Age Differences

I am a stay at home mom also. I have 2 little girls. They are 4 and 2. I am to have another baby in March. I know that my girls are just 2 yrs apart but, sometimes it is hard for them to get alone is this normal? My oldest daughter is excited about us having another baby girl. She keeps asking me when will she be here is this nirmal also?

Hi S., I had the same fear as you. I just recently had my third child in Nov. and I also have an 18 month old and a 6 year old. I just knew my middle child was going to be jealous and feel left out, but I found that was not the case. All of my kids are boys and he has taken on a big brother role as well. He loves to help out, sometimes a little too much but its cute. He is already very protective of him. If he hears the baby crying he is the first to run and check on him. He tries feeding him and gets him his pacifier when he sees that he doesn't have it. I think the best thing to do is just keep him involved. Let him help with the feeding if you bottle feed. Let him get you the diaper's for the baby. I have to keep a close eye on him because he tries to pick him up sometimes. Just incorporate the middle child as much as possible.

I have kids that are close together in age. I just let my daughter get in my lap while holding the baby and show her to be easy. Also, just putting them on the floor to play together. My kids get along great for the most part. She helps me with a lot, now.

hi! i just wanted to let you know my two sence, since you asked! :) i have a boy who turned 8 yesterday and daughter who will turn 2 on tuesday and a san who will turn 8 months in on february 6. my 2 babies are 16 months apart. as far as my older son, he is a big help. sometimes i wish he didnt have to go to school...lol! he helps with keeping them entertained and happy, etc, as much as an 8 year old can. then my daughter, she is, well, it depends on how you look at it. she doesnt understand baby sleeping so you have to be quiet or let me change him real quick and i will help you or whatever. but then, they are so close that they play together, my baby cracks up when she is being silly and laughs at her. it is hard to put the baby down for a nap because she will climb on the rocking chair and wanna play or talk and whatever. he cant sleep unless she is asleep! it is tough....but i hope they will be close when they get older. on the other hand, my sister and i are 15 months apart and always at each others throats. i couldnt stand her growing up. but now that i am an adult and dont have to live with her, i can avoid her...loL! good luck, let me know if you need anything else.

My three get along very well. Mine are 9, 7 and 4. My 9yr old is very colose to his 7 yr old brother, and very protective of his sister. My 7 yr old and my 4 yr old are very close. He plays with her alot and is very good with her.

It is really inportant that you just tak 5 minutes to read or tell a story. Or just talk about their day one-on-one.

I have a very similar situation. I have three children ages 9, 4 and 3. The first two are five and a half years apart and the last two are 16 months apart. It is very difficult. I too, worry a lot about my middle child. She is so sweet and I feel like I never get any special time with just her. When my latest was born, my husband and I split the duties for each of the little ones. We took turns with them so they would get the most attention. You can try to involve your middle child in the care of the new baby in safe ways such as having him fetch baby's lotion or diaper etc. We use to let our middle child sing to the baby, give kisses etc. Involve the older one as well. My oldest probably is the one who felt the most left out because she was the only child for 5 1/2 years. Good luck!! -M.

I am a mother of 4. My oldest is 6 (7 in April). The next one just turned 5 in November. The next is 2 1/2 and the youngest is 6 months. I found myself not having to worry about the middle child syndrome because both of my older children (girls)were so excited about the baby brother (2yr now) that they both would fight over who got to feed him and who got to comb his hair. They just had nothing but emmense love for the third child. Every now and then they would get tired of taking care of the baby and then play with each other. When when the 4th one came, the two older ones fought over who got to take care of her and I suddenly had lots of time to devote the two year old because the 5 and 6 year-olds were entertaining the little one. By the time the baby gets here, your 10 month old will be old enough to help you a little. While the 6 year old is at school, you can have the middle child hand you diapers when the baby needs to be changed. You can tell the middle child that you need advice on what the baby is going to where and let him choose from three outfits that you actually picked out prior. If you're bottle feeding you can prop the baby up on a pillow on the bed while you help the middle child give the baby a bottle. What really helped me when the third child came along was explaining to both the 5 yr and 6 yr who were only 3 and 4 at the time what I was doing and what the baby needed every minute. By keeping them included on just knowing what was going on, they either helped with the baby or just chose to play with each other and let me take care of the baby.
There will be times however when you find yourself stuck in the rocking chair because both the babies need to know they're cared for at the same time. There were a number of times when my husband came home and woke me up to ask if I wanted him to take a baby or both of them.

It's very hard when you have two very young children at the same time. My two girls are 2 and 3 with a 13 month diffence. Let me first off by saying spend as much time as you can with your 10 month old now. While the six y/o is in school take the baby for goings to the Zoo, park, mall. or just outside and show him all your love. When your son comes him from school see if you can leave the baby for a few hours and spend one on one time with only him, it's hard for them too even if they don't show it. Your middle child will be a little older than mine so I think if you talk to him about the baby he will understand. My little girl was only 11 months so she was very afraid in the hospital and it was her first time away from me at the night so that was one time that I have regetted. I thought my husband would be able to watch them but it didn't happen that way he was so wrapped up in taking care of me and the baby. I am just really lucky in the fact that I have lots of family- mom, dad, brother, aunts, cousin, mil and friends that could help out with the older children. Both of them sayed with my mother and let me tell you it's not easy when you see the look of jealousy on your little one face for the first time. It was rough in the beginning and with time it gets better. The girls are always fighting and trying to get my attention. It is very difficult if you atr trying to vut the bottom out and then the baby comes and she going yo have one. Yes I did breast but then she won;t switch to a cup and took the bottle and it was so hard getting the bottle away from #2. Potty trainging is my problem now. Just remember to try and have special outings with each one.
Have fun,
L.

My first two are actually only 11 months apart. I have found that unless I had twins, I wouldn't have it any other way. It makes the baby learn everything faster and it gives your younger son a close friend. Maybe part of the reason that we are not having many problems is that except for a select few things, we don't let our oldest do anything the younger can't just because she is older. Since it is less than a year, we try to let them do most of the same things at the same time. So far, the oldest hasn't ever brought up "i'm older, why does cady get to do it too?" Hope this helps.