You want what’s best for your child. Here are 10 suggested goals to help nurture your child’s health, development, and future success!
1. Learn everything you can about the stages of childhood development
It is imperative to read and research all stages of childhood development. Understanding child development will help determine why a child behaves a certain way. As well as identify possible developmental problems, and help you learn how to respond to your child’s needs.
How you raise your child will greatly impact their development throughout life. You can ensure their development is associated with positivity by eliminating bad experiences caused by not knowing their development process. Poor mental health, such as depression, can hurt your ability to care for yourself (which may harm the baby too). It can also increase the risk of using unhealthy substances and even influence your ability to bond with the baby.
2. Nourish your body and mind during pregnancy
Taking care of yourself is more important now than ever since what you do and eat affects the baby. Work with your doctor to ensure you are taking the right vitamins. This usually includes a prenatal vitamin which helps ensure your baby receives adequate nutrients. Plan to have a healthy mix of fat, carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins in each meal, giving you and the baby the necessary nutrients for growth.
Regular movement helps keep your body physically healthy, which is the ideal environment for your baby. Incorporate a gentle movement routine into every day, but don’t forget your mental health is just as important. Taking care of your body and mind promotes healthy stability for your baby!
3. Practice personal emotional regulation (ER)
Many studies show the importance of regulating emotions during pregnancy. ER involves having the ability to manage cognitive and behavioral issues using strategies that significantly reduce the impact and length of an emotional experience. Research shows that the inability to regulate emotions can negatively impact pregnancies and babies after birth.
Research shows that practicing personal emotion regulation during pregnancy can decrease your risk of depression and anxiety. Give yourself grace for the emotions and work to identify and reduce triggers!
4. Talk, read, and sing to your baby
Do you know a baby can hear your voice? Around the sixth month of your pregnancy, your baby hears sounds outside your body, including your voice! Hearing your voice can help early bonding with your baby and give your baby a sense of security. Read your baby stories, talk to them throughout the day, and sing.
Music can help alleviate tension and reduce stress for you and your baby. Singing a few lullabies every day may give them a developmental advantage! Research suggests early language development can begin before birth when actively communicating with your baby.
5. Choose a meaningful name
There are plenty of sleepless nights attributed to choosing baby names. Why is it so essential to choose a meaningful name? Well, their name is a word your child will hear more than any other word. You’ll want to consider how the name sounds, if the initials look good together, and what nicknames could be used. Naming a baby also means choosing words that mean something to you, like loyalty or strength. Right or wrong, evidence suggests a person’s name can even affect how others view them. A name’s meaning can give your child a perception of how they might see themselves or perceive how you view them.
6. Build emotionally strong relationships with your partner, friends, and family
Just like managing your physical health is paramount during pregnancy, so is managing your mental health. Pregnancy can be overwhelming and especially challenging without a solid support network. Work on understanding what support you need and ask for help when you need it. This can be as simple as getting help setting up the nursery or meeting a friend for coffee.
Like regulating your emotions, checking in on your mental health will benefit you through this beautiful, potentially challenging experience. As well as not pass any stress to your baby! Therefore, establish a supportive network, even if it means utilizing community resources!
7. Purchase a whole life insurance policy
Research life insurance if you don’t already have a policy. A whole life insurance policy is meant to cover a person for their lifetime. Having that sort of insurance ensures your family is taken care of, sometimes helping to replace years of lost income in the event of a loved one’s death. It also accumulates cash value which is guaranteed to grow over time. Ensure financial stability for your baby when there is (hopefully not) an unfortunate event.
8. Bank your umbilical cord blood, cord tissue, and placenta for their stem cells
There are several benefits to banking cord blood when your baby is born. These banked cells have the potential to treat future diseases and disorders. In fact, the FDA has approved 85+ diseases for treatment with umbilical stem cells in just over a decade including certain cancers, metabolic disorders, and Sickle Cell disease. Stem cells from the umbilical cord and placenta have the wonderful benefit of easy procurement immediate after birth.
Banking cord blood is a process that causes no harm to the mother or baby and can be done only at the time of birth by a trained professional. If you are interested, you can bank stem cells with Anja Health!
Use the code ‘earlybird’ to save 50% on your collection kit.
9. Establish an estate plan
One of the best ways to prepare for your baby is to establish an estate plan. An estate plan determines how your belongings are distributed upon your death. Basic estate plans consist of a will, beneficiary designations, trusts, general power of attorney, health care power of attorney, and an advance directive. More importantly, you can use an estate plan to designate a guardian for your children.
A will fortifies your desire of where your assets will go and who takes care of your children. A trust determines how beneficiaries will handle your assets, including if your children cannot inherit something until a certain age. A designated guardian will care for your children and follow their beneficiary rights. An estate plan is an all-in-one coverage for your baby’s future security!
10. Start investing in your baby’s future
Preparing for your baby’s future can feel challenging, especially for financial security. There are many different types of accounts available for saving and investing. Most likely, you have heard of a 529 plan, which is used exclusively for education—but what if the money you saved needs to be used for something else?
Invest in your baby’s future with flexibility and assurance by setting up an UGMA account with EarlyBird. Investing as little as $15 per month, can help them pay for college, buy a car, start a business, or even cover the cost of medical treatment in the future. Invite family and friends to contribute to your child's nest egg with their unique link, and build a time capsule of love with photos and videos they'll cherish forever. Get started today!
This page contains general information and does not contain financial advice. All investments involve risk. Any hypothetical performance shown is for illustrative purposes only. Actual investment performance may be different for many reasons, including, but not limited to, market fluctuations, time horizon, taxes, and fees. Please consult a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional for investment guidance.
