10 Practical Parenting Tips No One Tells You | Northern VA Baby Photographer

When you are about to be a parent, everyone has plenty of advice for you. As a maternity and child photographer in Dulles, VA, we try very hard to limit our advice during our portrait sessions — unless a client asks! However, we often find ourselves in conversation with clients or with friends about parenting challenges. So, we thought we’d put together our version of a list of practical parenting advice no one ever tells you! (We got the idea from fitpregnancy.com’s list with some of their advice.) Here is our list:

1. Stop making fun of gadgets! Whether it’s warmers for wipes or bottle sanitizers, whatever works for you is the name of the game! Being a new parent is tough enough that if you find some cool gadget, use it by all means! Who cares what others will say?

2. Avoid regular doctor visits on Mondays! Everyone whose baby got sick over the weekend is there on a Monday. It’s a germ-fest! Yuck!

3. You will need a lot of pockets – like a ridiculous amount – whether they are in your coat or your purse or diaper bag. Being the parent of a baby means you have a million little things you carry around because sooner or later you will need them.

4. Get a super easy stroller to open! As newborn photographers, we see it all the time. Besides the million little things you need to carry around, you need to be able to throw open a stroller with ONE arm, folks! If you can’t open it with one arm, you’re setting yourself up for tactical warfare against your baby’s stroller.

5. Keep a water bottle handy. The Fit Pregnancy article recommends a reusable water bottle so that you drink plenty of fluids. We say ANY water bottle will do. If it’s easier to buy bottled water by the dozen and grab one or two on your way out the door, then do it. We realize it’s not environmentally friendly, but if you only do it in the early months of your baby’s life, it’s hopefully not too horrific. If you can, DO use a reusable water bottle! Save the planet while parenting a newborn.

6. Go to places populated with other similar humans to yourself! In other words, find other mothers with similarly aged children and go hang out with them. Make new friends amongst them. These are now your new people. They get you. They understand what you’re going through!

7. Treat and pamper yourself whenever possible – whether it’s a new haircut or the spa for a massage. Schedule it in and get it done! You’ll need it.

8. Your washing machine and dryer will become one of your new best friends. We hope you’ve invested in a high-quality one because you’ll be using it a lot in the coming years! One day, they’ll invent one with a built-in TV!

9. Join a book club to force yourself to read a book and spend time with other women on a regular basis outside of your Mommy circle of friend. Becoming a hermit is not an option. See #6 for context!

10. Keep a baby and child diary. Whenever you can and as often as you can, write down details about your child. You think you will remember every thing, like when they first smiled or when they lost their first tooth. Trust us; you won’t. Write it down. They’ll appreciate it one day.

One of the things we most enjoy about being a child photographer in Dulles, VA are the stories our clients share about their lives and their children’s lives. Contact us if you’d like to work with a leading family photographer in the Northern Virginia area. We would love to hear your stories!

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer, Child Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located in Dulles, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

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