Two Under 2
New here! 2U1! and a 4 year old
Hi!
DD 1 is three, DD 2 is 5 months and I am almost 12 weeks pregnant (due one week before DD 2 turns one). I am so nervous about how hard it's going to be with 2 so little. Anyone else have 2 less then a year apart? This was definitely a surprise pregnancy-though we did want another baby so we are happy. Any advice on what I can do to make things easier. DH works out of town a lot so I do most everything by myself.
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Re: New here! 2U1! and a 4 year old
Mom to Megan(5), Bridget(4), Tessa and Annie (2) and Mary (brand new)
For us, the hairiest time of day is the 4:30-6:30 block -- we're both coming home from work, getting dinner together, and getting the kids through their bedtime routines. Right now, it's impossible for one person to do it all him- or herself. I have conferences at school tonight, so DH's mom is coming over to help him out with bedtime.
I know it will get easier once DS is a bit bigger and we can bathe them together.
What do I need duplicates of? How do you handle things like grocery shopping or running errands? I'll have a ton other questions as I get further along I'm Sure!
DH is gone pretty much 6 months out of the year so I am basically a single mom during that time. It's hard now with the 3 year old and 5 month old. Like the you said dinner time is really hard. They both want my attention I want to give it to them but I also need to cook dinner get them to eat, take baths, etc. I feel like I get no down time to just enjoy then in the evenings after work. I'm know with another one coming it's just going to get harder. How do you all make evenings run efficiently?
Duplicates: the only duplicate items we bought were a crib and a carseat.
Errands: I'll put the baby in the sling and the toddler in a mei tai or in the cart at the grocery store and away we go. I can only do it when it's not naptime, though. Sometimes on the weekends, if DD is napping, DH will stay home with her and do some housework and I'll run out and do errands with the baby. Other times, my MIL or a friend will come over and babysit after the kids are in bed (they go to bed at 6:30) and DH and I will run out.
The only way we can get evenings to run smoothly is to get everything laid out early (pajamas, diapers, bath things) and have the kids' meals prepared so all we have to do is heat them up. I do a lot of cooking on the weekends! We try to eat dinner as a family, but about half the time we end up feeding DD and waiting till after the kids are in bed to have our own dinners. After they're in bed, we make sure everything is packed and ready to go for the morning.
Bath time/bed time is, for us, really impossible with one person because both the kids want to go to bed at the exact same time. If one of us has to be out during that time, we usually get my MIL or someone to come hold the baby while the parent who's home puts DD to bed. I don't want to push bedtime later for either kid, though, because the early bedtime is key to us being able to get any time to ourselves or anything else done around the house.
Good luck -- it's crazy but it's also fun!
Mine are 10 1/2 months apart! I was due two weeks before DD #1 turned one, but my second wanted out five weeks early. Thus, the extremely close together piece. There's probably so much advice I could offer, but I'll give you what comes right off the top of my head . . .
-Make sure to make time for you.
-Try and teach the 2 year old how to act with the baby from day one.
-Don't be afraid to let one cry. It's going to happen. It will get crazy. If you need to put one down to go tend to the other, and that one you just put down is crying, so be it. Do what you need to do, and then pick up the one crying. Do the best you can.