When your new baby comes, you will have a lot more responsibilities and things to do. One of the most important things you can discuss is how you and your partner will divide up the work.
Stitt told me, "One of the most essential conversations for expectant parents to have, is around the post-birth division of labor. Many couples these days are making the shift from two parents working to one parent staying at home for some time and the family as a whole having less money. Too often, the expectation is that the stay-at-home parent also becomes the stay-at-home housekeeper and manager." She continued, "That assumption is harmful because it does not acknowledge that the parenting in its own right is a full time job."
She suggested that future parents make a detailed plan for how they will handle work of having a child. "Parents that take the time to write down daily/weekly/monthly/seasonal and yearly tasks and decide ahead of time how to divide them fairly do much better than couples that never discuss the issue explicitly," she says.
Choosing roles beforehand can also help you divide up your parenting research. Stitt told me, "If before the baby even arrives, one partner has agreed to be in charge of bath time and ablutions, then the other parent doesn't even have to read up on it. Likewise, if you know you are not going to breastfeed, it doesn't matter which partner researches formula, bottles, nipples, etc. Only one person needs to be the expert."
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