Calling mothers and fathers of four (or more!) Advice!

LilacPixie

Congratulations Jo.

I only have 2 kids but 20months apart. I had a M&P aria twin which I loved as it was light and easy to push and fold. TBH DD#1 was so independent that we graduated from the twin buggy to a single pushchair and buggy board by the time she was 2.

Churchmouse

Hi! My experience is not at all relevant to yours, being as my kids are all fully fledged. Just thought I'd add that 4 is a great number for kids. I had a 21 year old and a 19 and a half year old in bunk beds :rotfl: In the other bedroom were a 14 and a half and 13 year old. My kids ( all boys) are a great asset to this world, all can share, none are precious about themselves or possessions, and all are exceptionally nice humans I had a twin ( side by side ) buggy for DS3 and DS4. It was bl00dy hard getting around shops. Tandem pushchairs weren't around much then Mind you I do feel for the poor devil in the "behind" seat. Eyes 6 inches from canvass doesn't offer much of a view.

You will come across people who will have a lot to say about having more than the usual two children. Ignore them and know that your kids are wanted, lovely members of the human race. In my experience baby number 4 slots into the routine as though born to it

Good luck !

Jo_R_2

Churchmouse - that's good to know We have already had the "are you mad??!!!" comments (made tongue-in-cheek so taken with good humour.) Not that it matters really but interestingly I think people have a slightly different take on things when they know that DDs are from my previous relationship and DS and this baby are with OH, who wanted more than one child himself (of course he says he has three going on four anyway but you know what I mean!)

Lilacpixie - the Aria was one I've had my eye on actually. I have gotten a bit confused as I gather you can get 50:50 and 60:40 ones, the latter being the one you can fit the car seat on? If anyone knows it'd really help me out!

slightlyconfused1 - the two car scenario had crossed my mind. Practically however we do do regular trips all together (at least weekly if not more) to my parents who live a 50-mile round trip and is something that is very important especially now (my mum has been really ill recently and seeing the kids really cheers her up - and us too hopefully!:D

We're quite lucky because OH's stepdad recently sold us the car we have now at half the price it should have been so we hope to sell that then use the proceeds and some savings towards something with more seats. A Galaxy is one I'd like to look at more so any good and bad points would be really useful to know!

jcr16

hiya, congrats on pregnancy. i only have 3 little ones at mo, although we are hoping for another couple of little ones very soon. however as reguards to a car. we have an 02 plate renault espace. it is the highest n cap safefy rating in it's class which is why we went for it.it has fully removable seats which is ideal. even with all 7 seats in there is still good boot space and it cost no more to run than any other car. infact it is prob more ecomical than some smaller older cars . it is incredically easy to drive and park ( my biggest fear,lol). i would def say tho go and try loads of mpv out before you buy. one thing i love aout our is the glove box can become and icebox ( turn air con on inside it) so it great in summer for keeping drinks cold,lol.

poohbear59

Congratulations!!
I have four who are now grown up, almost. And we have often had others living with us too.

When no. four was old enough to move out of our room DH and I moved into the middle bedroom and gave the three boys the biggest room as it could easily take bunks and a single bed. DD had a room to herself on the understanding it was to be the guest room whenever we had people staying over. We didn't need a huge room just enough for a bed and wardrobe.

Over the years we tried all sorts of car ideas. 7 seater estates were popular but had no luggage space. My family learnt very early on what their legs were for and walked to and from playgroup, a mile away each day. When they were able to manage bikes with stabilisers they could cycle beside the pushchair. When I went back to work when the youngest was 5 we needed two cars so had two small economical cars and the only time we needed to use both was on holiday and we took two. It was still loads cheaper than buying a people carrier.

Saying that we did eventually buy a Galaxy about 9 years ago and it made life a lot easier. It did us for a good few years when they were teenagers/early twenties as it was ideal for moving them in and out of uni, etc. They are much cheaper now and the fuel efficiency is pretty good.

Like churchmouse I still have bunk beds which are used by my 19 and 21 year old sons. Buy really good quality (3ft width) and they will last for ever. They have really good quality single bed mattresses now, not bunk bed mattresses.

I have found four a lovely number. Mine are really close in age , four in five years, and get on really well. Good luck.

frugal6

Congratulations!

I have 6 children and have found the best double buggy is the double nipper, its very lightweight and can easily handle children of different ages its great. I loved this buggy so much still haven't been able to sell it yet LOL.

