Just Had a Baby- Struggling W/ What to Do...

Just remember that it will get easier....SOON! I have to respectfully disagree with the moms who said that you shouldn't hold a 2 week old all the time, it is perfectly normal and that's the way babies are designed! LOL
Try to take it easy, rest when kids are sleeping, drink plenty of water, and keep taking those vitamins. Also, I always feel more energetic after exercise, so get the little ones out for a walk every day.
Take Care!

Until you can get into a schedule, why not put 2 y/o in a Mothers morning out program, or a daycare 3 days a week? It will help the 2 y/o grow socially and give you time to relax with baby.

I have to respectfully disagree that it's not good to hold them all the time at 2 weeks old. She is fresh from the womb and wants/needs/craves the comforts and security of the womb and holding her gives her that and helps her learn to navigate this big new world. Your voice, your heartbeat is all she knows. Now I'm not saying you should be the only one to hold her but i never understand why people think infants should pop out and not need some significant comforting.

I love, love, love my mayawrap. It was literally a life-saver with my high needs preemie who needed to be held a lot.

If you have a place that is completely baby safe, you could let the 2 year old watch a movie while you and the baby nap in the same room. That way you are right there but can get some rest. I'm not a tv as a baby sitter mom but you gotta do what you gotta do to make it thru right now. And it will get easier! It will!

keep taking your prenatals and add in some Bcomplex vitamins.
Screw the house work, laundry, cooking, etc.
Call in the troops! Friends, family, neighbors. Do not be afraid to ask for help. A lot of people want to help you, but don't know what you need. Call your bff - "hey girl, you know how much I love your chicken spaghetti, would you please make me a big batch? Ive been craving it since I had the baby."
Give your husband a grocery list and send him to the store. Include lots of easy peasy stuff for him and 2 yr old so you dont have to cook. Call mil and ask if she would mind coming to stay with the kids while you take a nap. When you wake up your house will be clean, the laundry will be done, dinner will be in the oven! Use your resources! Seriously, people want to be given any excuse to come see that baby and will be happy to help you.

Two letters "T" "V". When my daughter was born I broke all my TV rules with my son and let him watch like four hours a day! When the baby would fall asleep, in went Diego or Bob the Builder into the DVD player and I would sleep on the couch with the baby draped over my chest and the three year old crunching on cheerios by my feet.
I tried to make sure all snacks were either dry cereal, fruit or raw veggies so at least I felt like he was eating healthy foods. I co-slept with the baby and would shove my husband out of the bed to deal with the three year old when he woke up (otherwise he'd sleep through everything!).
It was summer time and HOT (we lived in the desert - 110 degree days were normal) so we ate a lot of watermelon and strawberries and ate cold sandwiches for dinner. I made sure my husband took the three year old swimming in our pool every evening when he came home so he'd be nice and tired for bedtime.
Give yourself a break, you WILL be active and awake in the next couple of months, but for now, you need to sleep as much as you can. Employ your TV, you can wean the 2yr old off of it later!

Two words: baby carrier. Use any one that you find comfortable, for such a little one I totally second a wrap type, but they do need some skill to tie.

Also: call in those favors and have friends and relatives play with your two year old, ask them to take him/her out of the house.

It will get better :) Congrats!

Have you looked into a baby wrap? It can free up your hands and help a lot. Be sure to give yourself time for a couple naps. You did JUST have a baby.

Hang in there! It is exhausting...try to sleep when you can, which gets more and more complicated the more children you add to the mix!

Just remember - a month from now - when you have the baby on a schedule, life will be 100% better.

A friend of mine from high school put it this way when I was preggo with my second: "you'll stop wanting to 'off' yourself after the 3rd month".
He was totally right.
Hang in there!

It will fly by-do the best you can-and never turn down any help , in any form. Before you know it-you'll be driving them to college.

Can you hire a sitter, family member, friend so you can get some much needed rest? How about a preschool/day camp for a short time to keep your two year old busy...I hear ya and I have three :)

Congrats Mama!!! It will get easier.

If dad is in the picture- you should ask him to take over for a bit when he gets home.

Also, 2 weeks old is hard. When my youngest was born my oldest was 18 months old. I understand how overwhelming and exhausting it all is. The thing that helped me the most was using a boppy bean bag type chair for her to rest in, and using a swing. It let me put her down and kept her cozy- like she was being snuggled. It gave me enough time to get some chores done, and to give some attention to my oldest child.

Another option is to "wear" her. If you get a carrier that you can strap her onto you in, then you can "wear" her around and have your hands free.

You can also do "quiet" things with your toddler- like read books, and snuggle up for songs. You can also have your toddler do little projects for you- like make 'clean up, clean up' into a game.

I found balance with my girls relatively easily, what got me and put me into a funk was that I lost myself in that process. Make sure you carve out some time for you to unwind and destress. It is important. Even a short girls night out to get a bite to eat or see a movie will work wonders on your perspective and patience.

Best wishes!

Can you have someone come over and help you?
Even if just for 2 hours?
A neighbor, a friend, a relative, another Mom?

I assume Hubby is at work?
Did he or can he, take a week off?
There is also "Maternity" time off for men too. My Husband had that, when I had my 1st child.

Does your 2 year old nap?
Try and get a routine going for the 2 year old, to nap. If not.
Daily.

But yes, your baby is real young.
Feed/nurse on-demand. Babies also get real over-tired a lot and over-stimulated. They will nap often. And they get hungry a lot.
Do you have a Moses Basket or bassinet for baby?
You can put her in that, and keep it near you.

As much as a 2 year old can understand, explain Mommy is tired, Mommy needs to take care of her body. Lay on the sofa if you can, with your 2 year old on the floor with some toys.
Or if you are not against it, put in a cute Disney movie for the 2 year old to watch. If that helps settle her.

