Advice on Having 3 Young Children

Hi B.,

Congratulations on the soon to be addition to the family. I have 3 kids within 11 months of one onther and I also had my oldest son who was 3 at the time. Although I cheated by having twins and then my young son it does require a lot. I just had 2 cribs in the home because I did not want to push my twins on before time. Not to mention they were very small still and just starting to really move around so them being in a crib really helped me to know where they were. All I can say is that it is a challenge, however it can be done. You just have to remember that you are only one person and that you will get everything done. What helped me to not go insane was the fact that I had them all on different sleeping patterns by 30-45 minutes. Which allowed me more of the one on one attention time. It also will help you not to be overwhelmed when they all are hungry at the same time. You have been successful so far with two kids. You should do fine.

Hello B.,

I am a mother of 3. They are all 7 and under.
I think that the best thing that has worked for us is that i had the two oldest help me with the baby as much as they could.
I would have them help with picking out what clothes they wanted the baby to wear. They would take turns giving the baby a bath as i watched. They would take turns helping to change the diapers. I would ask one to go and get the diaper and the other one would go and get the butt cream. That loved to hold the baby and sing to the baby.
They would take turns brushing his teeth and so on and so on.

Keep this in mind that the two oldest are (ONE GIRL AND ONE BOY).

Right now the baby is almost 2 and the 3 of them love each other so much that it is so sweet to watch them together.

It will help you as the mommy with all of the work and it will help them as brothers or sisters to bond with the 3rd child and it will hopefully get them on the right track to teach them how to care and love for one another from the start.

Everytime the two oldest kids would help with the baby i would always say " _____ loves it when you help him and it makes him so happy and he loves you BOTH very much".

That always made the kids feel like we all were in this together and it made them feel as if what they were doing was helpful.
It is important to make sure that you as the mommy and the daddy to show all of the children love together so that no one feels left out and that mommy and daddy loves everyone.

Take care and God Bless you and your family.
Enjoy the new little one.

I had 3 children in 4 years--1972, 1973, 1976--and both me and they survived. The oldest was handicapped, so he wasn't walking and stayed in diapers extra long. So, I had 3 in diapers too but, I did not work outside the home; however, my eldest required frequent doctor trips and Physical therapy 5 days a week, so I had to get everyone out and moving every day. The hardest for me was being pregnant with the 3rd (a girl) and having 2 little boys to keep up with. The biggest tip I can remember is that I did as much as I could all together: diaper changes, bath, dressing, eating--kind of assembly line whenever possible. I bought a bunting for the newborn so that I could just zip her in after a diaper change and take her wherever we needed to go quickly. Remember too, that the time you have to deal with 3 little ones is shorter than it feels like at the time. Hope that helps.

Oh yes, you asked about sleeping... I had a cradle, crib and youth bed. When the baby was ready for the crib I just shifted the other two.

HI, and congrats on the little one on the way. you are quite lucky, i know because i have a 2.5 year old and 7 month twins. my advice for you is to take it day by day, one step at a time. understand that you can not do it all (i had a hard time with that one). try to find some help (whether it be babysitter, daycare, dad, grandparents etc) that can come over to watch the newborn and one other child, so you can have "special time" with one of the older children, and switch. what was also a HUGE help to me was trying to keep my two year old involved, making it like play time. kids love to help at this time, so i use to ask him to help mommy change the diapers and he holds them while i do it, or help with the bottle and he carries it across the house. he also loves that he is included in the waking up of the little ones (goes it and says morning just like we do) and putting down (comes in and kisses good night and we let him turn on the mobile). i think making him such a huge part of this early time has made it sooooo much easier on us. i am not sure if this helps, but i can only hope. try and take time for yourself (it will be difficult, be even one hour twice a week is great) and remember you are not perfect, and they love you unconditionally, and just for being mommy! good luck and holler back if you have any other questions!

