You and your partner created your baby together, and you probably hope to raise her together as well. Working together as parents is the only way to ensure that you can both pursue your own individual career dreams or life goals.

While it is fairly common for women to assume most child-care responsibilities, you and your partner can work things out in any way that feels right to the two of you. It can be nearly impossible for a woman to return to a full-time job and bear the entire child-care burden when she is home, including evenings and through the night. You've got to sleep sometime. You and your partner might work out a schedule that divides up child-care tasks, such as designated nights for each of you to care for the baby or planning who will handle bath time each evening so the other person can have some personal time. Planning individual outings is another way you and your partner can share responsibilities. Designate a certain night of the week as individual outing night and alternate whose turn it is to go.

Sharing the parenting load is very much about a state of mind. If you see yourself as solely responsible for your baby, assume your partner doesn't know how to care for the baby, or act as if he doesn't do things right, you're going to create a situation in which the main burden of parenting will fall upon your shoulders. It's likely you'll share things more equally if you enter parenting with the mindset that you are both parents and although you might do things in different ways, you are equally qualified and equally responsible for your child. It is extremely beneficial for children to have both parents involved in their upbringing, so parenting together is a smart choice.