Childcare

BECOMING A PARENT

Being a parent

If you are thinking of having a baby, try to make sure things are sorted in your own life first. Are you sure you are ready for a 24 hour caring role?

How will you feel if your social life, education or job plans have to be changed or put on hold?

Often people think that having a baby will pull their realtionship together and make any problems disappear - it won't!!

The extra pressure of another little person around will add strains and stresses, not take them away, that's why its best to have your relationship and practical things like maccommodation and money sorted out first.

Planning or avoiding pregnancy should be down to both of you, and the responsibility of raising any resulting offspring should be shared too!

The best plans sometimes come unstuck though, and unplanned pregnancy does sometimes happen.

If it happens to you, you aren't the only one! You may find that you have some tough decisions or plans to make, so getting impartial support to help you make the right choices is really important.

Emotionally and physically, being a parent can be difficult, and support is really important. When things are going well, baby is happy, contented and sleeping through, life can feel really sweet! Sometimes though, it can feel difficult to manage, this is quite normal, but you must try to get help if you feel this way, and no one will think any less of you for it.

It takes a while to get used to a new baby, and things are often trial and error and a process of elimination needs working through, are they hungry, have adirty nappy, too hot or cold? Are they teething, not well or just tired?

You will quickly get used to different cries and signs, but if in doubt, check it out! try to get into a routine as quickly as possible in order to give yourself a bit of time and space.

If you and your baby are having difficulty establishing a sleep pattern, your health visitor will have lots of tips for you.

When you are alone with your baby a lot of the time, you can start to feel isolated and sometimes fed up. Try to get out a bit if you can, why not take your baby for a walk or visit a friend. There may be local support groups in your area; your health visitor will have details of those

For more information contact Family Nursing and Home Care: tel: 443600 or email enquiries@fnhc.org.je.

Alternatively click on this link for more information about this service and how to contact your health visitor.

 

Help with Parenting

NCT

There are a number of agencies in Jersey that can give support with issues around childbirth and parenting. One of these organisations is NCT.  You can find lots of useful information from their site such as a free downloadable guide to choosing the best for your baby; they run courses and have other resources like information about going back to work after maternity leave and resources for dads.

If you want to find out more about what the NCT has to offer you can go to www.nct.org.uk