More thoughts on baby #3

Re: More thoughts on baby #3

• pandabearlover

  March 2012

  I wish everyday I had to worry about what to do with my son at the amusement park. 

  If you are blessed with a third, it will work itself out. 

  Momma to 2 sweet girls here on earth and a precious baby boy in heaven

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• rsd12 member

  March 2012

  That is stuff I never thought of, and personally did not factor into having another child. These things can be figured out ; ) heck I bring them all to the grocery store since my youngest was born (they are 3 and 1/2 yrs oldest to youngest). When we flew, my husband sat with two, while I sat with the baby. Logistically you will figure things out... but you are never alone ever again ; )

  Boy 1 2/06 - Boy 2 12/07 - Boy 3 9/09

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• rsd12 member

  March 2012

  Whoops, sorry forgot about the car question. If we had two in boosters we could have kept our jeep and had three in the back seat, but I had three in car seats, plus with driving friends I am glad we went bigger. We did not go the minivan route and sometimes I wish we did! But over the next year I will have 2 in boosters, and will put them in the same row.

  Boy 1 2/06 - Boy 2 12/07 - Boy 3 9/09

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• shopgirl78 member

  March 2012

  1.  When my van was wrecked, I fit 3 accross rather tightly in a Honda Accord and rather illegally in a BMW 3 series : )  It was two times....  I could not live without my van.   DD is in a "I wanna bring a friend" phase and its so nice to have an extra set.   We bought a 2005 fully loaded minivan (its awesome) and a steal since it was older...

  2.  People manage all the time.   Its completely different with baby #2 and baby #3--they are dragged every where esp baby #3.  We went to six flags when DS2 was 19 months.  He has a blast in the kiddie part--he loved the kiddie swings.  MH and I didn't really have fun (didn't ride what we want) but the kids soooo did!   But we couldn't ride what went wanted anyway with 2 kids, bring grandma....we talked about possibly bringing our 12 year old neighbor and having her help us.  Heck sometimes, I take her to the store with me!!!  She likes to get out, is an only child and is very helpful.  You can always leave baby at home too...we split kids a lot more with 3 than we ever did with 2.  DS2 recently got a sitter while we watched DD for 2 hours at her gymnastics meet...

  We are going to Disney in 6 days...people bring babies there all.the.time. 

  
  

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• Pesky member

  March 2012

  You can.  There are carseats that are smaller in width than others -- the Radian is one I hear of frequently for 3 across.  As for the amusement park, once you have the baby, I would likely just get a sitter to watch the baby.  I did that when we wanted to take DD to the movies and DS was little. 

  
  
  DD -- 5YO
  DS -- 3YO
  

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• lite-bright member

  March 2012

  Well, what did you do when you had a toddler and baby before? I'm sure you already know the drill with a baby. Either you only do baby-friendly activities (boring for older kids), or you take the baby along and someone has to manage the other two kids while the other takes care of the infant. 

  DH and I haven't been skiing/snowboarding together since before I was pregnant with DD1 -- so like five years. He's been up two or three times by himself or with friends. Between being pregnant, having a nursing infant, and/or the cost of childcare at a resort, it just hasn't worked out. We'll get back to it when the girls are older; if we have a third, I can pretty much assume that at least two more years will go by before it would be realistic. We have no family within a 20-hour drive, and neither of us is comfortable with leaving the kids with friends/neighbors for an entire day while we're several hours away. We miss it, but the mountains aren't going anywhere. 

  We're constantly going back and forth on the question of a third. Currently, I'm leaning toward not -- but we bought a used minivan anyway.  

  
  
  DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010

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• virginiamorse

  March 2012

  I can't help with the car b/c I have a minivan.

  The last time we went to Disney my kids were 4, 3 and 8 months.  We all had a blast.  The baby was fine, I would stay with her while MH took the big kids on rides, or took turns taking the big kids.  My third is really easy going, she really has no choice.  She's 18 months now and every T, W, TH she sits in her carseat for 1 hour while we pick up the other 2 from preschool and kindie, she just sits there and listens to music, eats a snack, chills.

  I take all 3 grocery shopping all the time, nbd as long as you have control of the older 2.  When I was pregnant with #3 I really "trained" the older 2 to be really good out, in stores, I have to tell them to let go of the cart/stroller all the time b/c they are so used to holding on and walking next to me.

