That’s right, two kids under the age of 2! Some will have 3 under three! In our case my kids are 21 months apart so it wasn’t for long but it is still HARD work!
Even before I was expecting baby #2 I would sometimes wonder what little tips&/or tricks parents of multiple children did. Whenever I came across mothers with more than 1 kid I’d always ask what they did & they just kind of shrugged the question off or would tell me that by only having 1 kid I got it easy…thanks.
So after having my second I wanted to pass along any little tidbits I picked in the hopes that they might be able to help somebody else out 🙂
1. Baby wearing – when they are newborns they LOVE being next to mommy, especially when they’re held close. Hearing her voice, smelling her scent, & even hearing her heartbeat. So wearing a homemade moby wrap with my son inside was great in freeing up my hands. After about 3 wks I would put in the wrap & nurse him while I made myself something to eat or spent one-on-one time with my older son.
If you’re not mom & you want to baby wear that’s great too, for added comfort you can get a shirt mom had been wearing & put it where baby can smell it.
2. Organization!
This is a big one which is also easy to get lazy on. I like to be a little more baby led on activities, but when my second son was born I had to organize & prepare more. Now even though I stay at home with the kids, I took some notes from my sister who took her daughter to daycare.
-If you bottle feed, you can prepare the bottles the night before. This is especially helpful if they wake up in the middle of the night or want one 1st thing in the morning.
-For my older child I made his snacks & meals ahead of time. PB&J, goldfish in a baggie, a cup of milk in the fridge. He was old enough to the pantry door, so I would put his prepared snacks in the pouches. This saved me SO much stress in running back & fourth trying to get him more food or a different snack after he’d finish. It also allowed me enough time to nurse my younger one & lay him down uninterrupted.
3. Getting up early
I’m not a morning person, like..at all. I also hate waking up earlier than I have to : p BUT it was REALLY nice to have a peaceful start to my day where I got to read my bible a little bit & eat my bowl of cereal : D
You start to know when your kids will wake up & 15 mins can go quick but give you those few mins to yourself that you may not get until nap time : p
4. Establish nap/quiet time
My mom told me, “Even if they don’t sleep, put them in their crib, give yourself an hour, this will help you soo much” & she was right. When my youngest fell asleep for his nap time, I put my older son in his crib as well. If he wasn’t tired I gave him a book & 2 toys. That boy LOVES his bed & would even ask to go to it in the middle of the day or when HE wants a break from his younger brother : D
But it was a HUGE boost for me to get through the rest of the day & a nice little break for everyone.
Do you have any tips for raising multiple children? What things would you add?
Family Day Out 