10 Ways to Decide to Have Another Baby as Young Parents

Vicki Francis Photography

Madison and I have been talking about having babies since we got engaged. We never planned on having children so young, at least I know I didn't. Nora's arrival into our lives came as a shock. I had just graduated college and started my first "grown up job" and all of a sudden here was this exciting and terrifying new adventure right in front of us. 

Although we weren't necessarily ready for Nora when we first found out that I was pregnant, we did everything we could to make sure we were fully prepared for her entrance into the world. Madison and I essentially sprung into action, making sure we had good jobs, a new place to live, and all the baby essentials. I suppose having a baby at 23 isn't so young, but it is definitely younger than I ever planned to have kids. Regardless, it has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. And now, we're doing it all over again! Here we go...

10 Ways to Decide to Have Another Baby as Young Parents:

1.) Do you like your current child? - Yes! She is great. We may be entering the terrible twos, but when she is not slapping me in the face or putting yogurt in her hair, she's fabulous.

2.) Are you ready for the lack of sleep? - Sleep training, what's that? Nora sleeps through the night about half the time so we are prepared to just stop sleeping all together.

3.) Do you have the space? - No! But we can totally be roommates with the new baby if we can't find an affordable 3 bedroom apartment in the Boston Metro West area (seemingly impossible). It actually might make those night time feedings a little easier.

4.) Do you have the money? - This goes under the "we'll make it work" category. Maybe I should start eating the lunches I bring to work, instead of making Madison buy me sides of mac and cheese and filling up on that. 

5.) Do you have the time? - We will make the time! I am fully committed to pushing my bedtime back to 10:30 if I need to. 

6.) Are you ready for 2+ more years of diapering? - ......fine. If we have to. Let's get this first one potty trained so we aren't on double diaper duty. 

7.) Does your current child like to snuggle? - Only her dad! Mommy needs snuggle time too. Bring on the newborn cuddles. 

8.) Does your current child like babies? - Absolutely. She also likes to pretend to be the mommy and puts me to sleep and rubs my back (my favorite game), so I know she will be loving and tender with a new baby. 

9.) Are you prepared for a long life of being parents? - Yes. This is that fact about being young parents that I love the most. We will be able to spend so many goods years with our children. It will be nice to be in the middle of our life when our kids graduate college rather than planning for retirement, or what type of tree we want our ashes to grow into. 

10.) Do you want another baby? - Of course! This is kind of the most important one. I have always wanted a big family, but right now a family of four sounds pretty good. 


What do you think? How old were you when you had your children? Do you think this handy checklist could be useful when planning for your next child? Let me know your thoughts on young parenthood in the comments below.