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Houston Babies
Moms of 2u2 (or close to it)
Talk to me about logistics, especially dropping off and picking up at daycare/MDO.
I think this is where I'll absolutely need a SnG type stroller, right? St Matthews has pretty horrid parking and no sidewalks, so even though Mar can walk, I often carry her just to err on the side of safety. I don't think I'll be able to manage carrying a car seat (nor will I want to pop her in and out of the car seat for a two minute walk), carrying a toddler and the bags for daycare, right?
How do you manage errand running with two as well? Or do you just wait until you only have one or alone?
What are some other logistical things we'll need to think about with two that aren't a consideration with one?
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Re: Moms of 2u2 (or close to it)
When Lila was little (in carrier). I carried her and held Luca's hand. Then the carrier got to heavy and I used my Trevi (you could use a snap and go). Now I use the umbrella stroller. It's quite a juggling game. I have bags and kids and a series of doors to manage. Give yourself 5 extra minutes minimum.
For errands I used the double stroller. At first I used the BOB (with car seat attachment). It's really heavy and a PITA to get in and out of the car, but worth it to be able to push them both. At places like Target, I would but the carrier in the basket and let Luca sit in front. That only works until you're out of the carrier. Now I use a double umbrella stroller.
Once is a while, I will let Lila sit in front and Luca ride in the basket, but he climbs out and tries to escape. Sadly, he has now figured out how to get out of any and all straps (stroller, car seat, shopping cart, etc). I swear I'm going to invent something to keep him in....
Costco and HEB has carts with 2 seats FYI.
mine are 19 months apart and initially i was very nervous about how i'd get anything done. i promise, it gets almost as easy as you'll remember it was with just one (almost).
when i take my dd to mdo, i would just take the single stroller that i could pop my ds into while in his car seat. so i never had to get him out of the seat. my dd is super good at holding my hand when we're in the parking lot anywhere we are, so that meant i didn't have to use the double sng stroller.
as for other errands, i really tried to do most of them while i only had my ds at first. especially groceries, b/c when you have one in a car seat, you really almost need two strollers, or one of those monster strollers that i found hard to manuver.
once my ds was old enough to hold his head up and be carried, i did start taking him out to carry into mdo and then i could go to target or grocery store b/c he could sit in cart easily. and going to the mall or other things was easy b/c my dd holds my hand pretty well and he sits in stroller. i have to admit, we rarely use the sng stroller, she doesn't want to sit or stand on it, except for if we've been at zoo for a while and is tired.
one suggestion, teach mar how to climb in car and her car seat as early as you can. once mae got the hang of climbing into our suv on her own, my life go so much easier. mae even likes to buckle the part that goes over the chest on her own. this is her part as she says, then after i get ds buckled in i do my part and we're off.
also, just know it takes longer to get ready, get in the car and leave than it used to take with one kiddo. especially when my dd wants to do everything on her own and you just want to go!
good luck to you, i promise even though it seems overwhelming at first, it does get easier!
This is what I was most nervous about while pg. It's really been ok, not the nightmare that I envisioned!
I put S in a sling or ergo. I carried him in the infant seat maybe 2-3 times, but my back isn't up for much of that and I only did it when he was sleeping... and he always woke up anyway, so I stopped tryin.
I do usually make E walk, but there were days when she just wasn't having it and I carried both of them along with the daycare bag.
For errands I put S's infant seat in the grocery cart. At a place with small carts like Michaels I might take the stroller or just wear him.
And now he's out of the infant seat so he either sits in the cart (still a little wobbly) or I wear him.
The biggest logistical hurdle for me is getting everyone in/out of the car, especially if it's cold or raining or blazing hot. I tend to get S out of the car first and put E in the car first. I usually just let her climb in and play in the car while I get S buckled in and then go back and buckle her in.
Ditto this! DH is out of town and last night Rena wouldn't eat dinner, did not want to take a bath, and took one hour to fall asleep! The whole time I kept thinking how the heck I would handle taking care of a baby on top of all this!
our plan for bedtime is divide and conquer - LOL! Baby sister won't really go on any sort of schedule until two months (if she's anything like Marion) so I'll just take care of her while Josh puts Marion to bed (bedtime routine is from 6:30 - 7:30.)
When baby sister gets more scheduled, I'll shower with her at night while Josh bathes Mar (unless she wants to shower with us) then sit with them while they read and I'll feed baby.
When she drops the bedtime feeding (Mar dropped it around six months) I'll still shower with baby, but Josh will read to both girls and put them both down (since they're sharing a room.) Around nine months, a year, the girls will bathe together and go down together.
Moms who have BTDT, feel free to laugh at my carefully planned and ordered routines - LOL!
j+k+m+e | running with needles
The worse part is the freaking heat and the car! Cars turn into saunas so quickly. I usually juggle starting the car before putting the kiddos in. I am still carrying the carrier when I can. I highly recommend working on getting Mar to walk and hold your hand as much as possible. I was 9 months preggo and still carrying Grant, big mistake. 90% of his tantrums are related to him wanting to be carried, either at home or when we are out.
Other than that, really not too bad, you figure it out!
