Up until this week, things have been pretty easy but as DD is getting 'older', spending more time awake, demanding more attention, I'm having difficulty when I am home all day with both of them, feeling like I am providing them both with adequate attention.
Does it get easier? Harder? Tips?
Re: Talk to Me About When Things Got Easier...
Have you gotten a carrier to wear the baby yet? If DD wants to be held but DS wants to play, I wear her so she gets her cuddles but I have my hands free to play with DS.
Also, I spend a lot of time sitting on the ground holding the baby while playing with DS. She likes to watch DS play with his toys, and DS will shake rattles for her, show her his toys, etc. I also put the baby in her bouncy seat and sing songs/play hand games like "itsy bitsy spider" that they can both watch.
GL!
I don't know how old your kids are, but for me, it started getting easier about a month ago. DD1 is 18.5 months and DD2 is 6 months. The key was getting more sleep. We moved DD2 out of our bedroom and did a little sleep training. She started waking just once at night. Now that I am getting more sleep, everything is easier to deal with.
About feeling like you're giving them each adequate attention - yeah, it's hard. And honestly, you will probably never feel like you are dividing your time evenly. But I think that is inevitable. One of your kids will often have a more pressing need for you than the other, and you'll have to tend to him/her. I think in the long run it all evens out. Give yourself a break and take things one day at a time.
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This. I think our "easy" period is ending the more mobile DD gets. I think I have two of the most stubborn, persistent children I've ever met!
I could have typed this exactly!
I'm not really sure if "easier" is the word to describe it, it just seems like a different set of challenges present themselves as LO grows.
For example, it got better when DS could sit unsupported (around 4.5 months) because he could play with toys in front of him. THEN he started to push them away and wanted to get them, and wasn't crawling, so that made him consistently mad. He started crawling around 6.5 months, so he's no longer mad about not getting toys, but he is into EVERYTHING. I have to watch him like a hawk because he is about the orneriest baby I've known!! I know the next big milestone is cruising/walking, and I don't even want to think about that!!
It does get better, but I'm not sure if it gets easier.
Thank God - I was starting to feel like a freak.
THIS.
I felt everything was easy until recently...DD is just starting to want to explore more and not sit in a cart and my DS just wants to RUN whenever we go anywhere. I can only take them to places with enclosed, child proof kid areas or another mom's house, etc. Music class, storytime, swim...anything like that is (or would be) a FAIL of epic proportions.
The ages of 6mo - 14mo is the easiest. I'm waiting on when it gets easier again...but I'm not expecting it to be anytime soon. Maybe another year or two