Come in if you have three young ones...

nmh2001

This might be long but I need some encouragement from other people who have done this: I have an almost 4 year old, a 20-monther and a baby due in six weeks. I feel like I'm already working at my maximum capacity to give my two daughters what they need and I have no idea how I'll manage three!

 My oldest daughter transfered to a new pre-school this summer because her other school was really not very good. I think it's the best thing in the long run to prepare her for kindergarten but she is having a very hard time with the transition. She is also reverting to "baby" like behavior: Talking like a baby and having absolute meltdowns at the slightest thing (like, today she didn't like the way I did my hair so she screamed and had a fit in the hallway at her school when I picked her up).

 My 20 month old has always been a bad sleeper and still doesn't sleep through the night. She ends up coming in bed with us at some point in the night which works now but will get tricky when a new baby comes. Also, it keeps me tired all the time.

 Finally, it takes me an hour and half or longer to put them to bed each night! I do it by myself and it is exhausting. My husband is starting  a new business so he really does nothing to help. I do have a sitter sometimes during the day but even so the kids both just want to be with me all the time so if I have the sitter here and need to get things done I have to hide and sneak around so they don't see me.

 I guess my worries are: How do I manage to meet all their needs? I am especially worried about the older one because I really want her to enjoy pre-school and it breaks my heart when she says she doesn't want to go and cries. And then the poor baby who is about to become a middle child.... aggh.

 Anyway, if you've been through this and have any tips or advice, please let me know. I just feel like I'm in this alone. Even when my parents come to town to help, (and my parents are wonderful and we all love each other dearly) it's like a double edged sword because it interrupts our routine and then the girls get all out of whack and I get stressed out. It's almost like it's better if I just do it all myself.

 Thanks for any advice.

CaitlinJ22

I can't help you since I only have 2, but I wanted to encourage that it will be okay. We all survive, even if its VERY hard, we always come out ok in the end. Hang in there

nmh2001

Thank  you. That's nice to hear.

hellopoppyseed

I have two LOs but I know what you mean about family not being very helpful by disrupting schedules. I also know how having a child that sleeps through the night in their own bed is pretty critical for my sanity. It was really helpful that ds1 went to bed and sttn easily when the new guy got here. You still have time to make it happen. I saw an episode of suppernanny when a 20 mo was sleeping with the parents and no one got any sleep. Super nanny had the mother put the child down for bed in his crib and sit on the floor in his room facing away from him. The child knew she was there but also realized he wasn't getting out of the crib. It took about 40 min but the child fell asleep. When he woke in the night, the mom repeated the process. She didn't speak or remove him from the crib. It took about 3 days for everyone to be sttn. I remember it was the young family and I watched it on hulu. Maybe you could find it. The rest of the show won't apply at all but maybe that could help. I know nothing about 4 year olds but I do know that they will eventually love having another sibling. I have only one sister and there are many times I wish I had one other sibling. Best wishes. You'll be ok.