they’re ultimately telling you they’re not happy. There are a few things you will want to check off when your baby cries to work out what might be wrong.

• Is your baby hungry or thirsty?
• Does your baby’s diaper need changing?
• Is your baby too hot or too cold?
• Is your baby windy?
• Does your baby want some attention?
• Is your baby feeling unwell?

If you’ve checked all of these things and your baby is still crying, you could try a couple of things to help. A baby massage, a cuddle, singing a song, or maybe going for a walk could all help both you and your baby calm down. If you’ve checked that your baby is safe and healthy, there’s no harm in putting them down and stepping away for a few minutes if you’re finding it overwhelming. It’s better to take some time to collect yourself with some deep breaths than to risk losing your temper or getting too upset.

How to Bond with Your Baby

Your baby might not do much when they’ve just been born, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend time bonding. In fact, it might be the best time because your baby is right there with you at all times. There are lots of ways you can bond with your baby and form that connection between you. Skin-to-skin contact is a great way to bond, helping your baby to get used to your touch and smell. Talking and singing to your baby is a good way to connect too. You can simply narrate what you’re doing if you’re not sure what to say, or it’s never too early to read to your baby.

How to Safely Leave Your Baby Alone

Even, or maybe especially, new parents need time to themselves. At some point, you have to go to the bathroom, take a shower, or just take a moment on your own. When you leave your baby alone, you just have to make sure you do it safely. Check that they can’t fall off anything when you leave them. Make sure that siblings or pets can’t accidentally hurt them either. Once your baby has started to move around, you’ll also need to check that you’ve baby-proofed your home to prevent any accidents from occurring.

You can’t become a super parent before your baby arrives, and there’ll be a lot to learn along the way. But you can learn some basic skills so you feel a little more prepared.

If you speak to any other person that has not got children, one of the hardest things to describe is what their first day of school is actually like. It’s something that comes with mixed emotions, not just from the child’s side but from the parent’s side. Preparing ourselves for the first day of our child’s school involves mental preparation on our part. We went through the school system ourselves, but it’s a completely different concept entirely, so what should we do to prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally?

Acknowledge How We Feel

We can easily bury our heads in the sand and think that we are just overreacting. But anything can set us off. Acknowledging the wide range of emotions, whether it’s pride and joy or worry and sadness, will help us to process this, and this is when we can start to incorporate a practice into our lives that will help us feel more in control of our emotions. Something like night time prayers will ensure we feel like we can go back to something that helps us check in with how we feel and actively process these feelings.

Learn About the School

Our children are not necessarily going into the big wide world, but it can feel like that. What we can do when we are feeling fearful is to learn about the school. We can easily become overprotective parents and think that the school is not going to look after our precious baby. But what we need to do at this point is to develop trust with the school. Learn about the routines the school has in place for younger kids, and you can start to mirror those at home, for example having lunch and encouraging playtime around the same time as the school. 

If possible, you can visit the school and get a better understanding of the environment. Most schools provide some form of open day, and if you have additional concerns, for example, if your child has extra needs due to anxiety, it is worth communicating this with the school in advance and visiting the school with your child to get them familiar with the environment so it can be less daunting but also ensure that you are feeling more at ease with the entire process.

Prioritize the Positive

It is easy enough to feel that sense of overwhelm because of a number of unknown factors, but one of the most emotional aspects of this situation is that we feel our children are growing up way too fast. Because we can feel like life is going way too quickly, this is why it’s the perfect opportunity to focus on the positive parts of this phase of our child’s life as well as ours. Think about what school will do for them. 

If you’ve been a stay-at-home parent and you haven’t taken them to daycare or put them in any form of childcare, and now they are going straight to school, this will naturally be a shock to the system for both of you. This is where they will do their real learning in life, and we have to learn to make peace with this, because if not, we can end up being more controlling over certain aspects of their lives than we realize, and becoming a helicopter parent is never too far behind!

Prepare a Morning Routine

In the weeks leading up to your child’s first day, it’s essential to build a morning routine that prepares your child for the day ahead but also gives you enough time to get ready. A very common part of getting our children ready for anything is that military operation that invariably makes us feel more stressed than is necessary. 

So instead, get yourself into the swing of things, and if you are in a country where your child has to wear a school uniform for their first day, get them used to wearing this uniform, because if you save it until the very last second before school starts, you will have a major mountain to climb.

