A few parents get lucky and potty training is a breeze. The rest of us suffer through months of accidents, refusals and tantrums before we even get a child on the potty. To help ease the way into more successful potty training, establishing a bit of groundwork can do nothing but help.

Share the Basics
You should share the basics of the potty and how to use it every chance you get. If your child follows you into the bathroom, explain to her what you’re doing and ask if she wants to try. If she does, give her a shot maybe she’ll actually perform!

Learn the Fundamentals
Well before you start putting the pressure on your child to perform, she should be well versed in the fundamentals. Teach her about Big Girl underpants and buy a little potty that she can pretend to use – if she wants to. Walk her through the steps when you’re in the bathroom together. Go, Wipe, Flush, Wash.

Be Laid Back
The best approach to potty training is a laid back one. Forcing the issue can make it take longer and be more difficult, so once your child is ready and knows the basic, help her along rather than forcing her. She’ll get there when she’s ready; you’re just there to facilitate and clean up the accidents.

Postpartum depression hits a large percentage of pregnant women after delivery. Some feel that every new mother suffers from some degree of the condition within a few days of giving birth. The primary cause for the depression is the surging hormones following delivery, and the degree to which you’re affected is not something you can control.

Degrees of Depression
At the light end of postpartum depression is the condition called “Baby Blues.” When a new mother is suddenly weepy for no apparent reason, is worried constantly about her baby and feels like motherhood is suddenly overwhelming, she has what is considered by many to be a very normal, routine effect to hormones and emotions following delivery. Baby Blues pass in a few days or a week once your system has settled back down. For years all degrees of depression were written off as Baby Blues, but now there is much more support for mothers who suffer from a more extreme case of depression.

Postpartum Depression
When full scale depression hits, the mother might feel sad, but she might also feel angry, frustrated and even apathy toward her baby. Her feelings of worry for her little one might be so overwhelming she can’t function or care for him correctly. She might be so frustrated and down that she doesn’t always keep the baby’s best interests at heart and in very extreme cases might even harm her child.

Dealing with Postpartum Depression
Some rocky emotions following delivery are normal, but if you suspect your emotions are going beyond a few good sobs and tearful midnight feedings, call your doctor immediately to seek out assistance. In rare cases, doctors treat postpartum depression lightly when it is indeed serious, so if you’re unsatisfied with your doctor’s handling of your concerns, continue to seek help. Your baby and your own condition are too important not to be treated properly.

Becoming parents is a huge step. Children demand much more than diapers and cute baby clothes. Are you sure you’re ready?

Can you afford it?

The most daunting aspect of parenting for most individuals is the cost. Children today will cost their parents an average of $187,000 from birth to eighteen. That is not including college tuition. Of course a great deal of that cost is housing and the sum is spread out over eighteen years, but the figure is still daunting.

If you’re stretching to pay your bills every month, a new baby with the diapers, clothing, hospital bills and extra groceries required might break you. You’re not required to put money into a college fund every month, but you are required to properly feed and clothe your children – preferably without government assistance.

Do you have proper resources?

Money aside, children require a great deal of resources. Is your home large enough for a baby? Will you have to move into a larger apartment or home for a baby and all their belongings to fit? Can you afford to?

Emotional resources are critical as well. If you have a very short temper or require medications to deal with anxiety or stress, the frustrations of parenthood might be a bit too taxing.

Additional resources to consider are the people who can help with your needs or those of the baby including your significant other, potential babysitters, and your network of friends. Do you have a large reliable network? Are you alone in an unfamiliar setting?

Do you have the time?

In our busy world, adults fill their time with career advancement, hobbies and travel. As much as we might like to think so, children do not accommodate our schedule, we must accommodate theirs. Are you willing to give up long work days? Will that diminish your income? Would you resent the child if your career stalled or you lost promotion opportunities due to maternity or paternity leave or your shortened work days?

Finally, are you willing to give up or dramatically scale back, at least temporarily, any hobbies or travel which require resources your baby might need? If not, simply enjoy your life now and reassess your family planning in a few years.

If you just had a baby and feel sad, you are not alone. The name for what you are feeling is the “baby blues.”

Usually, blues starts a few days or weeks after the baby is born. You may feel angry at your baby or loved ones. You may cry often. Some women don’t want to eat or cant sleep. You may doubt that you can take care of you baby well. It maybe hard for you to make decisions. Doctors don’t know what causes this. Hormone changes and stress could be reasons.

Baby blues usually go away after a few weeks. Until then, ask your family for help. If your sadness lasts or you think you or your baby may be in danger, call your doctor right away.

Pregnancy produces the absolute most precious being a woman could ever ask for. It also can produce some rather unfortunate side effects on a woman’s body. During pregnancy, a woman begins to notice a difference almost immediately all over and inside her body, long before she can feel even the slightest motion from the baby within.

Skin

One of the worst victims of pregnancy is your skin. It makes sense that the belly would grow to accommodate the baby developing within, and of course the skin on the belly must stretch as well, but pregnancy is a full body experience. That means that it is highly likely you will grow everywhere – at least a little bit.

Unfortunately, even an extra inch or two around your thighs and hips may result in nasty stretch marks. That’s not to mention the stretch marks so many women get on their stomachs and breasts. (Breasts can grow more rapidly the belly!) Since your skin is taking a beating, give it the love and pampering it deserves. Deluxe skin care such as the special creams to treat those stretch marks can make a difference in how you feel and how your skin looks both during and after pregnancy.