I have 2 boys, they are 20 months apart. My oldest is now 3 and the youngest is almost 21 months. We haven't had a crib in our house for about 4 months. When I was pregnant with my 2nd we moved 2 months before I was due, and we never set the crib back up, put him into a twin bed with rails. He did great, he was a tall boy so he had no problem getting in and out of it at 18 months. And my youngest was moved to a toddler bed with a rail at 18 months. I have 2 good sleepers so it was easy for me. I wish you the best of luck!

Hey B.!

I am a working mom of 4. My oldest was 4 and my twins were 1 1/2 when I had my daughter. My main advice to you is YOU CAN DO IT! I got very distraught when I was pregnant with my daughter thinking I was going to have to be put in a nice soft room in a pretty white jacket when I found out I was having my daughter! lol ;> It was tough at first but the best things are the toughest things to get to. It will be so worth it, I can not imagine our family without her as each child adds there own part to the family and balances it out.

Something that helped make it easier was taking time to introduce my daughter to each of her siblings as THEIR new sister- invoke the protectiveness and helpfulness inate in children and be sure to give them LOTS of ATTENTION when they do nice things for their new sister or to help you. Get a pamper/wipees for the baby, put the bottle in the sink, get the bottle for you. Include them and give them lots of hugs. Although you have to be careful with the new baby, try to not be afraid to let them explore their new sister. Re-direct if necessary- if they are touching the babies head/eyes/etc redirect by saying look how nice you are being with your sister- she likes when you play with her toes or rub her legs. That way they don't feel rejected but are not poking the babies eyes out either! Baby slings saved me, because that way I could be holding the baby and still have my arms available for hugs and I knew they weren't experimenting with her while I was making dinner.

I had a GRACO double stroller- side by side that I loved- huge basket underneath and very light and easy to fold. I carried my daughter in a sling.

We have a family bed so I didn't have to transition anyone, but I did use a Arm's Reach co-sleeper for the baby which attaches to the side of the bed so the baby is right next to you but no one will roll over her. By the time your littlest is ready for a crib your other daughter should be ready for a bed. Also good because the baby won't wake up the others if she is next to you and you will hear her before she gets going full force. You want to avoid having to deal with grumpy sisters getting up at night too! You can also put a soft sounds cd in their room so if the baby does cry they won't hear her.

Lately I have been getting up earlier than the kids to have time to take a shower in peace and maybe a cup of tea if I can squeeze it in. That helps alot to have just some time for you.

Just remember it gets easier as they get older so the roughest time is the first few months while you get used to it and used to lack of sleep. Just don't think about it or compare it to before you had kids! Stay in the moment and you will be just fine!

Have fun! May you and your family be blessed with lots of patience and love!

A. G

I don't have 3 that close, but here's my 2 cents! First off I had a baby shower w/my first and 3rd. I'm pregnant now w/my 4th and registering JIC anybody want to get me anything as there are a few things we need and we don't have money for all those extras (nothing big though). With my 3rd we actually had a non-shower (it was my MOm's idea) She sent out little announcements that surprise I was pregnant w/my 3rd that we didn't plan and so on (they were only 3 1/2 yrs apart, not to far) and that we were having a non-shower and were I was registered and all. I know plenty of people who think a shower should be a celebration for every baby.
Second how old is your oldest? My youngest will be 3 the month before this baby is born (due Jan). I put him in a twin bed w/a rail a couple of months ago and he does great! He was already a pretty good sleeper/napper though. We started w/ a trial run of him sleeping on a crib mattress on the floor. i would be careful though if yours is sharing a room w/a younger baby that she may hurt. I had planned on putting a baby gate on the door to keep him from running around the house but it hasn't been a problem. He shares his room with his 6 yr old brother. Now we're potty training =)!
Third if your oldest will still in a stroller a lot then I would probably try to get a triple. But another option is wearing a sling or baby carrier with your youngest. I wish I'd known more about this with my first two. I used a hotsling w/little one for about a year. There are lots of great carriers out there of all different kinds. Try googling baby wearing.
One more thing if you don't have shower, you may find people to donate stuff to you. I had gotten rid of a lot before being pregnant this time, because we really have no storage space. Well I've had a few friends give me lots of their old stuff. And also you can request things on your local freecycle.
Congrats & Good Luck!
~E.