4m/o baby girl with one on the way. Any advice?

jooyah

I've always had in my head that I would have my kids three years apart or something along those lines. My husband even agreed. But then we had our sweet little baby girl this past April and realized we were ready for another one sooner than we thought. So we began trying and as of yesterday, September 15, we are officially expecting again! I am overjoyed and so is my husband. However, now I'm also realizing how nervous I am! I have always wondered how moms with two under 2 do it, and now I get to find out first hand. So if any of you experienced mommas have some advice or personal experiences to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated!!!

sweetmama101226

I wonder the same but no one really gives advise here. I just Google my questions and get answers but good luck with everything. I am also expecting another baby they will be 14 months apart. 

ashiscute

albacharlene said:

I wonder the same but no one really gives advise here. I just Google my questions and get answers but good luck with everything. I am also expecting another baby they will be 14 months apart. 

I take offense to this.  There are tons of threads where people give advice on all kinds of things.  I give advice all of the time.

OP your question is quite vague.  I'm not sure what you are wanting advice for.  My LO's are 19.5 mos apart and it was very hard at first.  I barely remember the first few months of DS's life.  However, now DD is 3.5 and DS just turned 2 and they are BFF.  I don't regret it but it is difficult taking care of two babies.  There are a lot of threads that you can read through for more thoughts.  

sweetmama101226

ashiscute said:

albacharlene said:

I wonder the same but no one really gives advise here. I just Google my questions and get answers but good luck with everything. I am also expecting another baby they will be 14 months apart. 

I take offense to this.  There are tons of threads where people give advice on all kinds of things.  I give advice all of the time.

OP your question is quite vague.  I'm not sure what you are wanting advice for.  My LO's are 19.5 mos apart and it was very hard at first.  I barely remember the first few months of DS's life.  However, now DD is 3.5 and DS just turned 2 and they are BFF.  I don't regret it but it is difficult taking care of two babies.  There are a lot of threads that you can read through for more thoughts.  

Sorry I wasn't being direct to you, just in general.

Thanks for your advise

TexasGirl81

I think there's tons of advice on this board. To OP, I'm going through the motions right now. I have a 13 month old and a 7 week old. All I can say is the first 3 weeks were very tough. The last month it's gotten a lot better. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty tough my 13 month old just started throwing tantrums, but I know all if this will be so rewarding watching them grow up together. GL to you OP!! Get as much help if your able to do so. If not come here for support. We're all going through it and hopefully someone can lend an ear.

ashiscute

albacharlene said:

ashiscute said:

albacharlene said:

I wonder the same but no one really gives advise here. I just Google my questions and get answers but good luck with everything. I am also expecting another baby they will be 14 months apart. 

I take offense to this.  There are tons of threads where people give advice on all kinds of things.  I give advice all of the time.

OP your question is quite vague.  I'm not sure what you are wanting advice for.  My LO's are 19.5 mos apart and it was very hard at first.  I barely remember the first few months of DS's life.  However, now DD is 3.5 and DS just turned 2 and they are BFF.  I don't regret it but it is difficult taking care of two babies.  There are a lot of threads that you can read through for more thoughts.  

Sorry I wasn't being direct to you, just in general.

Thanks for your advise

Obviously.  I just disagree.  I think a lot of people make an effort to help each other on this board.  

krazyinsane

I think a lot of the moms with two UNDER two currently, are in the thick of it and don't have much time for bumping.

I haven't had my kiddos that close in age but always manage 2u2. It is tough but it gets better and my oldest two are THE best of friends and now they're starting to involve DD#3 since she's finally old enough to join in their shenanigans I worry about DS since he'll be the only boy and so far likes it quiet before he kicks...if they're being loud he settles. We'll see in two weeks what that means

sweetmama101226

ashiscute said:

albacharlene said:

ashiscute said:

albacharlene said:

I wonder the same but no one really gives advise here. I just Google my questions and get answers but good luck with everything. I am also expecting another baby they will be 14 months apart. 

I take offense to this.  There are tons of threads where people give advice on all kinds of things.  I give advice all of the time.