Swelling

One of the most common symptoms of pregnancy is swelling. Some women swell a bit in their hands and feet, and others seem to keep a full cushion of water present on the body at all times. Of all the swelling that occurs, only the size of your feet, and possibly your hands is permanent. The rest is simply one more uncomfortable aspect to bear until delivery.

Help ease the swelling by drinking plenty of fluids, resting as often as possible and massaging the affected areas with lotions designed for pregnant women. This not only helps reduce a bit of the swelling, but relieves the tension and aches of the day as well.

Aches and Pains

It is not until about halfway through pregnancy that you begin to take note of just how much of your body is affected by the baby inside. Suddenly, a routine walk through the neighborhood is making your feet ache, your back hurt, and causing random shooting pains in your inner thighs.

Ligaments are loosing throughout pregnancy, and as you approach the end, you need to treat yourself with kid gloves. Your hip bones are spreading, the weight of your belly is making your back arch, and your feet have to bear all the weight. It can be a heavy burden to bear, so take a break and just rest with your poor feet up as often as possible.

New parents are often a bit (or very) overwhelmed by all that a new baby entails. No matter how many books or websites you’ve read, there are always things that throw you for a loop. Times like these require the real expert, someone who’s been there before and survived – the grandmother.

The Grandmother

Many women wait anxiously to be a grandmother once their own children are raised and out of the nest. A grandmother has a chance to enjoy and love another child as much as she did her own, but with the knowledge she gained over years as well as the ability to send the baby home at the end of the visit. Grandmothers are critical for many new parents in terms of knowledge and support.

Grandmother’s Knowledge

Grandmothers may not know the absolute latest scientific breakthroughs, but they know what aspects of that new baby came from you. Perhaps your little one has colic the same way you did. Countless times grandmothers have been called for frantic reassurance that everything your baby is doing is perfectly normal and, in fact, you did it yourself as a baby.

Grandmothers have also been through the childrearing process at least once – she had you, didn’t she? Some things just come back naturally when an experienced mother of any age has a child placed in her arms. Your mother may surprise you with her uncanny ability to soothe a fussy baby, whip up a bottle in lightning time and elicit a burp you were sure would never come out. Better yet – she can teach you these tricks of the trade.

Grandmother’s Support

For many new parents, their child is much too precious to be left with just anyone. One of the few universal caregivers accepted by new parents is the grandmother. After all, she’s done this successfully before. The same can’t be said for the teenager across the street. Grandmothers are sure to love and snuggle our baby as much as she need to be loved and snuggled, and grandmothers have no problem sitting with baby in the rocking chair for hours on end – in fact, that may be exactly what she wanted to do in the first place.

There is really no substitute for grandparents. Not only did your parents love you with their whole being, but now that you have your own child, you can truly appreciate the depth of that caring. The best part of the deal is, however, not only does your mother still love you with all her heart, body and soul- she loves your baby just as much.

It takes love (or at least passion) to make a child together, so why does that love and passion seem to disappear as soon Junior arrives? Where does the love go?

Changing Roles

Often new parents have an identity crisis when their child is born. The mother is transformed from a hot chick with great make-up and hair to a frazzled new mom who’s lucky to even wash her hair on a regular basis, much less try to figure out how to disguise the last ten stubborn pounds of baby weight. She’s probably tired much of the time and would rather sleep soundly than do anything else in the bed.

New dads are desperate to find an anchor in their shifting world. Their adoring wives suddenly adore and spend all available time with the other man (or woman) in the house. Dad may be upset with his sudden attention loss, and it doesn’t help that his previously hot mama is now someone’s mom. Stress of a young child can also be a killer for both parents.

These roles can be hard to overcome for both parents, but it can be done, and it must be done to protect the security of the relationship that made the child in the first place.

Focus on What’s Important

The first step is for both parents to realize what is important. A couple in love makes a baby, and the baby should be an asset to the marriage, not a liability. Sure, a new baby is stressful, but couples that are able to lean on each other and lovingly support each other are much better off – as are their children.

You want to be happy together, so it’s important to discuss it together. What are both partners missing? Mom may want support, conversation and a willing ear to listen to her concerns and accolades of the little wonder. Dad may be missing the bedroom magic that made the little wonder in the first place. Yelling about it or hoping the other person will just figure it out is an unreliable solution – especially since all attention in the house is focused on baby.

Develop an Action Plan

The best way to put the love back into the relationship is to force it back in. Romance might come back on its own, but it may not. Like anything else with new children, you might find it best to schedule romance, at least as first.

Find a babysitter or put baby to bed a bit early one night. Arrange a nice dinner and turn off the television. Force yourself to talk about things other than your baby. Find ways to be physical – a hug, a kiss, a back rub can all go a long way toward loosening up again and might even lead to a bit of bedroom romance as well. Schedule time together at least once a week, even if it’s just an hour of watching a favorite show together. Every little bit helps and communication is definitely the key!

The world is full of mothers and not all of them fit the stereotypical role model. Sure there are still plenty of June Cleavers out in the world with minivans and pearls, but plenty of nontraditional mothers are stepping up and getting the job done as well.

Most individuals with children will agree that nurturing and raising a child is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do. Nothing is predictable and everything can, and does, change in an instant. Mothers are generally considered to be the all-knowing and all-powerful being in a household with the power to assign a timeout and magically heal boo-boos with a kiss at the same time.

If nursery rhymes are correct, little boys are made of “snips and snails and puppy dog tails.” This is in direct contrast to the little girls who happen to be made of “sugar and spice and everything nice.” Most parents of little boys can tell you that some nursery rhymes are just plain wrong - little boys got all the spice.