We have a VW Caravelle 8 seater. We find the car great not much dearer to run than a people carrier and a great big boot space which people carriers don't have. They seem to make these people carriers to carry people but not all the stuff that comes with lots of children!

slightlyconfused1

Hi

I found the galaxy really comfortable. We could fit the buggy in the boot (but not much else) and so we used a roof box too. We took the middle seat out which gave us a bit more space. This made dealing with the little ones easier too.

Not sure about the fuel consumption etc.

SUESMITH_2

littlemissmoney wrote: »

The catchment area only matters when you are applying for a school. Once you are in, if you move out of the catchment area they don't kick your child out of the school! And your younger children would still get into the same school due to the sibling rules. So you could move within a commutable distance of the school.

that used to be the case, but where i work siblings no longer get an automatic place - so check carefully

oh, and congrats - im one of four girls and always wanted four myself but due to problems stuck at two

redmel1621

Hi Jo

I am also pregnant with baby 4 and have been having all the same dilemma's that you are having.

We only just bought a new car in October last year (an estate) and have now changed (2wks ago) to a Renault Grand Espace...I absolutely love it:D It is huge but surprisingly light and easy to drive, in fact I often forget how much car I have behind me!! It is a 2.0l (my estate was a 1.8l) so barely any difference, it has a huge boot and we easily fit our pushchair (only tried the singeleatm) and our big dog on there comfortably....well i don't hear any complaints from the dog anyway;)

Bedrooms...we are in a 3 bed house too and really don't want to move (again) we have been here just under 3yrs but before that we lived in 5 different houses in 7yrs! Now the older kids have really settled into the local school and have some really good friends, I don't want to move them about again. Our bedroom is the middle room as it was already fitted out to be the master bedrrom with fully fitted wardrobes, space for king size bed and over bed storage etc, so we have kept it that way. The older two boys are in the big bedroom and the baby (1yr old) is in the small room. This baby is a girl so we are torn between keeping the two youngest ones in the small room or moving the baby (ds3) in with his brothers so the girl has her own room. Obviously there are pro's and con's to each option which is making the decision very hard.

Double buggy....I have just bought a side by side mountain buggy as ds3 will only be 15mths old when baby arrives and I walk the older ones to school 90% of the time which is about 15min each way, I don't think it would be fair to make him walk that distance (especially when rushing) even at the age of 2yr it would be a very long walk. I am thinking the double would be used until he is 2.5-3yrs old, and then I can revert to one of my current singles with a buggy board (if needed). I have no idea what his needs will be as my older two children were so different, one walked everywhere by 2yrs the other still loved his buggy at 3yrs old.
The mountain buggy has brilliant reviews as does the nipper360 double which is a more economical option, both fir through standard doorways (mine fits easily through my front door) and are lightweight, nipper folds very small too.

eta...just noticed bit about car seat onto buggy....mountain buggy does this...you can have one side a seat and the other side a carrycot or car seat:).....Also just wanted to add that the Graco Quattro tour is VERY heavy and quite cumbersome, I know 2 people who have had it and got rid fairly quickly because it was too heavy, especially with a toddler at the front!!

You are not alone and I hope you get things sorted out with minimal stress:)

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Bunkbeds!!! And if you are having a boy, and concerned about DS going top bunk to soon (even though my DD is 3 loves bunk beds and is pretty safe to my surprise) you can always put them top to toe on the bottom bunk till older DS old enough to move up top - just think, many of us used to do this as kids, it was never a prob!

If a girl, then bunkbeds again if you don't already have them in the girls room, and a toddler bed if it can fit. Kids might have a whinge at the lack of space at first but they very soon forget about it and get on with having fun instead!

I am only just due our second, but in a two bed place (second bedroom just a box room) and older being a girl and bump due is a boy, he'll be in with us until 2yrs, then we'll look at moving but staying local for the school. But if we can't find anything then they'll have to share, i'll get bunks until we can find a place.

As for car, people carriers aren't really gas guzzlers, nothing like 4x4's/jeeps. They are hardly much more expensive that a standard size car. Usually nicely reliable too

Buggys well i can't help too much as DD is slightly older, we are getting a buggy board for bubs' new buggy just incase as she still stops in a stroller if we are out all day.

You'll make it work!!!

Nearly forgot - CONGRATS by the way x