Strategic planning, delegation, and automation. Not the first things which come to mind when you’re expecting but definitely 3 things to consider thinking about before your little ones arrives. 

During this super busy time you’ll likely have limited capacity and you’ll want to save all your energy for your top priorities, particularly so you can be patient and present with your kids

Planning

Perhaps a little obvious, but strategic planning means thinking through everything that can be done ahead of time so that no one has to bother with it during those first couple of months. To do this, you should ask yourself two questions:

• What can I buy ahead of time so no one will have to worry about running out of something?
• What are all the things that I might be able to do ahead of time?

Stocking up on things like toilet paper, dishwasher salt, shampoo, toothpaste, even cleaning supplies and detergent. Also stocking up on pantry food items that won’t go bad.

In addition to household basics, if you already have little ones, go through their clothes to find out where they are on sizing and what they would need for the next season. Socks, underwear, and shoes in the next size or extra hand-me-down clothes in the next sizes.

If you’re expecting your new little one in the next couple of months even think about things like Halloween costumes and Bonfire night ahead of time to save the stress later on. 

Then once these little things are crossed off the list, you can start to enjoy the run up to the birth stress free.  

Delegation

You’ll likely find that after your little newbie has arrived, you’ll likely have family members and friends visiting and wanting to be helpful. But you might likely find yourself constantly asked reasonable questions but not really having the patience or the energy to answer.

For family members especially, a great option is to think about all the little tasks that would be super helpful to delegate after the baby is born. 

Some examples might be:

• The basic groceries list of items you’ll need week by week 
• Washing instructions
• Morning and night routines for the kids
• Updated contact list for kid’s schools, neighbours etc.
• A list of simple, easy chores any visitor could do

Another thing if you already have little ones is to review your kids’ chores to make sure they know what’s expected of them and how to complete the task. The reality is that before the baby arrives you will definitely have more energy and patience to go over how to start the washing machine or dishwasher than after the baby is born. It’s also great for them to know how important it will be to help out even more than normal after their new brother or sister arrives.

Automation

Think about everything it takes to manage your household and make a list of the chores that could possibly be automated. 

For example, if you have a garden, perhaps think about setting up an irrigation system. Having an automated system will save you time having to water the plants/grass and you won’t have to worry about it.

Amazon Subscribe & Save is another great tool for automation. Adding your essentials to this monthly delivery service is great way automate day-to-day shopping and gives you one less thing to worry about.

Here at cocobabybox we also offer monthly subscriptions of organic baby clothes. Perfect for topping up on essential super soft organic cotton baby clothes during this busy time. 

This type of preparation may sound overwhelming to some people. But being able to take action now to make things less stressful later will be key in helping you to look forward to the challenges of your growing family.

Knowing all these things are done beforehand will help you to feel more confident to stay sane, receive offers of help, and be more patient with those you love during what can be the most challenging season of being a parent.