Preparing For Baby's Arrival

When the time comes to start thinking about all the baby gear, clothes, bits and pieces you will need to prepare for your baby’s arrival, the list can seem somewhat endless not to mention the costs involved in acquiring everything you will need for your baby to exist comfortably just for the first three months alone! 

In this blog post we outline everything you will need to prepare for your baby’s arrival and how to budget for it. We also have some helpful hints to prepare for maternity leave.
 

Gear, Clothes, Bits and Pieces you will need

The list of things you will need to acquire in preparation for the arrival of your bundle of joy can seem overwhelming at first ie; prams, clothing, feeding and nursing stuff, traveling stuff and it seems like the list just goes on and on! In our preparing for baby checklist we have summarised all the essentials you will need to prepare for your baby’s arrival including clothing, change time, bath time, getting the nursery ready, nursing and feeding. 

Budgeting for Baby

Budgeting for baby early in pregnancy can help reduce the financial stress you may face when the added expenses start to roll in, some of these may include: 

• Doctor, pathology and hospital bills
• Maternity Clothes
• Baby gear, clothes, bits and pieces
• Child Care

We found a good budget planner from the My Money website. You will also want to take into account any changes to your household income, such as half or no pay maternity or parental and the duration. This parental leave calculator will help you work out all the changes to your income plus it also guilds you on what government benefits you may be entitled to.


There are also many ways to keep the cost of all those extra things you need to buy under control such as: 

• Ask family & friends for hand me downs
• Purchase some of the big ticket items second hand
• Have a Baby Shower
• Start a Baby Gift Registry 
• Shop around if buying brand new

Tip: Have your baby shower early so you know what is still left to get. 

Preparing for Maternity Leave

To make the transition from working to maternity leave as smooth as possible for yourself, your employer and your work colloquies it is important to plan for your maternity leave well in advance. Here are some handy hints to help you plan for your maternity leave:

• Tell your employer as soon as possible
• Ask about your paid leave entitlements
• Finalise your leave start and end dates
• Discuss returning to work options with your employer
• Plan how your work will be managed when your away
• Prepare a handover work-plan
• Create a contingency plan (if leave earlier than planned)
• Indicate preferred method of communication while on leave
• Tidy up your work space at least 2 weeks prior to leave start date
• Arrange for the hand-over of any equipment etc.

Conclusion

Preparing for your baby's arrival is an exiting time and with good planning and preparation the task will be fun like it should be instead of overwhelming and stressful.

Use our preparing for baby checklist to find out everything you will need to obtain before babies arrival, prepare a budget so you know exactly where you stand financially and make a plan of action in the lead up to your maternity leave to ensure a smooth transition for yourself, employer and co-workers. Happy Planning!

Next Blog Post - August 2016
In our next blog post we will outline everything you will need for your hospital stay while giving birth. We will summarise this in a handy hospital checklist of what to include in your pre-packed hospital bag for yourself, baby and support partner.

Resources  
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/life-events-and-you/life-events/having-a-baby
http://www.bubhub.com.au/hubbub-blog/paid-parental-leave-pay-australia