- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
if you already have 2 under 2....
or have had 2 under 2, what were the challenges? what did you love best? would you do anything different? I would love the input.
TIA!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: if you already have 2 under 2....
The most challenging thing is just having 2 that want your attention at the same time. I've come to just tune one of them out and and tend to one and then the other. When my little one was just a baby (he'll be 11 months this month) it was actually much easier. I would set my older one up with whatever he was doing or needed then I was relatively free to tend to the baby. Now my baby is mobile and always under foot too....so I get a lot more tugging at me from all angles :-).
But on the other hand we have a great routine..and thank god I have a couple of great sleepers. They love each other to pieces! They play great..don't share so well yet..but we're getting there. All and all it's great and I wouldn't change a thing. Thinking about it, it's all about routine..routine..routine. It keeps me sane. Obviously the new baby will make his/her own routine at first but try to keep your older one as constant as possible, Because when the baby settles in he/she will just blend right in.
Challenges: Balancing time w/ each, prioritizing ones need over the others, feeling like you are in a constant relay race between the two, teaching DS to be gentile with DD, having a TODDLER!!!!!
Enjoy: Loving two kids rather than one, watching my DS have so much interest in his baby sister, knowing they are close in age and thinking about how their relationship will play out through the years (good or bad), having a balance between toddler time and baby time rather one or the other full time, being able to watch DS smile and say the "coochie choochie coo" type things to DD to get her to smile
What would I do different: Ditto on the routine. I would have made this more of a priority and we are working on it now with a newborn in the house. Other than that not much. DS is pretty independent and was in his big boy bed already, not on the bottle or nursing or using a paci or anything else remotely "baby" so that helped I think with avoiding jealousy.
Challenges: Breast feeding. Was nearly impossible after DH went back to work because DS was a poor nurser and took an hour or more. We gave it up.
Loved best: How well they play together, even when DS was still really little. How close they still are (aka watching my DD tackle a little boy at the playground after he pushed DS - very proud of her, even though I had to put her in time out.)
I loved having 2u2 and wouldn't have changed a minute of it. I seriously have no idea what people are talking about when they make such an issue out of how difficult it is. It's not perfect 100% of the time, but it's not that difficult either.
100% Agree!!!
thank you ladies, alot. We are going to start trying in April, and I get upset when family members say mean things like "it will be too hard' or "why would you want to put yourself through THAT?!" I keep saying "well THAT which you are talking about would be my children. and I love being a mother."
I am finishing my teaching degree and will be doing my masters as well within the next 2 years. I figure having a child now will be easier than later when my brand new career starts. But being a mommy is huge to me, I am conflicted sometimes with working/school or being home. We'll find our balance!
I think some mommies on here have selective memory...or two really good babies or lots of help with their children.
2 under 2 isn't a walk in the park...at least in the beginning (and that's all I can speak of right now b/c my youngest is only 10 weeks). Maybe once a good routine is established, but we all know that doesn't happen right away. You can't lie in bed with your newborn and take a nap when you're tired like you may have done with #1, you can't just sit and relax while nursing like you may have done with #1, you can't run out quickly and do...well, anything! It takes more time and effort to do just about everything. I'm not trying to be a downer, I'm just trying to be realistic.
Would I change anything...absolutely not! I know that in a few months when #2 is STTN and not nursing around the clock, I will be saying the same thing as everyone else, but for now, I'm sticking with my original statement...it is not a walk in the park! GL!