Pregnancy is a beautiful phase of life that puts you at the center with the utmost attention in your food habits and way of life. Everyone around monitors you with lessons, warmth, concern, and extra attention.
It becomes a momentous experience but again challenging one, post-pregnancy because you will have to manage home, work, and the infant with the great equation.
Post Pregnancy is difficult due to weight gain, stress to lose it, breastfeeding, regaining immunity, recovery from the physical strain during pregnancy.
All the trouble seems less troublesome due to the newborn, so parents willingly start planning for this process of happiness for the second time.
What should you keep in mind when planning a second child?
- The first thing that you should understand is whether your firstborn will welcome the second one in the house.
- Make sure there is not much age gap between your first and second born.
- Make sure you are consulting with your doctor and finding out if your health is okay.
- Your partner should be ready for a second baby as well.
This planning might be deceptively easy as you’ve already been through it. But there can be several complications that may arise, such as financial instability, biological clock, and the fear to neglect the first one.
How can a person plan for a second baby without disturbing the first one’s peace and decide the clock to fix a specific time period to help you decide on your pregnancy for the second time?
Unlike the first, the second one needs good planning as it also involves the acceptance of your infant or toddler or it could also be a teenager. How do you go about with the planning of a new member for a second time?
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10 Tips You Should Follow if you are Planning Second Baby
Given below is a list of the tips that you should follow when planning on having a second child.
Physical Health
Pregnancy is tiresome to physical health. You need to be fully recovered from the first pregnancy and your body and health should be at the optimal level. You may have had a C section in the first pregnancy so the body needs to heal completely before planning for a second one else it may result in a complicated pregnancy.
Your Age
Women are born with a limited supply of eggs and as the age matures, it eventually runs out. The quality of eggs decreases with increasing age, resulting in greater chances of genetic disorders and miscarriage. Before it’s too late to have a smooth pregnancy, it is good to plan for the second one.
Finances
It is very important to decide on your economic condition before planning for a second pregnancy. It is already expensive to maintain a child because parents these days want to give the best and not compromise on any of their desires.
In such a scenario, the second pregnancy is an added burden to the financial condition. It has to be decided beforehand if both the partners are working and if both partners mutually agree on raising the child without any financial struggle, that may be troublesome for the children.
Career
It is unavoidable to face difficulties in career growth when you take the maternity break. You may have to take some time off from your work. It has to be decided before planning your second pregnancy as postpartum depression may haunt you while staying at home.
Check up
A blood test and visit to a doctor is mandatory while planning for a second one. You have to make sure that you are not anemic as the previous pregnancy might have squished a good amount of blood from your body. You should take iron-fortified meals and tablets to increase your count in the body before you conceive for the second time.
Read up on male infertility
It is very important to make sure that both the partners are healthy to plan on a second baby. Smoking, Drinking, and obesity can be barriers to a healthy pregnancy. Make sure that both the partners kick the bad habits before deciding on a second pregnancy. Men have to be careful with such habits as they curtain their sperm count.
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The ideal age gap between babies
It is good to wait for two to three years before planning for a second one. There is a risk of giving birth to preterm babies or underweight babies if there is a very little gap between the two pregnancies.
As your first one grows ahead to breastfeeding and nappy changing phase, then the time could be ideal for a second one. If you want the two siblings to grow up together then this gap of two to three years would be suitable.
Agreement with the FirstBorn
Your first baby should be comfortable welcoming a member who would share all his love and attention. It is a general observation that with the new sibling, the older ones tend to get back to the baby phase once again. They seek attention and out of jealousy, they revert to baby-like behavior. Your firstborn baby needs to be ready to accept a younger one without disturbing his peace.
You need family, friends and your extended family for help
Having a second baby is literally handling a newborn and another kid altogether. Both need the utmost attention, so it is helpful to have a close one nearby. Any kind of help at this time is priceless.
Your lifestyle
You need to view your lifestyle meticulously before you make the decision for number two. Are you settled well with your partner in terms of having your own ‘we time’? Does your child sleep through the night and you get a full night sleep? Have you shed pregnancy weight? All these daily activities decide on whether you are ready for the second pregnancy or not.
Related: Reason For Raising Kind Children
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the advantage of having a second baby?
The greatest benefit of having number two is that children learn to care and share. Not a single child doesn’t have these traits, but sibling love teaches it at home. There are different bonds and connections to be born out of the same parents.
Is it true that the second pregnancy is more painful?
It is said that your baby bump grows faster in the second one as the uterus does not contract back to its original shape after the first one. But again, the second pregnancy gives more aches and pains as the baby may lie lower in the abdomen due to prior stretching, which can cause backaches, lose hips, and round ligament pain.
How easy or difficult is it to shed pregnancy weight after the second baby?
It is easy to maintain body weight in the second one as the mommy needs to balance both her kids which is fat burning. Running around the first one, if he is a toddler and breastfeeding the second one could be a regular exercise to get rid of the extra weight. However, bigger postpartum belly after each pregnancy is common.
What is the green signal to be sure of the second one?
Both partners need to mutually agree in terms of all the perspectives as having a second one could be challenging.
What is a blunder while planning for a second baby?
Planning a second baby in the pressure of family and friends is wrong. You should avoid taking the decision of looking at another happy couple with two children. Comparison with others leads to disaster, especially in this case.
Takeaway
You can mull over the pros and cons, pluses and minuses of having a second baby, but again land up confused without a firm decision. This is one of those decisions that is best led by your heart, so go ahead and follow it while respecting your partner’s opinions on it.
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Mother of Two children. I’m a former teacher with a background in child development and a passion for Good parenting. I understand child development and know how to develop activities to help children learn and grow. Spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, and volunteering in my community.
