Is parenthood for you? Knowing all the facts about babies can help you decide.

Just about everybody agrees that a new baby is a miracle. Babies are cute, soft, cuddly, and warm. It’s hard to think a mean thought about a baby. But this is not the whole story. It takes a lot of love and hard work to care for a baby. So when you’re ready to make choices, get all the facts. Make sure you know the whole truth about babies.

Fact Number 1: New babies almost never sleep through the night. Babies sleep soundly…when they are sleeping. But babies usually fuss a little (or a lot) in the middle of the night. It’s natural. They have no idea what time it is. They cry when they need something. What do you do then? Turn back over and go to sleep? No way. You must get up, find out what’s wrong and try to fix it. Is the baby hungry, lonely, wet, or just having a bad dream?

Fact Number 2: Your home is the baby’s home. Babies don’t “go home” when you are tired or want to do something else. The baby is at home. And, except when they are sleeping, babies always seem to need something. Parents need to be on-call 24 hours a day to feed, hold, change, or comfort the baby. If parents can’t figure out what the baby wants, the baby cries. This leads to fact Number 3.

Fact Number 3: Babies don’t talk. Most babies don’t begin to speak words until they are about two years old. Before that, they communicate mainly by crying. They cry when they are sad, hungry, need attention, or want their diapers changed. Sometimes they cry just to cry. Parents need to figure out what the baby is “saying.” Babies will cry until the parents learn.

Fact Number 4: Babies can hurt themselves. Babies are curious about the world. They don’t know what can hurt them, so they get into everything. They really like putting things into their mouths. Pins, balloons, food, dirt, gum – it’s all the same to a baby. The parents must quickly remove anything that doesn’t belong in the baby’s mouth. This means paying attention all the time.

Fact Number 5: Babies don’t earn a living. Most babies don’t make money. But that doesn’t stop them from spending it. They depend on their parents to pay bills, buy diapers and clothes, and keep them entertained with lots of toys.

Thinking about It: Now you know some facts about babies. Try putting your new knowledge to work. Here are some ways you can practice for having a real baby.
Sleep. Set your alarm for 3 a.m. Get up and turn on your least favorite music full blast. Then go into the kitchen and heat up some milk. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Do this 30 nights in a row. You will be surprised at how hard it is to function with a tired brain.
Responsibility. Try babysitting a friend’s baby or a baby sister or brother. When the parents come back, offer to stay to keep taking care of the baby. Never mind that all your friends are going to a party. Or to the game. Or just hanging out. You must be there for the baby.
Not talking. Have a friend come over. Ask your friend not to talk in words. This person needs to get you to do something for him or her but can’t say what it is. Try not to be frustrated. Try to be patient. To make it harder, do this exercise when you are late for school.
Safety. Look around your room. It is safe for a baby? Look for anything small enough for a baby to put in its mouth (put it out of reach), anything that can be pulled off a table (this includes TVs or stereos), stairs (put up a gate), a door that can be opened (put a deadbolt on it), or cupboards that can be opened (put child-proof locks on). All set? Don’t get too relaxed. Babies can always find something else to get into.
Money. Save all of your money for a concert. At the last minute give the money to someone you love.

Finding out all you can about parenthood can help you make smart choices about having a family. Good luck in making your decision. And best wishes for a happy and fulfilled future.

Have you and your partner decided to be parents after all? Take these next few steps to ensure a healthy baby.

Get into healthy habits today. Being healthy can help keep your baby from being born too small or too soon, or with birth defects. Also, you can be pregnant for a few weeks and not even know it. That’s why it’s so important to get into healthy habits now. Here are some tips:

• Eat healthy foods like whole-grain breads, cereal, rice and pasta; cheese and yogurt; low-fat meat and chicken; and lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Drink lots of fluids, such as low-fat milk, water and juice, every day.
• Cook meat, chicken and seafood well.
• Exercise often. Check with your health care provider about how and which kinds of exercise are best for you.
• Don’t drink alcohol, smoke, or use street drugs. These can hurt a baby growing inside of you. Stopping bad health habits can be very hard to do. But you will never have a better reason to quit! So try to stop. Get help. And keep trying to quit.
• Stay away from chemicals that can hurt an unborn baby. Examples of chemicals at home: paint, paint thinner, insect and weed killers, and cat litter. Examples of chemicals at work: lead that is used to make paint, cable or plastics; liquids with strong smells; radiation from X-rays or other sources if you work in medicine, dentistry, mining, electronics, or in a power plant.

Take Folic Acid! Take a vitamin pill that has folic acid in it every day. Folic acid is a special vitamin that can help prevent birth defects.

• Folic acid can help prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. These defects can cause serious health problems and can even cause the baby’s death.
• Take enough folic acid every day. Take 100% of what is recommended. Look for 100% on the label.

Eat foods that have folic acid in them, such as:

• Orange juice, peanuts, green vegetables, beans, peas.
• Breakfast cereals that say “fortified” on the box.
• Rice and whole-wheat bread that say “enriched” on the label.

It’s important to have enough folic acid in your body before you get pregnant and in the first few months that you are pregnant. So start taking it every day.

Get a checkup before you get pregnant.

• Go to your health care provider for a checkup. Make sure you are in good health.
• Be sure you have all your shots for illnesses, like rubella (German measles) and chicken-pox. If you get these illnesses while you are pregnant, they can cause birth defects in your baby.
• Tell your provider about any health problems in your family. Some problems can be passed on to babies.
• Tell your provider about any medicines you are taking now. Some medicines can hurt babies.
• Get treated for problems like diabetes and high blood pressure. These problems could hurt your baby or get worse during your pregnancy.
• Get tested for HIV/AIDS and other STI’s. HIV/AIDS and other STI’s can be passed on to your baby and hurt your baby.
• Get help for depression. Talk to someone you trust, such as your provider, partner, family member or good friend about how to get help.
• Get help now, before you are pregnant, if your partner hits you, yells at your, or abuses you in any way. Talk to your provider, a member of the clergy, a family member or a good friend about how to get help.