Tips for coping with a second baby

Gillby1

Hi all,

My second baby is due in a few weeks time, and DS1 will be 18 months when he or she arrives. Although i can't wait for the little one to make an appearance, i'm starting to feel a little anxious about coping with a newborn AND a toddler.

I'm sure those of you on your third and fourth babies (and some even more!) will find this laughable, but i'm quite daunted at the prospect as i remember that a newborn is a full time job on their own, and it was such a shock first time round!:o Does anyone have any tips to pass on? Anything you wish you'd been told, or any experiences to share? I think i'll feel better for planning ahead.

Thanks all,

Gilly x

pigpen

Feed yourself!!! Make sure there is loads of stuff you can just grab and eat.. neglecting yourself is not good.

crying babies dont explode but toddlers with their head in the oven might.

Hope the older one doesnt decide to be toilet trained the day you get home from the hospital with the baby

Keep the older one involved, dont tell him to not touch the baby.. he only wants to know what it is.. just stay close so he doesnt punch her in the face, tip his dinner on her head or carry her about.. or worse..

it all just falls in to place eventually.. remember though, the baby is joining YOUR family not you all joining hers

thunderbird

Don't worry, it is only the firstborn baby that seems like a full time job! You'll be so much more relaxed and confident with the second.

Accept any offers of help and don't worry about trying to be supermum.

Gillby1

thunderbird wrote: »

Don't worry, it is only the firstborn baby that seems like a full time job! You'll be so much more relaxed and confident with the second.

Thanks. A few people have said this, and i'm really hoping it turns out to be true!

thunderbird

Gillby1 wrote: »

Thanks. A few people have said this, and i'm really hoping it turns out to be true!

As long as you don't expect it to be too easy!

But all the things like changing nappies, bathing, little techniques and routines you have worked out with your first - you can do them all without thinking or worrying now.

plus, as pigpen says - you know that your baby will be fine if you don't go them as soon as they start to cry or nothing terrible will happen if they don't have a bath every night. Basically, you know the difference between the theory and practice of looking after a newborn!

barbiedoll

It really is true!
With your first, you drop everything at the first hint of a whimper, with subsequent babies, you just have to leave them to get on with it. As a result, they are usually much easier to settle after a feed, are less fussy eaters (they have all the leftovers! :rotfl:), can tolerate noise much better and your toddler will provide hours of amusement for him/her as they get older.

Get any visitors to make a fuss of your toddler and make sure that they take him out as much as possible. When he's out, get some sleep, a quick 15 minute nap will be worth it's weight in gold. As pigpen says, make sure that you look after yourself, you're gonna need to keep your strength up!

Good luck with the birth, and don't worry, you'll be fine!

Gillby1

Thanks for the lovely messages. It really helps to hear about other people's thoughts and experiences. I imagine that the most difficult thing will be the potential lack of sleep, so this time i'll call in as much help as possible, rather than insisting on struggling on by myself!

Bumpmakesfour

You'll soon get into a routine that works for you..enjoy xxx
I'm 24 weeks pregnant with number 4..had three under 3's at one point which was a bit nuts..this time I have a nice big age gap so hopefully will be a bit less manic :P

Becles

Make sure the eldest gets some "Mammy time" so he doesn't feel pushed out. When the baby is asleep let him pick a story to read or play with him or something.

Ask visitors to bring him something, even if you just hand them a biscuit or something when they come in. He might feel upset that the baby is getting lots of presents and he isn't. However he doesn't understand about the value of things, so a biscuit is far more valuable than £50 worth of baby clothing in his eyes

Get him to help with the baby so he still feels important. Mine used to get a wipe out for me and pass a clean nappy at nappy changes, or keep the muslin safe when I was feeding and pass it to me when the baby needed winding.