Keep Yourself Busy on the First Day

The moment we drop them off at the school gates is hands down one of the most difficult we will ever experience as a parent. Many parents talk about being in floods of tears or in fact being more emotional than the child themselves, and this can somehow make us feel worse. The best thing you can do is to keep your mind occupied and distract yourself from any anxious thoughts.

We have to remember this is an essential part of life, and as parents, we can go through stages of anxiety because our children are growing up, and we have to sever aspects of our bond with them as a developing little person. This is doubly true when your children progress to high school, so it is essential to start readying your mindset.

Potty training can take a toll on your little one, who has been relieving himself in his diaper since birth and is now being expected to use a strange new device. If you have problems with potty training your child, these tips will come in handy.

Regression

Potty training issues can be cause be Stress. Stress can cause your child to have trouble with potty training. Stressful factors take many forms including moving from a crib to a toddler bed, the death of a loved one, the birth of a sibling and moving to a new house. Your child can even regress back to using diapers when he’s sick. It’s a good idea to put the potty training on hold until the stress has passed or when it has lessened considerably.

Fear

Some kids are afraid of the loud noise as the toilet flushes and an object quickly disappears as it is sucked away. The child may fear being sucked into the toilet when it is flushed. Even some potty chairs can be intimidating since some have loud music or sounds and bright, flashing lights. Purchase a seat or chair that is comfortable and stable as well as one that is appealing to your child. Your son will feel like the potty chair is his own property if he is allowed to pick out the chair. He can also personalize it with your help by applying stickers and his name.

A splashguard is a handy feature to help boys control messes, but some splashguards may make your son feel crowded on the seat or can bump or scrape his penis and if he associates the seat with pain it will make him fear the toilet more. Encourage him to sit on the toilet with his clothes on so he can get comfortable with this new device.

Let your child flush bits of torn toilet tissue or coloured paper so he gets used to the sound and is able to see objects being flushed. Although not necessary, it may be helpful if he sees you or a same-sex person use the toilet. Show him how the urine or feces is flushed away and let him know that is what is supposed to happen.

Bowel Movement Refusal

Some children will urinate in the potty chair or toilet, but refuse to have a bowel movement in either one. There are different reasons for this potty training problem including the fear of making a mess, constipation, fear of the bowel movement causing pain or he may feel that the stool is a part of him that shouldn’t be put in the toilet. To avoid constipation, make sure your little one is drinking enough fluids daily to stay hydrated as well as eating enough fiber-rich foods like whole-grain breads, fruits, vegetables and cereal. If your little one flat-out refuses to go in the toilet, instruct him to ask for a diaper when he is about to have a bowel movement.

Accidents

Accidents can happen in the day or at night. Daytime potty training is usually achieved before nighttime or naptime potty training, which can, according to the Nemours Foundation, take additional months or years to master. Stress can cause your little one to have an accident.

If he does have an accident, it is important to avoid making him feel bad by punishing or scolding him. According to the Mayo Clinic when it comes to potty training, the parent should stay calm and say “Uh-oh. There was an accident. Let’s change you. Pretty soon you’ll remember to use the potty chair every time you have to go.”

While some kids are potty trained without a hitch, others run into a few snags here and there. Some problems require a short pause in potty training, while others are resolved with some intervention on the part of the parent.

You’ll know when your daughter is ready to start potty training. This stage differs for each child, so there is no magic age at which a toddler should be made to become toilet trained. Some toddler girls may evidence readiness at the age two years or so, while another may be three years old or older before she is able to completely able to master this chore. You will find below tips and ideas that will help you on how to potty train a girl.

How to Potty Train a Girl

A child might pull at her diaper or say it’s uncomfortable, mimic a parent’s behaviour in attempting to sit on the bathroom toilet, or start repeating key words that she’s been taught, such as “pee-pee” or “poo-poo.”

When you sense it’s time to begin, keep potty training suggestions and ideas like these in mind:

1. Get a potty chair and set it in the bathroom

You may as well get her used to going to the right location for toileting as opposed to keeping the potty chair in her play area or bedroom. Make sure the chair is kept clean and odour-free. If possible, let your daughter choose one with a favourite colour or design. The better she likes her new apparatus, the more likely she is to use it. You may want to set the chair facing the adult toilet so a parent can go through the actions with her or at least have a place to sit while waiting for the little girl to finish.

