So my second baby is due in 7 short weeks and I am desparetly trying to make life easier by being as prepared as we can be for when she arrives. I remember just how difficult the first few weeks were when we had our daughter 2 years ago and it was just us so I could only imagine that it will be that much tougher with a newborn and a toddler to care for. We are extemely fortunate to have such a large and loving family that sre all in town and are willing to help out and we will definitely need some help at the beggining with my 2 year old but I am a very 'independent' person if you will and I like things done a certain way so I would prefer to tackle most stuff myself. Anyway I was just wondering what helped or would have helped for when baby number 2 arrived? I already have a plan of attack for meals for the first 2 weeks so that we dont even have to think about eating or cooking and some other random things here and there but any advice or helpful hints would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
A cleaning service would have been helpful, especially one willing to wash dishes. It seemed nobody who came to help wanted to help with that type of stuff and the more company we had over the worse and worse the kitchen and bathrooms got.
It helped to have the toddler prepared. Plastic bowls/lids with cheerios, sippy cups filled in fridge, a new movie or toy, lots of things to color....
When you involve the toddler in the baby duties it helps. They can go get the diaper, burp cloth, onesie... all kinds of things. I had them all on the changing table shelf. My little ones loved to bring them to me and it really did help :)
Dont forget to have your mommy things ready. Having a new pair of pjs, robe, comfy slippers... all made me feel better. You can set your shower up with your special items. If you feel pampered a little you will feel better. Have your favorite coffee and snacks ready. We seem to forget about ourselves!
Try to get the toddler to nap with you and baby. When we all napped together, it was heaven!
Clorox wipes, windex wipes...anything to make clean up easy.
Congrats and wishing you lots of happiness with your new addition :)
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Okay, since you don't want internal help, (like people coming in and helping with laundry ans such, I'm the same way)... then have people take your toddler for the afternoon and do things like that, it will be a huge help. My mil came one afternoon and took care of my kids just so I could go and take like a 3 hour nap. It was so nice.
Make lots of freezer meals, but it sounds like you have that covered.
Declutter and organize as much as possible, sounds random but it helps! Clean everything also really good, so everything is fresh and new. Also, train your 2 year old as much as you can in this short time to be helpful. So she can bring mommy diapers and wipes and toys... it will help with sibling rivalry and it will help keep her out of your hair, but feeling wanted and being helpful at the same time. Really talk her up about being a big, helpful sister.
My kids were also 2 years apart exactly, so I know how it goes!
Making and freezing foods in advance, stocking up on non-perishable items. Have a teen mothers helper come in. It's easier to tell this person to do things your way than it is to tell your mother or mil. It's great to have someone to do small things like change sheets, take out trash, water plants. Also, as soon as you can leave the baby, even for an hour, if your family can help with that, take your older kiddo on outings or even to play in the backyard, having that special time with the bigger kiddo is definitely helpful. Good luck
Get a Roomba, a hand-held shower (worked well on my many many stitches), and a Baby Bjorn S.. Everything is easier with a toddler when your baby is in the S..
I've never had number two, but a couple things I have considered needing:
1. My touch lamp. I hate turning on the clicky lights or bright overhead lights in the middle of the night. When I have number 2, I am getting a few more touch lamps for my house. Just tap and it's dim, tap and it's brigher, tap a 3rd time and it's brightest, tap a 4th time and it's off. LOVE my touch lamp.
2. Slicing and dicing. I know you said your food is covered for a bit, but we use a lot of bell pepper, onion, and jalepeno in our house. If it were me, I'd go buy a box of freezer bags and do all my chopping now and freeze it. That way, when it's time to cook, you can sprinkle a bit of jalepeno in there, sprinkle a bit of onion, a bit of bell pepper, and you're done. No cutting board, no washing the veggies, no worrying that you got jalepeno on your fingers, then touching baby. Just make sure you freeze it ona cookie tray first, THEN put it in the bag. That way the pieces don't stick to eachother in a huge frozen ball. (My local store sells diced onion in the frozen section. Worth the $1.)
3. Take your digital camera with you to the store the next couple weeks. If you are pretty specific about certain brands/sizes, this will help those who shop for you. When I had number 1, my mom shopped for me. I told her the TP brand I wanted was "HEB" "Purple writing" "Twice as Soft" .... she got me Hill Country Fair, Torquoise writing, and it was not the least bit soft. ANNOYING! I know she was doing me a favor, but man oh man. I am already sore from having a baby and dealing with emotions. I just wanted my regular toilet paper (or something better - not the crappiest brand they had). So anyway - take pictures of these items and make a grocery list using the pictures of the can/box so you get exactly what you want.
4. I would think the 2 yr old will feel like mom doesn't want to spend time with him/her. So I would try to plan outtings where baby can go too - the park, playground, a picnic outside, etc.
That's all I got. I am going to bookmark your post and refer back to it if/when I ever have number two!
Baby #2 is actually less of an adjustment than baby #1. The reason is that you already have an idea of the work involved in caring for a newborn so there are fewer 'OMG what do I do now' moments.
Have family and friends take your toddler on adventures so she feels special and doesn't miss out on any of her usual outings. Also you might want to have someone watch the baby while you have quality time with your toddler.
Let friends or family come and take the 2 yo out for special things like maybe to a local bookstore or childrens museum or library etc. Not so much that she then misses mommy but little activities every day so you can nap. That would be the biggest lifesaver. I also don't like a lot of help on my laundry and cooking etc. I prefer to do that stuff myself.
Also if you have dogs, having help walking them, that was a big help to me.
Or if there are errands you want to go out and do, having them just babysit in the house for a little bit so you can run around and do some things esp with the fact that it'll be cold when baby is born, not so easy to just run around.
Good luck!
My daughter was 2 when I had my twins. What helped was having the baby nurse for 12 weeks!! (Yes, I really did!!) But knowing that is not realistic for everyone, I will say that the best thing I did was spend time with my 2 year old. I dragged the boys along (with the baby nurse) to things my daughter wanted to do. This way, she never had sibling rivalry and now loves her brothers.
To make things easier, I set up diaper changing stations upstairs and downstairs. That way, if I had to change diapers, I didn't have to drag my daughter along upstairs. I could do the changes wherever my daughter was.
An infant carrier might be helpful too b/c you can take the new baby wherever you want even if he/she is asleep. Good luck!
I would say the biggest lifesaver for me was having a sling or wrap for those first few weeks when the baby seems happiest on/around you and so you can have your hands free.
Meals are great too! I didn't have space but that first week was nice to have food. Also if your family want to contribute: mealtrain.com is a great way to set up food/deliveries/visits!
Update: Cleaning help, outsourcing as much as you can those first 3-4 mths was also a big help.
Good luck!
Cards to order food delivered
Time to sleep
Grocery shopping (following a very *precise* list)
