Moms of 2 or more

Littlejen22

How did your nighttime routine change with #1 when #2 was born.  Our routine takes about 30 minutes on non-bath nights and a little longer on bath nights.  I am petrified of how this will play out when there is another baby involved.  I am especially scared for when DH has to start traveling again and is gone at bedtime.

cornichon

For the first little while, one of us would do the routine with dd and the other would take care of ds.

Ds is in bed by 7 most nights and that is when we usually start the routine with dd so nights that I am by myself,,, I can manage both. ?If ds is not in bed by 7 and things are a little hairier then I promise dd that I will make it up to her then next night and cut the routine short ( one less story, song etc). ??

GettinNervous

Early on when #2 was first born and I was on maternity leave, I'd give her a bath in the afternoon so that nights weren't so hectic. She wasn't that great of a sleeper at first, so I switched baths to nights so that she'd hopefully grasp the time-for-bed concept. (Fat chance)

So . . . I'd give one a bath while DH watched the other one. Then I'd give the other one a bath. We are separated now (but when he drops them off at night he stays so I can bathe them), so I know what you mean about your DH being away and it will be hard to do the baths. I tried giving them a bath at once by myself, and it was a bad idea.

How about while one child is in the tub, you can put the other one in a bouncy seat/high chair/etc right outside of the bathroom door.

J&JSuiter070205

We have 2 under 2 (DS is 22 months, DD 8 months)--on bath night we start baths at 6:30 and kid's are in bed by 7:15 or so. On non-bath nights we get them in their pj's around 7 then have quiet time on the couch until 7:15 or so.  It helps a GREAT deal that my DH is so hand's on!

Ciarrai

Not really.  We just added DD#2 into the routine as soon as she was old enough to get in the tub with DD#1. She has always read books with us and gone to bed at the same time as DD#1 too.  Admittedly, it's really hard when only one of us is home.  Poor DH does it alone at least a few nights a week when I'm working.  He usually lets DD#1 watch TV or something while he feeds DD#2 her bottle and gets her down so it takes even long, but it's not awful - maybe an extra 10-15 minutes.

shopgirl78

You'll work it out. ? We didn't change the routine but added to it. ?DH started helping more with the brushing teeth, books and bed while I BF DS. ?They started bathing together at 4-5 months and it became much easier. ??