Single parent wisdom

[Queenofthedrivensnow]

My very dear friend is about to become a lone parent from day one- as in she is pg now.
What's the very best advice you can give or have been given about love parenting?

I think mine was stop shopping for food anywhere except aldi and Lidl. Sounds small but it for me under control at a chaotic time.

Otherwise my best advice to give is identify other lone parents for support. I couldn't live without my bf - also a lone parent.

Make sure once dc arrives you get out every day. There are loads of things to do during the week when others' dp's are at work etc. Weekends are mainly people seeing their families so less chance of company apart from your own family and evenings obv dc is in bed.

And be organised. Have lots in the house in case you can't get out eg if dc ill. If I was doing it again I would have calpol in and baby snuffle balm. You can't use in first few weeks but ds got a cold at quite a young age & explaining to others what I needed having never even looked at what you can buy for little tiny babies was a bit tricky.

Not sure if this is a lp tip particularly but I always cleared the kitchen work surfaces every evening in case I needed to do anything in the night one handed and once ds was ff I always washed & sterilised bottles as soon as he was in bed so never ran out. Also packed the car the night b4 if needed pram in car the next day to save time.

Also re shopping in advance - buy a bouncy chair beforehand for dc - you just might not be able to get out to buy one afterwards and mine was a life saver.

Also good luck and

Agree with lizzyb. Buy in stuff now for the inevitable colds and sniffles. Also a baby head thermometer so when you are asked by the nurse on the phone at 3am, you can tell them, rather than have to wait (like I did).

You can never have enough baby wipes and the cheap ones are just as good as the branded ones.

Don’t judge herself by anyone else’s standards. She is on her own. The tidying, hoovering, ironing can wait. If she has any visitors, they can do it for her.

Don’t let other people bully her. They may be trying to help because she is on her own, but it is important she goes with her own instincts. Have faith in her own abilities.