2. Be patient

Kids may start to show interest in potty training, then back off for awhile. This is especially true if you have a younger child in the family, which may tempt your daughter to “regress” to semi-infantile behaviour for a closer share of Mom and Dad’s attention. Toddlers don’t always hit the potty bowl when using the bathroom; sometimes they miss. Or they may act like they need to go potty and then change their minds after sitting a few moments. Never scold or punish a child for soiling a diaper or using the potty too frequently. Parents need to be patient in order to survive potty training. It takes time for both parent and child to get used to the new practice.

3. Set up a potty training schedule

Take your little girl to her potty chair after meals, before getting in the car, and when going to bed or getting up in the morning. She will soon learn to wait for those times when she has to go. Of course she may need to go more or less frequently, so help her develop a potty training schedule that both of you are comfortable with. Don’t try forcing her to hold it longer than she is able. Nor should you try to make her go when she doesn’t have to. Never use the potty as a punishment for time-out.

4. Adopt a flexible potty training schedule

During potty training, which can last several weeks or months, it is important to provide time for impromptu bathroom breaks for your child. She is still learning how to hold her urine or bowel movements, and sometimes she may feel a sudden rush to use the potty. Or she may feel proud of her new skill and be eager to practice all the more to “get it right” or earn your praise.

5. Keep it matter of fact

While potty training is a big deal and should be applauded each time your daughter is successful, don’t treat success or failure as out of the ordinary events. Help your child experience this transitional stage as part of her daily schedule and as a learning phase.

6. Spare Diapers

Take extra clothing and a spare diaper or two on outings during this stage. Even when your child has mastered the basics of potty training, there will be times when she has an accident, often when she is excited or busy at play. Help her to the bathroom for another try at the toilet and then assist with changing her clothes along with an encouraging word or two.

Simple Tips for Potty Training a Girl

Potty training for girls involves some unique considerations for parents. Girls are better equipped to say goodbye to their diapers when parents follow these simple rules for potty training girls.

1. What Girls Should Wear When Potty Training

Girls should not wear dresses or skirts when toilet training. Parents might be tempted to believe that not having to pull down pants might make training easier, but in reality they are very difficult to gather up and hold in the front and in the back.

Skirts are very likely to droop in the potty and get wet, causing a lot of frustration and confusion for a toddler who went to the potty correctly but still got her clothes wet. Tights and leggings should also be avoided when toilet training a girl since they are difficult to pull down.

2. Teach Correct Posture When Potty Training

When people think of children spraying urine during potty training, they undoubtedly think of boys. However, girls often have this problem, too. It is usually because she is sitting on the potty with her pelvis tilted forward. Teach girls to sit up straight with their bottoms tucked underneath them and their knees together.

If this doesn’t seem to correct the problem, or if parents suspect that there are other issues at play, they should have their daughter examined by her pediatrician.

3. Help Toddlers Girls Detect Urination

Sometimes little girls will sit on the potty for a while, then get up thinking that they have urinated when they actually haven’t. Girls are at the disadvantage of not being able to “see” it like boys can. This is especially true if they are using the toilet instead of a potty training chair, when there is already liquid in the bowl.

Parents can help girls to “see” when they have urinated by using a potty chair and placing a sheet of toilet paper at the bottom of the bowl. If it is wet, it will be easier for girls to tell that they have gone.

4. Girl Potty Training and UTI Risks

Toddler girls are especially susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are often caused by improper wiping after a bowl movement. During potty training, one of the first lessons parents teach should be how to wipe from front to back.

5. Potty Training for Girls With Brothers

When they start using the adult toilet instead of a training potty, little girls should also be taught to routinely check that the seat is in the “down” position before using the bathroom. This is especially important if there are older brothers at home, who might forget to put the seat down every time. Nothing can be more traumatic to a newly-trained toddler than inexplicably falling in when she thought she was doing it right.

Girls and toilet training are a difficult mix. Children can catch on quickly, but it helps if parents have the right strategies for teaching essential skills. Each gender has their own set of potty training needs, so parents should give special attention to these matters before starting to potty train their daughter.

Potty training is not for the faint-hearted! But it is a terrific way to bond with your daughter while helping her achieve mastery over this basic body function.