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Hey! I'm only 15 years old and I'm crazy about baby's! I've taking 5 parenting classes, 2 child development, 2 baby sitting classes and I took the macanical baby home 3 times and made an A on all of them... I'm taking another parenting class and child development again in a month. I baby sit 7 kids and I even give advice to local parents. My fieance wants one and knows ill be a good mom. I have an exra room and family will be a big help w/ money. Should I have this kid?
I'd definitely say no. A baby is a really big commitment, and if you took the time to ask us, it's obvious you might have slight doubts. It's important that you really put some thought into it and make sure you're absolutely for having a baby. You'll be able to have children for a long while; I'd suggest you wait until you're done with school and either you or your significant other are done with school and are settled into a job. That way you two can live on your own without having to worry about having your family help in supporting you.
Wow! Sounds like you're very mature for your age, and have taken on a lot of responsibilities. There isn't any responsibility bigger than raising a child though. To raise a child is much more than fun and games, and it's not something that you can ever turn away from. Once you have a baby you are forced to grow up yourself. I say enjoy your time being young. When I was 15 I loved babies too, and I babysat and took parenting classes in high school, but parenting isn't a class. It's not a baby that you can give back after a week. It's a life-long commitment, and personally I don't think that it's a good idea until you are old enough to provide monitary support for this child. It shouldn't be left up to your family to pay for your baby. That in itself is being irresponsible. So, my opinion is that you should wait. Enjoy your teenage years and live freely until you are able to take care of yourself on your own. Once you can do that, then you might be able to take on a child. I hope I haven't upset you, I just want to give you a clear view.
N0! Listen, I know you THINK you're ready for one but trust me you aren't. It's fine that you babysit and its wonderful that you're taking parenting classes... but having your own is different from part time watching kids and learning how to take care of them. You're engaged? How old is your fiance?
You sound like you would be a wonderful mom! But not right now. You have to finish school and think about what you are going to do for a job to make sure your baby will have everything he/she needs.
You also have to think about the fact that you will have barely, if any, time for friends and other activities. Enjoy being a teenager! You have so much to experience in your teen years, and you won't be able to experience very much if you become a young mother. :)
No. Please don't. I love kids to pieces and had my first child at 25 after years and years of sitting with my siblings (I was the oldest), babysitting other kids for pay, working in the church nursery, teaching Sunday School, studying to be a teacher and taking all sort of child psych courses, babysitting for weekends and later being a live-in nanny while attending college, actually being a teacher, diapering countless babies, being spit up on more times than you can count, and still wished I'd waited a few more years to enjoy being a wife without kids.
Finish high school so you at least have that diploma. It's not good physically and psychologically to have babies so young anyway. Prime time is from 25 or so into your 30s. Then you're mature enough to correctly and lovingly deal with a child (without being one yourself) but still young enough to keep up with one.
Your family would be able to help with money? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Did they actually say that or are you trying to "trap" them with no choice?
Think about this: Do you want a child that you cannot take care of? No way to drive them to the doctor, no money, no education... what can you teach that baby if you haven't even finished school yourself? Getting good grades in a child class and babysitting has nothing to do with being a parent. :( You don't want a baby other people will pay for. One day you'll want to look that child in the face and say YOU did everything for it, not that you relied on other people to get the job done. Babies don't "help" people or solve problems. They don't keep couples together. They are a lifetime of work.
One day I'll be able to tell my child that I put myself through college (before they were born) so I could support him/her. Wouldn't you like to be able to say that?
Please wait ~ your future children deserve that.
You have your whole life ahead of you to have children. HEALTHY children. Do you know the risks of pregnancy at your age? For you? For the baby? There are very serious risks and complications associated with having children at your age.
How will you afford vaccinations? Diapers? I could go on and on. You say your family will help. Have you asked your Mom and Dad about this or are you just assuming they will help?
You may think you are ready, you seem very mature and responsible, but in all reality you are not ready. At least not physically. Your body is not ready to make the changes that you have to go through in pregnancy. Try volunteering at a local children's hospital. This will show you just some of the complications of pregnancy at your age. Some of these babies that are born to young women such as yourself have permanent problems due to their mother's young age when conceived. Are you ready to deal with a permanent disability just because you want a baby now?