OP your question is quite vague.  I'm not sure what you are wanting advice for.  My LO's are 19.5 mos apart and it was very hard at first.  I barely remember the first few months of DS's life.  However, now DD is 3.5 and DS just turned 2 and they are BFF.  I don't regret it but it is difficult taking care of two babies.  There are a lot of threads that you can read through for more thoughts.  

Sorry I wasn't being direct to you, just in general.

Thanks for your advise

Obviously.  I just disagree.  I think a lot of people make an effort to help each other on this board.  

I disagree too because not EVERYONE does.

vettymama

I try to give advice or at least let the OPs know they aren't alone.

Mine are 17 months apart but I just take one day at a time and have low expectations. When I plan to run 3 errands I tell myself I'm happy to complete one . It definitely gets easier but just takes some getting used to the new normal. Congratulations! You'll do geeat!

tamarar5

I currently have 2u2. I'm always on the bump because I'd lose my mind without the interaction otherwise.

moonfaerie

Congrats on your pregnancy! My first two are 14 months apart, and to give you some hope, I love that spacing! I prefer it to the 18 month gap between my younger two. (Currently expecting #4 who will be about 2 years 7 months younger than DD3, and I'm freaking out about the "huge" age difference. Ha!)

some things that were great about my first round of 2u2: DD1 was in the independent play stage when DD2 was born, which made it easy for feedings and tending to baby. DD1 didn't walk until 15 months, and while people think it sounds so hard to carry her around while pg with DD2, it was actually SO much easier to carry her than have to chase her. Naps - it was pretty easy to get some downtime at first (even if I  couldn't sleep my self) because of DD1's naps. We didn't have any jealousy issues, because DD1 wasn't old enough to "get it" and for her, it's like DD2 has always been there.

snysilver

My kiddos are 15 months apart. DH was able to take a month of paternity leave when our second was born. That helped a lot for us both to get caught up on sleep as much as possible. If your husband is able to take time off like that, I would recommend it. His time off was covered under FMLA, and was mostly unpaid, so we had to budget for it ahead of time, but totally worth it in the end.

jpierce1030

I have two girls -19 months and 7 months. I'm not going to lie...it is definitely a challenge! However, things have already gotten SO much easier. My 7 month old is sitting up and can entertain herself pretty well now, which is a huge life saver! I think the thing that has helped me the most is talking to people who are in the same boat (or have been). I always asked "When will it get better? easier?" and many of them told me the first 2 years are the hardest. That seemed SO overwhelming to hear when my youngest was only a few weeks old, but I think it begins to get easier much sooner than that. The best advice I can give you is to make sure your oldest has a consistent naptime/bedtime routine. We sleep-trained my oldest at 9 months, so putting her down takes all of 3 minutes (no fuss/ no fight). My husband often works nights, so it's just me doing bedtime and I don't know what I'd do if I had to try to rock/sing/lull my oldest to sleep for 30 minutes because that is "fussy time" for the baby. Also, try to include your oldest in helping. We took my DD off the bottle right at the time we had 2nd DD. I was terrified that she would try to take the baby's bottle and throw a tantrum for it. We let her practice feeding her baby doll and let her "help" us feed her baby sister (bring us the bottle, "hold" the bottle with us, etc.) She loved it and never wanted the bottle for herself.
So far, the best thing about having them so close in age is that there is VERY little jealousy. It's really all DD 1 knows. I know there are many more wonderful things about it too that I can't wait to experience. They will be so close, enjoy the same toys/books/movies/friends/etc.) and since we are only having 2, we will be DONE with diapers/bottles quickly!
Another piece of advice would be to lower your standards a bit for the cleanliness of your house, LOL. It's all temporary. If you expend all your energy picking up toys (not that you'll have too much energy to expend) you'll be sorely disappointed to find them strewn about 5 minutes later. If you have "free time" when both kids are napping, ENJOY it! Read a magazine (you won't have time for books), watch TV (you won't have time for movies), take a shower! (you probably won't have time for baths, lol) , or just sit there and do nothing for a few minutes. You deserve it!  At this point, if they both go down for a nap around the same time, I know I have at least 25-30 minutes. I spend 10-15 minutes straightening up, loading the dishwasher, switching laundry, or whatever, then I just relax for a few minutes. It makes a big difference.
Good luck and congratulations!!!!