Your Experience with Newborn and Toddlers

My biggest issue was with the car seat. When the baby was in it my toddler wanted to rock the baby and he tended to shake rather than rock. Also, watch out for the oldest giving the younger toys or foods that are too small. I actually had an easier time with my two oldest because they were eighteen months apart. I now have an almost 1 year old and a 7 and 6 year old. They are much more rough with him, wanting to wrestle and pick him up.

my oldest child had just turned two when i had her brother. she did try to pick him up and she wanted to help so much with the new baby. i would suggest that you let the two year olds help like get you a diper and help you sing songs to the baby. get you the bottle help pick out clothes. let them know they need you to be around when they want to hold the baby. that they are going to be your big helpers. let them help you read to the baby or teach the baby new things and help you figure out what the baby needs. i found that my little girl knew my son better than i did even though i have never been away from either of my children for very long. there is a sibling bond that you just cant replace. as long as you let the older kids help you with what they can and you mae them feel special for being a bi sister and brother i found that works better than telling them that they cant talk to or play or help you with the baby. make them know they have a special role when it comes to being an older sibling.

K.,

Hi. My daughters are a year and 2 days apart. Very close:) My oldest was a little starved for attention. I made sure that when my youngest was sleeping that I devoted my attention to her. We cleaned ans did chores after they both were in bed. That is probably the biggest challenge that we had. Also be careful and make sure to watch the oldest with the youngest there were a few times that if I would not have been watching very closley that something could of happened. Although they are trying to be "nice" and "gentle" to there new sibling they also do not relize how "strong" they are. Hope this helps and good luck:)
-A.

You need to expect everything. lol I have one that will be 3 and one that will be 1, next month, plus I found out I am pregnant with #4 in march. This is going to be jealousy, but how jealous will depend on older kids personalities. My 2 yr old wanted nothing to do with the baby when we brought her home. She would just avoid all contact all together. She did become klingy. And of course potty training still isnt happening. My son, who turned 5 shortly after my first daughter was born, also did some reverting back. Ok, he didnt need diapers or bibs, but emotions ran high for a while. He would burst into tears at the drop of a hat. (Somedays I felt he had more hormones then me!!) There is no clear cut way that your children will behave. They could be peaches and love the new baby to pieces, they could be the jealous type and try almost scary things to the baby, or they could be like my daughter and just plain ignore the baby (after all a newborn IS kind of boring, just sleeping and eating and pooping ;) lol) Just kick back and relax and let things happen that may. Try to get them involve if you can, like bringing you diapers or picking up the bottle and so on. Good Luck!

Congratulations! I had 3 under the age of 3. I did let each of the older ones "help" out. I'd make bottles for the day and put in the frig and send one of them to get it for me (the baby preferred "cold" bottles, which helped). They'd help rinse diapers in the toilet (we had to call the plumber a few times too :) But for the most part, they were at that age of wanting to be independent so they were glad mom was pre-occupied with someone or something else. By the time the 3rd was was born, the 2nd one decided diapers were for babies (he was 19 months old). Went to big boy pants and never looked back. The oldest one was 2 yrs 8 months when the 3rd was born, he was already pottied trained by then. So, I didn't have 2 in diapers, 2 in bottles, etc. Yes, when one was done with one stage the next followed suit very quickly. BUT once done with that stage, we were done. It was awesome. The same applied when they hit the teen-age years together. Went thru the rotten stage only once. Now they are all married and have all had kids and all of their kids are very close in age. Now I have 9 grandkids ages 6 to 13 months. Good luck and God's Blessings

I haven't had this to deal with myself but a friend of mine recently had a new baby girl and her older daughter who is 2 absolutely loves her new sister. But they have had to deal with her wanting to hold her and not being strong enough, so they sit with her on the couch and put the baby in her arms and she gets bored pretty quickly! But they woke up one night to find the 2 year old got out of her crib and climbed into the bassinet with the baby! Pretty scary, so they pretty much sleep with one eye open! I imagine that little kids get bored of watching a baby do nothing so I am sure this behaviour doesn't last long, and any time you bring a new child into the home it is important to spend as much time as possible with your other children. Kids adapt pretty quickly so I am sure it won't take long before they are comfortable with the newby! Also, I would suggest having them assist you with diapering, giving baby a bath etc, and my daughter (who is older but still wanted to help) loves to read to my son and even though your babies are only 2 they can show baby picture books and other fun toys. Good luck!

My son was 22 months old when our 2nd baby was born in January. Our 2 year old actually did very well. I think the most important thing to remember is to make sure you try your hardest to give them both the same amount of attention and to let your 2 year old help out as much as possible. We let our 2 year old get diapers for us when it is time to change them, etc. Whatever they can help out with is great because then they feel extra special and important! My 2 year old loves our baby and constantly says, "Me loves baby Isaac, mommy." It is super cute!:) Good luck!!!

I agree with what everyone else has been saying. My children are all 2 years apart. I've had a little bit different situation with them because my last two were 7 and 6 weeks early and spent 3 weeks in the NICU. Once we got the new baby home, the best thing was to have the other sibling(s) involved in as much as possible. With my 3rd, I've bottle fed from the beginning, so I let them help me hold the bottle, put the bottle in the sink after he's done, get the diaper & wipes, throw the dirty diaper in the trash, etc. Having them help out makes them feel good about being the "big sister." Another thing, is when they ask to hold their brother, I let them.

