Children can be quite expensive. This is a fact. However, money should not be the only deciding factor in whether or not to have more than one child. You should also look at emotional factors, time factors, and your belief system in general.

For instance, you may have a belief system that says you should have a large family, or maybe yours says you should have only one child. If you and your partner agree on a number of children, great! If not, start talking about a common ground. He says three, you say one … Maybe splitting the difference here and going to two isn't so bad. But the bottom line is communication. Talk about why each of you feels the way you do about the number of future children.

Besides the monetary expenditure for children you need to consider the emotional expenditure. You may hear that you will always have more love in your heart and you may believe that to be true, but do you have the energy it requires to make that happen? The emotional commitment to a child can be enormous. Many families do not stop to realize how emotionally draining it can be to raise a baby. Be honest with yourself. If you can't handle it or your spouse can't handle it, perhaps you should decide to have only one child.

Do you have the time it takes to invest in your child? Running one child to soccer is hectic enough in today's world; add ballet class to that schedule and, well, you see where that goes … Do you have the ability to make time for your child or children? If one is enough — say so.

While two children may seem to be the norm, there are plenty of families who have more children than average. For whatever reason they have chosen to raise large families. In today's world having a large family can mean serious financial, time, and emotional commitments on the part of all parties. Having a large family can be fun, but it is also draining.

Talk to other families you know. Ask how they made the decision to have the number of children they have. You may be surprised at some of the responses. You may think of things you hadn't thought of before. Talking about all of your options with your partner is once again the key to finding the answer that is right for you.

Preparing for a child by looking into the financial, emotional, and time considerations is a huge step in being prepared for a child. Try your hand at budgeting to help ease the cash crunch. Be sure you have adequate medical coverage and insurance coverage when planning for your family. In the end you'll be glad you did.