When you turn 21 your friends will all be out partying and you will be at home with a 6 year old. Take time to enjoy your youth.
HELL NO!! Take it from some one who had a child young... It changed my whole life and 9 years later I am still strugling, money has nothing to do with it! You have no idea how you will change in the next few years, I know people told me that to and I didn't beleave it BTU you really will when you hit about 18 and all the guys that look cute now are sudenly dogs and at 21 its so time to party, that might seem a long way off right now but you will there before you know it! I got merried young and had a baby and had to just watch all my friends do all the things I wanted to do. And beleave me you won't love who you love at 15 forever and I'll tell you no one wants a devorced woman with a kid... and its going to kill your body and your unmenchinables... so please think twice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashley-n-Josh
It doesn't matter if in theory you would make the best mother in the world. Here is the absolutely unvarnished truth.
Diapers cost $11 a pack, and babies can go through 3-5 packs a week. Formula costs $9 for four 8 ounce cans, and babies eat about 32 ounces of formula a day. You will need about $3000 worth of diapering supplies, cribs, blankets t-shirts, jammies, etc. before you bring the baby home. You will need a car seat, at around $250 to take the baby home from the hospital. You will need a job to feed and clothe the baby, which means you will need daycare, which will cost you more than you make at your job, so you will either have to live with your parents for the next 15 years or go on welfare.
You will get sick and will be sick for three months. Your favorite foods will suddenly smell like old dirty socks. You will only be able to eat saltines and ginger ale.
Your boobs will hurt very badly, will swell up into hard knots, and will sag.
Your doctor will scare you with words like "downs syndrome, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, toxic shock syndrome, polyhydramniose, low birth weight, Tay Sachs, sickle cell, autism, cerebral palsy, SIDS"
The skin on your stomach will stretch out, leave tears called stretch marks, and will be that way for the rest of your life. You may get stretch marks on your bum and thighs, which means you will never get to wear a string bikini again. Your skin may sag around your belly button and never go back into shape.
You may need a c-section, which will leave a scar.
You will have to get up for 30-45 minutes at a time every single night every three hours for at least three months, and sometimes eight months. You will have to feed the baby every three hours, sometimes two, no matter where you are or what you are otherwise doing.
You will have to figure out how to stop a six-week old infant from screaming from 8pm to 3 am every single night until he or she is 15 weeks old because of colic.
You will have to change anywhere from 2 to 5 poopie diapers a day. You will have to carry a burp cloth on you at all times because your baby will throw up on you at least twice a day until she is 3 months old.
You will not be able to go out to dinner, to the movies, or even to the bathroom without bringing your child with you for fear she will scream, get sick, hurt herself.
People will look at you and feel sorry for you for having a baby so young, and you will get sick and tired of being pitied or looked at funny by otherwise well-meaning strangers.
This is just the first three months. If you'd like I can go on.
Note: I think she is saying she is pregnant...
OMGSH! Are you pregnant?!
Well THAT changes everything!
Everything I said above is still true, but if you are already pregnant, please have a long heart to heart with your mom and if you are as close as your post suggests, trust her advice. It's so hard to have a baby so young, but my personal beliefs will not let me advise you to terminate a pregnancy. I am sorry I can't be of more help. :(
If you are pregnant then I take back almost everything I said... it's true but you should not get an abortion.
She has another thread where she talks about wanting to get married and she said either her parents and his parents sign approval papers and they can get married or if she gets pregnant they can get married.
Not for nothing but two 15 year olds raising a baby is a very sad situation and is very tough. You won't be able to do anything that your other friends do and you will resent the life you chose for yourself at this young age. Think long and hard. Its not all cuteness and fun.
Raising kids is tough stuff so is being married. You have too much stardust in your eyes to even see the situation for what it is. You and your "fiancee" are going to change a lot in the coming years and you may not be so crazy in love anymore.
In one thread you talk about what career you want and plans for college. Yet in another thread you want to throw that all away by having a baby.
I'm sure you will make a good mother when you are more mature. But not now. You have barely begun to experience life. You don't know what you want in terms of a career but you think you want a baby now. That shows that you aren't mature enough.
You have your whole life ahead of you as others have said. You haven't experienced enough of life to truly know what you want. PLEASE wait. If you truly love your boyfriend, then that love will flourish as you both mature.
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