Potty training-we were in the process of training with our 1st when our 2nd was born and she reverted back for a little while but was ready to be completely trained a few months later. We haven't started our 2 year old yet but we'll start by the end of this month. I just didn't want to deal with the reverting back! :)

Another thing that will be nice with having their birthdays so close together will be you'll be able to do one big birthday party for them for a while. My two girls were both born in July (2 years & 6 days apart) so we can still get by with one party since all their friends are the same right now! :)

Congratulations on your 3rd!

I had a 2 year old daughter when I brought my new baby boy home. My daughter was not very fascinated with the baby. More with my attention. Got alot of "Mommy watch this" while I was taking care of the baby. She also had problems with potty training again. I had her completely trained before the baby was born. But she went right back to have accidents again. I was frustrated at first. But I learned that when the baby was taken care of, Naps, in baby swing, or his daddy had him. I would direct all my attention to her. let her have time to do what she wanted. Play games, color,or what ever she wanted me to do with her. She was in charge for about an hour. All they want is your attention. Hard for them to relate to the baby right away. We baught a present for the older child from the baby when we brought him home. She loved it, kept her busy with a new toy & she liked the baby. I hope I helped.

My son was a month shy of 2 years when his little brother came along. A couple of tips that worked for us:
I had a spot in every room where we spent time in the house where I could put the baby down quickly and safely (a pack-n-play in one room, bassinet in another, bouncy seat in a third...you get the idea). That way, if my toddler needed my attention, my intervention, or even just a big hug, I had a place to put the baby where he was safe and happy.
I also had a big basket with a handle that I packed up once or twice a day with a book or two, some small cars he loved, a non-perishable snack, a sippy cup, a diaper and travel pack of wipes, extra nursing pads for me, a bottle of water, and anything other small things I thought he or I might need on short notice. We moved it around the house or out into the yard with us throughout the day, and especially when I was nursing, it was nice to have all of that stuff right at hand. After a while, it became Joe's job to carry the basket for me, and he loved having that little bit of responsibility.
I wasn't a sling mama, but in retrospect I wish I had been. My sister used a sling with her second and it made playing with, dealing with, and following around her older one much easier since the baby was essentially hands-free and cozy and happy in the sling.

Good luck!
J.

K.-
My daughter was about 23 months when my son was born. One of the biggest challenges was that she became so needy. She wanted to be held when I was holding him. We were just starting potty training and although she did train fairly fast and quickly (she pretty much had it by 2 1/2) I think it would have went quicker if my son had not been born yet. It seems like when she is done with a stage, he goes through it. The hardest part was the first 6 months after he was born, he was constantly nursing and she was needing attention. I think it would have been helpful to have somebody else there to spend time with her like a friend with a child the same age, grandparent etc. Just make sure the other children get a lot of attention, its a hard time. My daughter did try to pick him up, feed him, wake him up all of it! That's expected and actually is a good thing because it means they want to be involved. After a certain age I did not worry about it, she even had him pinned down changing his diaper the other day :)(hes 18 mos now). Give them little tasks to do so they can feel like they are helping like getting a diaper, putting a diaper in the diaper pail etc. They really get to be good friends because of the age, they have similar interests. It's just a lot of work in the beginning.
Brekka

I have a 6-week old and a 22-month old. My toddler pretty much just ignored the baby for the first week or so. Now he pets him on the head and sometimes tries to put a binkie in baby's mouth. He has now realized that the new baby is a permanent part of our family. The first couple weeks were very difficult because I had a C-section and could not pick up my toddler. My best advice is to make sure to spend time with the twins while your husband or someone else takes care of the baby. Once my husband came home, he took the baby and I would read a book to my toddler, just the two of us. That really seemed to help him realize that I still love him and can spend time with him, too. Good luck and congratulations!

My daughter was three when my son was born (last October)and she has adjusted very well. The hardest part was right at the beginning, when we were still in the hospital and a couple weeks after we came home. There were a couple of times that I found her in her room crying after I disciplined her because she thought I didn't "like" her anymore.

The thing that I did that I think helped out the most is I would make a point of talking to the baby about my daughter, when she didn't think I knew she was listening. I would say stuff to the baby like "you are so beautiful...just like your big sister" or "you are so lucky to have such a great big sister" and stuff like that. She also loves to hear stories about how she used to do things like the baby does.

I find that I have to watch her more around him now than I did when he was a newborn. She tries to feed him and pick him up more now since he is more interactive with her.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Congrats I am also due in Aug...the 25th...Are you about to die from the heat yet??

I had an 18 month old when I brought home the new baby. I have to say that the hardest thing was making that special time with my older daughter!! But I would suggest that after you are done feeding and the baby is sleeping to make some time with the twins. You and dad need to have special time with them and also include them in the daily chores of having a baby....don't force them, but if they are willing to help get the diaper and wipes or throw the diaper away...give them that satisfaction!!! They need to have a part in everything that you do. I also used the baby to get potty training done sooner. I was always telling my daughter to show her new baby sister how she does potty on the big girl chair and that worked great. 3 Weeks after bringing home the new baby she was potty trained. That was something that only she could do to be really proud of herself and for that she got special things that only she could have!!
Make sure to include them and enjoy it when they are young. I also think that because you have twins that they will help eachother throught this and that might make it easier on you and your hubby!!

there is only 17 months between my boys and i had to just try and get him to help a lil when i was changing his brother and stuff like that ask them to get the diapers and wips and stuff like taht so they don't feel left out.