no, not the $ kind of tips, altho if you want to throw some of that our way, that would be cool too!
i'm looking for some (friendly) advice on life with toddlers + newborn. i know, most of you don't have 2 almost-toddlers at home, but i'm sure all tips can be adapted, right?
in the end, of course every family has to figure out what works best for them, & honestly we totally disregarded most "advice" we got on having twins, but sometimes fresh ideas are a good thing, & since i'm SOL on all the "nesting" i want to do lately (stupid broken foot!), pouring over some "mommy" advice is like virtual nesting for me, so please, comment!!!! (& help keep me sane!)
Oh it was MUCH easier than I thought it would be! I found that when Noah gets a bit jealous (mommy is holding the baby and he wants to be held too) that I can have him "help". I will ask him to get the baby a blanket or get him a book, toy ect and Noah feels so important! Now when Eli cries Noah automatically goes and gets him a toy :) I also let Noah help burp him (I hold Eli and Noah pats his back).
ReplyDeleteWhen Eli is sleeping I make sure to read and play with Noah before trying to get the housework done so Noah doesn't feel left out or neglected and I always spend some time playing with him before bed while daddy holds Eli.
But for the most part Noah is pretty content playing on his own as long as I talk to him.
You'll do great Kate! And since you have had to handle 2 newborns you will think 1 is a breeze :)
I have been thinking on this one. It has been a long time since I had a 13 month old and a newborn.
ReplyDeleteI remember it was hard, but we made it through.
Some general things, forget sleeping when the baby sleeps. It is impossible, if you can get all 3 on the same nap schedule your doing great. That is when I would try to catch up on housework.
Like Amanda said, just spend lots of time with the boys while #3 is sleeping. As #3 gets older, you will find your moving into a new groove with them.
I think the hardest thing was trying to take both out alone. I tried not to go anywhere alone, but even then, I figured out the tricks that worked for me, i.e. parking next to the cart corral so I could just transfer kids right into the cart.
I have faith, you can do it. You have handled twins with grace, you will handle this with grace also.
Ella was 6 months old when I got pregnant with Allison. So that means she was a mere 16 months old when Allison was born. I won't lie and say it was easy, but it did get easier as each month went by. The hardest thing for me was protecting the baby from her sister. Ella was too little to understand she could hurt the baby. Too little to understand my instructions. I found it got better when Ella was about 18 months. So if you are having a hard time, just remember that every month it gets 50% better.
ReplyDeleteMy assvice it to not stay all couped up at home. I took them out as much as I could. The good thing about that was I got used to going somewhere with two little ones that needed so much direction. I soon became an expert. You probably already know all about this having twins. When Karl was added to the bunch, my husband and I were outnumbered. But we worked it out and got used to it.
The good thing about having a newborn and a toddler was I didn't go through sleep deprivation like I did the first time. I was so used to not getting sleep that it was TONS easier.
Kate, you'll do great. The third baby is always the angel of the bunch. My pediatrician even told me that! :)
I don't know about having toddlers and a newborn, but the only advice I have is to stock up on paper plates! I know they're not that great for the environment or whatever, but they make life so much easier when you can skip that extra step. You've done so well with two little ones, I'm sure you'll do great with #3!
ReplyDeleteI also did the paper plate thing. We used paper plates/bowl and plastic silverware for the first week or so. After that Eli got into a predictable sleep/eat pattern so it was easier to get housework done.
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