I'm not going to lie, I chuckled a little, mostly at the first paragraph. Bedtime was a disaster for us. O absolutely refused to let anyone put him to bed but me. I think it was part of his need for reassurance that I was still there for him. He could have cared less about DH, it was mom and only mom. There were many a night I would speed read him his bedtime story while listening to C screaming with DH because she wanted to nurse. Oh those were not fun times.
To this day I still have to be the one who puts O to bed. Luckily C isn't as opinionated yet so DH has been doing her bedtime since I quit bfing.
Hopefully you will have a much easier time with Marion.
our kids don't go tot bed at the same time and 90% of the time we give them separate baths. It turns into a screaming, water splashing, someone crying, wet mommy mess. I take Lila and give her a bath at 7:00 and put her down. DH gives Luca a bath at 7:45 and puts him down. They get way too riled up if we do it together....
Visions of sitting, snuggling, and reading stories together are great... but not a reality at our house.
Our kids couldn't share a room. They would be up 50 times a night. They would also never settle down... and by up at 5... They feed off of each other. We even need separate rooms when we go out of town. It's just too crazy.
You *CAN* carry M and Ginger at the same time, I just wouldn't recommend it for long distances. Once Ginger outgrows the carrier, M will be much more comfortable walking while holding your hand and probably won't want to be confined anyway.
Our kids get bathed together, it is just easier and they have so much fun. Plus, with them being apart almost all day at daycare, we all enjoy the together time.
Bedtime isn't terrible at our place - Joseph is a dream to put down. Avery is a bit more trouble.
Pics by Fleurish Imagery
I'll cry if Marion wants me to put her to bed. In her whole 20 months, she's asked for me to put her to bed three times.
But it's good to know anything can happen.
MGR - BTDT is been there, done that
j+k+m+e | running with needles
This is what led to some CIO for Kaitlyn after Samantha was born. She had slept through the night and gone to sleep on her own for over a year and then one day when I was about 6 1/2 m along, she just stopped... and we didn't push it b/c we figured it was her feeling the "impending doom" of having a new baby sister. lol BIG MISTAKE!
When Sam was about 3 weeks old, DH went on a week long hunting trip... After night 3 of it taking MORE than an hour to get K to sleep, I had, had enough. That night after an hour I said no more and I walked out. She came out 2x and I got frustrated and yelled and cried and told her she was under no circumstances to get out of bed if it wasn't daylight and if she did I would spank her bottom. She cried, for about 5 minutes and was out. She didn't wake up all night. HALLELUJAH! lol And from that night on, until a couple weeks ago we have had no problems at all. And since being on antibiotics for her ear (i'm guessing that kept waking her up only she never really said her ear hurt) she's gone back to sleeping through the night again.
I'm not a fan of CIO normally, but in this case it saved my sanity because I was WORN out from taking care of a newborn and dealing with a 3 year old waking up 2+ times a night.
Always keep in mind that there will be times when you'll have to do everything by yourself. Your husband will be working late or he'll be out of town, or jogging, or playing poker, or something equally ridiculous. For me this was very frequently but I'm guessing for you it might be rare.
Bedtimes can be hairy if DS is in a foul mood, but most nights it's not bad.
DH does most of the work to get E ready for bed and then I just pop in and read a story or three. Usually she wants S to lay down with us, so I just squeeze all 3 of us in a twin bed (and sometimes nurse S at that time too).
I do bedtime alone every Friday and most Sunday nights, and those nights I just try to get started a bit earlier. When S was tiny I just had him in a sling as I did E's nighttime routine.
In our house we have had a lot of luck with a divide and conquer bedtime strategy. Basically, DH always handled T's bedtime routine so we kept that consistent, which was great for T during the transition of a new brother at home. I dealt with M, nursing and putting him down.
DH didn't travel a lot right after the baby was born but he does work a lot and has been traveling a LOT more in the last 5 months. So, I do have to do it myself. Where I have been **extremely** lucky is that T is very understanding when it comes to me having to tend to the baby. It has actually amazed me. BUT on the nights when he wasn't so patient, TAG books and TV helped. When you have to go it alone, compromises have to be made. But in the struggles of getting adjusted to two, bedtime has been very doable.
ETA: We do not bathe the boys together- maybe once in a blue moon. M is actually in bed sometimes before T even eats dinner. He has to go to sleep early to sleep well at night (although nothing is working right now with molars, walking and other milestones keeping him up) so he does not eat dinner with the family right now. That actually makes me sad, but I hope once these molars come in we can start pushing his bedtime back a little so we can all eat together as often as possible (which will be more often me and the boys since DH doesn't usually get home until 6:30)
I can't help with MDO because ours does curbside drop off/pick up.
When I ran errands I would put Reagan in the cart at a store and slung Abby. Abby was always in the sling until she could sit in a cart. Or use a stroller. Truthfully it was quite rare that I was out and about with both since we run errands on the weekend and then DH is around.
Crazy Christmas Kids!
After Abby was born Reagan wanted me to put her to sleep. I was never the one to do that. It worked out better for us because Abby will go to sleep better for DH anyway. It was a nice change.
Crazy Christmas Kids!