Some new mothers will not be able to stay at home with their babies for long. They may have to return to their jobs after three or four months. Both the mothers and the babies will have to learn to live with each other for 8 to 10 hours of the day. Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself and your baby:

* Before you join work, start leaving the baby for sometime with the child minder.
* Begin with a few hours and gradually increase the number of hours you leave the baby with child minder.
* You could even give yourself a trial run of traveling back to work. This will give you confidence that you can travel again.
* These physical separations will help both the mother and the baby once the mother returns to work.
* It will give the baby time to get to know and adjust to the child minder.

Tips that will help you get back to work more easily:

* Keep in touch with your colleagues by phone or by E-mail.
* Be aware of what is going on in the office.
* You can make some short visits to the office before your official joining date. This will help you get to know what is happening at office and will be seen as a proactive step to getting back to work.

A new baby means additional financial expenditure. Here are simple tips to manage your expenses if your financial condition is tight after the birth of your baby:

* Make a list of the expenditure for the next month. You will be able to account for the money and be able to point out where you can reduce expenditure.
* Shop around for utilities such as electricity, gas and phone, by doing this you will be able to save a considerable amount of money.
* If you are a single income family, try and reduce your expenditure. Pay bills with direct debits
* Claim the child benefits that you are entitled to.
* Breast-feed your baby for the first year; this will save you a lot of money, as artificial milk is very expensive.
* Use re-usable or cloth nappies this will also reduce expenditure in the long run though, initial investment is high.
* Make the baby's first food at home instead of buying prepared baby meals.
* Pick up clothes, toys and equipment for the baby at sales.