Am I Ready for a Baby? These Parents Have the Best Answers

Are you asking yourself, "Am I ready to have a baby?" If so, we turned to the parents of Reddit for some painfully real answers.

Maybe you love kids, and you know you want them one day, but you’re not sure if you feel ready to raise children yet. Maybe you’re getting to an age where it’s a logical next move, but you’re not even sure if you’d be a good parent. Or if you’d even like parenting.

It doesn’t matter where you stand when asking, “Am I ready for a baby?” Total honesty is a must. Get real with yourself about whether or not starting a family is a good idea. Do you have a good support system? Does your work offer parental leave or, even better, child care? Are you ready to stay at home most weekend nights?

To help you sort out if now is the perfect time to have a baby, these parents on Reddit shared their own experiences and advice about raising a child. Take it from us: If wiping someone else’s butt is a dealbreaker, stick with a goldfish.

When You’ve Had Time to Establish a Solid Relationship With Your Partner

When Your Ovaries Won’t Take No for an Answer

When You Know You Love Kids and You’re Running Out of Reasons Not to Have Them

When You’ve Gotten Your Career(s) in Order

When You Know, You Know

If You’re Not Sure, There’s a Solid Chance You’re Not Ready Yet

When You’ve Taken the Time to Educate Yourself About How to Be a Great Parent

When Your Life Doesn’t Have to Be All About You to Be Enjoyable

When You Find Out You’re Going to Be a Parent, and Your First Reaction Is to Start Prepping for Your New Bundle of Joy

When You Have the Bare Essentials for Child-Rearing Covered

When Your Fun Friday Nights Start to Feel Like Someone Is Missing

For the Most Part, You Just Figure It Out as You Go

Kids Change Constantly, so You’re Lucky If You Have It All Figured Out by the Time They’re Old Enough To Drink

When You’re Fine With Putting Someone Else’s Needs Above Your Own Wants

When You’re Mature Enough To Realize the Gravity of Bringing Another Life Into the World

When You’re Comfortable Talking About It, You’re Not Far off From Being Ready

When Pigs Fly

When You Have Stability and Reasonable Self-doubt

When You’re Mature Enough to Pick a Name They Won’t Get Bullied For

When Your Close Friends and Family Start Having Kids, and It Doesn’t Seem That Scary Anymore

When the Thought of Having a Baby Doesn’t Inspire a Wave of Crushing Anxiety

When You’ve Actually Spent Time With Kids a Fair Bit

When You Finally Genuinely Like Who You’ve Become

When Your Partner Is 100% On the Same Page

When You’ve Gotten Backpacking Across Europe Out of Your System

When Your Body Starts Yelling That It’s Time

And When Your Biological Clock Is Ticking Aggressively

When Your Love for Them Outweighs Everything Else

This Seems Like a Low Bar, but OK

Maybe Never?

Yep, Never.

Prepared or Not, Having a Baby Will Always Be a Big Decision and Huge Adjustment

Proving You Can Handle Fur Babies Is a Good Start

…And When You Start Driving Those Fur Babies Up the Wall, It’s a Good Sign That You Might Be Ready to Graduate to the Furless Variety

When You Want Them More Than Anything

When All the Gross Parts of Parenting No Longer Make You Cringe

When You Don’t Become a Complete Jerk While Sleep Deprived

When Someone Casually Hands You a Miniature Version of Yourself, You Just Kind of Figure It Out

When Spending Time With Kids Becomes More Fun Than Partying

When Your Word Vomit Speaks for You