Lots of transitions

Ash1103

I'm completely overwhelmed by all of the transitions that I need to do in the next few months before baby 2 arrives. DD has been falling asleep quite early these days but bc I couldn't decide what to do about her last feeding I began to dream feed again. I know it was stupid but when I asked my hubby what to do he said he would do it bc he felt bad putting her To bed with no bottle. Well, that has now stopped bc in my heart I knew it was the wrong choice. Next would be to establish more independent playtime. Sometimes I feel as though we play all day long. If I leave the room for 2 minutes she comes running in wanting to be held. That has to end bc baby 2 is coming this May. I need to come up with some better activities to keep her attention for longer periods of time. . The next transition would be to get rid of the binkie because I think it's prohibiting her talking. She still does mostly all babbling. She's says dada, mama, hi , moo, occasionally ball , cat and if she doesn't want to say what I ask her repeat she finds her binkie and pops it in. Her attention span is zero. When I try to show her things she looks all over and grabs another toy close by or wriggles away. Is this normal? What are some different activities she cAn do in her high chair or on the floor alone that will keep her busy? I'm out of ideas.

Af1004

It is a lot of adjusting for you and her both. Just take it be step at a time. Focus on I've thing that you need to change then move on to another. Our LOs are pretty resilient and pick up on things pretty fast. Pinterest has lots of toddler play ideas, look there for some ideas. Good luck. Remember they change so fast, there is a huge difference in a one year old and an 18 month old. Try not to beat yourself up.

michelle7482

Like PP said, they are so different from now to 18 mo. My girls are 18 mo apart and when DD2 was born I bought DD1 a baby doll, and toy stroller, pnp, and high chair and it kept her so busy bc she would mimic everything I was doing with the baby. I also got her crayons, coloring books, play doh and puzzles which also entertained her for long periods of time. So there are definitely things that you can get to entertain her when baby #2 arrives. Plus there's always tv and phone apps, both which really helped my daughter learn her numbers, letters, colors, and shapes.
As far as the pacifier goes, I would leave it in the crib for naps and bedtime only. I also give it for car rides if needed but that's about it.

Try not to worry so much will change in the next 4-5 months. The transition actually was a lot easier then I anticipated!

redfallon

@CurlingRocks said:

My kids are a little over 2 years apart, but I worried about how I was going to handle a 2 year old and a NB in part for that reason.  I found that I could include him in many of my NB care tasks.  For instance, I read to DS while nursing and had him take dirty baby clothes to the hamper.
...

Try not to stress about having baby #2.  It will be difficult, but you will figure it out.  :-)

We haven't fully decided whether we are going to have baby #2, and I've been thinking about the difficulties of having a newborn and a toddler. In a few short words, you have helped me, at least a little bit, with this fear/anxiety.

I'm still undecided, but this helped.

sugarkissed

CurlingRocks said:

redfallon said:

@CurlingRocks said:

My kids are a little over 2 years apart, but I worried about how I was going to handle a 2 year old and a NB in part for that reason.  I found that I could include him in many of my NB care tasks.  For instance, I read to DS while nursing and had him take dirty baby clothes to the hamper.
...

Try not to stress about having baby #2.  It will be difficult, but you will figure it out.  :-)

We haven't fully decided whether we are going to have baby #2, and I've been thinking about the difficulties of having a newborn and a toddler. In a few short words, you have helped me, at least a little bit, with this fear/anxiety.

I'm still undecided, but this helped.

DH's grandmother had 5U5 at one point!  You can handle 2 :-)


Haha, I keep reminding myself of that as well. DH's grandparents had 11 children, many of them only 11 months apart and here I am worrying about 2U2.

redfallon

My maternal grandmother birthed 13 children between ~1945 and 1969. The older ones helped take care of the younger ones. I forget that Emily will be at least 2 years old and from what I've heard from some of the BTDT is that most of the time, they like to help out with the new little one. It's not always easy, but it's not as difficult as I'm imagining it to be. As DH usually says, "You'll figure it out."

I'm leaning closer to TTC sometime early next year, so they aren't too much more than 2 years apart and I'm not too old yet I haven't mentioned my ideas of TTC to DH yet.

Ash1103

@CurlingRocks‌ thanks for the suggestions!!!!