Don't forget to eat, yourself.
And stay hydrated so you can nurse. If you are nursing.

Its OKAY... to feel tired and not want to be all 'active.' Just explain, to your 2 year old.
I did that when I had my 2nd baby, and my daughter was 3 at the time.
She understood.

Don't feel you have to be "Mary Poppins." All day.
Take a breather/rest when you can. Even if that means being a slug on the sofa.

Since you are still healing... well I had a c-section, but my Mom and Husband took turns staying at home with me for 1 week each. Thus I had 2 weeks of having "help" at home.

Don't strain yourself. Explain to your 2 year old. They won't know unless you explain to them. I did that per my daughter when I had my 2nd baby. I told her I had to take care of my incision and my tummy was sore.
She understood.

First I will say is make sure your taking care of yourself, i know it's hard, I also need to keep telling myself that at time's too! But if your not feeling well then who's going to take care of your babie's? That's how I have always looked at it. Start making homemade smoothies with fresh fruits, and add protein powder in it for that extra boost! Put some music on to give you some motivation, let the sun shine in your home by keeping your curtains open. Or even go out for a 20minute walk. You'll be fine my dear! You will gradually get the hang of it and will eventually become a pro! Hope I was somewhat helpful! Have a great summer!

Hello~ Do you have help? If not, ask a friend, family and/or neighbor to help. I'm sure people would love to help. Have your 2 yr old take a nap or
quiet time while you rest, too. I'm sure it can be exhausting. And you're trying to figure our a routine. You'll get there. Sounds like you need your rest and help for the next month or so. It'll get better just be patient and relish them while they're tiny ones.

It is really hard when you have a newborn and a toddler to care for. I've been there too. My 3rd was born a month and a half before my 2nd turned two. I was exhausted, irritable, and going through PPD. It turned out I was a bit anemic too. Have you been tested for anemia? Can you get a nap in when your husband gets home from work- or after dinner- and let him take over for a while? What helped me was on the weekends, we took turns sleeping. We let go whatever was non-essential. Used paper plates and cups so we didn't have dishes to worry about. Got a lot of take-out. Or pre-cooked food from the grocery store, like rotisserie chicken. Just until we recovered a bit.

Hang in there!!! You'll get through it =o)

Your mind and body is telling you that you need rest. So rest. Find someone to help you and don't sweat the housework. You're 2 weeks post partum. REST!!

I agree with SH - can you get someone to look after the 2 year old for evern 2 hours? While you can baby take a nap? That wouid be great!!

you can seriously bring your two year old for a play date with my two and a half year old. He is a year behind in his speech development though, but he would love a play mate.

Do you have a neighbor you are close to who could watch your kid or take him to the park for a bit? You need to get some rest. Swaddle baby tight and put one of your t-shirts near or underneath her so she can smell you.

I recorded my voice singing a couple of lullabies like twinkle little star, rock-a-bye and Brahms lullaby and put the cd on repeat in baby's room. Then he had my voice and my smell and slept quite well.

If you are breast feeding, you could pump and freeze your milk. prop baby up with a boppy pillow, and folded up blankie just on her tummy so the bottle could rest on it without you having to hold it... (watch her as you lay next to her) burp and change her and you both take a needed nap.

big hugs!

I second the wrap/carrier. My second wanted to be held also, so I made my own Mobi wrap. It's basically a big long piece of material that you tie around yourself. The instructions are online and videos on Youtube. This helped me get some little things done around the house.

Also, on the weekends when my hubby was home, he'd help me make big batch of food for my toddler (pasta, little hamburgers, etc.) Then I'd just have to pull it out, nuke it for a bit, and she'd have lunch. That helped a ton. Also, we would have "reading time" during nursing sessions. The older would get about six books, and she'd hold them and turn the pages while I read them to her. This met her needs for attention when I couldn't physically give her 100%. I also had flashcards for her with letters, numbers, and shapes. She liked those as well.

I also alternated their naps, so baby slept while girl was awake and girl slept when baby was awake. This helped me focus attention. There was some overlap, which was when I'd nap. :)

My oldest was also content to play in her bed in the morning after she woke, so there were a few times that I'd go up, change her, give her a glass of milk, and then go back downstairs and nap for another 20-30 minutes.

After a month or two it will get easier!

Does your 2 year old stay home with you? If so, do you have a friend or family member that can help for a few hours during the week so you can get some sleep and give the baby undivided attention? My 2 year old continued to go to daycare while I was on maternity leave but only from like 10am-3pm. Some of those days I slept all day (as baby did, too!).

Biggest thing is to take it easy so you can heal. Even if that means you sit in the living room and color, watch cartoons, do puzzles, etc, then that is okay! Don't feel that you have to be out and about in this heat with a newborn and 2 year old.

Make easy meals (sandwiches, pizza, take out) and don't worry about having a clean house!

I remember the first month or two with my kids (hubby worked nights) we did a lot of reading and coloring and watching cartoons!!!

Hi S., we've all been there, but remember even at 2 weeks it's not good to hold them all the time, My advice to you is get daddy's help this way you can have time with the baby while daddy is helping the 2 year old and visa versa, also the 2 year old needs to learn to play independently as well. Have daddy with the kids and take a long bubble bath at the end of the day to relax. It does get easier, just don't try and do it all by yourself. J.

Invest in a front carrier of some kind like a baby bjorn if you don't have one already. My first 2 were 17 mos apart and then just had 3rd 2.5 weeks ago - 2.5 years after baby #2. carrier is a lifesaver abc allows you freedom of movement for cooking or playing with your toddler. Try to catch a nap if baby and toddler nap at the same time or get yourself a sitter to help out so you can nap when baby naps! Best wishes! I am right there with you! *yawn*