  When #3 was nb MH would take the older 2 places and I'd stay home with baby (chuck e cheese, pool, parks, etc) we actually still do this sometimes during baby's nap.  When I need 1-1 time with them the others stay home with MH, usually during baby's nap so MH is getting 1-1 too. 

  It's really not hard unless your H is unsupportive.  I have a friend in this situation, he doesn't feel comfortable being left alone with his own kids, so it's pretty tough on her.  She takes all of them to the grocery on the weekend by herself and he stays home alone, that would NEVER happen at my house.

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• alake member

  March 2012

  We thought we were done.  More medical reasons, thought we couldn't conceive.  My Husband, our two girl's and I moved from Canada to Florida for his work last September.  We got rid of everything baby when we moved.  Needless to say, we got a surprise BFP in the second week of January.  I hadn't been feeling well, and decided to test.  Our girl's are 6 years and four and a half.  We are starting fresh.  Our last room is getting transformed into a nursery.  Our girl's were in twin beds, but we just purchased queen size beds for them, so when we have company they can share a bed, and they can sleep in one of their rooms.  I am a stay at home mom.  I drive a large truck.  We use it to pull our fifth wheel, so it is staying, and I am in the middle of deciding which car seat to get for the new one.  Both of my girl's ride in Recaro Prorsport.  I have been reassured that a seat will fit between both of them.  My biggest worry is that we have a large pool in our backyard.  My girl's are good around the pool.  It is fenced off, but it is still one of our worries.  I think that it will be ok.  My real worry, is that when our contract expires, and we have to move home, that moving back is going to be hard with two Canadian born girl's, and a non Canadian born child.  We have yet to decide if we are finding out, our AS is in a few weeks!!  I have yet to do the research.
  

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• CMM05 member

  March 2012

  I think it is hard. There I said it I wouldn't change it for the world, but I don't sugar coat things. I think the change from 1-2 kids was harder than 2-3, but logistically, 3 for us has been VERY hard. I would not change what we have and we are so blessed to have 3 beautiful babies.

  That being said, my kids are all close in age. DS1 is 4.5, DS2 is 2.5 and DD is 8 months.

  We have a Suburban, so the car thing isn't an issue for US, but it is for everyone else. No one else's car fits 3 car seats (not even DH's.). We already had 4 convertible car seats and we could not afford to run out and buy the narrowest ones. Our sitter cannot fit 3 car seats in her car, so we had to find another person to pick DS1 up from school (a teacher at his school....).

  I work part-time and DH works 70 hours a week.....at least. He works a lot on weekends. For me, it is difficult to go places. I can easily get them out of the house and in the car, but safety-wise right now, it is hard to go out in public with all 3. Plus, as my DH says, the world is not made for families of 5, but for families of 4. DS2 is very active and so therefore, I cannot take all 3 many places.

  My DH is VERY hands-on and helps with everything.....when he is home. My mom is in the area and she helps a lot. I could not do this without her. We have lots of family in the area, but taking care of 3 kids under the age of 4.5 is a lot of work and so not everyone is willing to help (which I totally get).

  Things are getting easier now that DD is on a better schedule, but we have also had feeding issues with  her (she is very small and has always hated her bottle....), so I felt very trapped trying to stay at home making sure she got her bottles.

  It does work itself out because it has to, right? We leave DD home a lot with my mom or sitters.

  I just feel that we have had to give up a lot because you can't just drag all 3 to the grocery store, library, etc. I know it will get easier when the weather starts to warm up and I can go outside with them, but the winter has been hard for us. Again, I think a lot has to do with your other children's ages and their personalities.  

  GL with your decision!

  p.s. for us......going to amusement parks and places like that isn't even in the thought process. Yes, people take babies there all the time, but it isn't fun. It makes for a stressful time. So, yes, we are going to wait on places like Disney until DD is older or we are going to take the older 2 and leave DD at home. We aren't the type to just do those things just because.....we want everyone to be ready and to be able to handle it. 

  

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• Louise06 member

  March 2012

  I would check with your car manufacturer and see if your car can safely accommodate 3 car seats across. I have a Honda Pilot and it cannot have a car seat in the center of the second row. There is no LATCH in that position and the seat belt design will not properly restrain a car seat in a collison. I think you would be fine going to an amusement park with all three though.

  
  
  

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