OT: Having another child...

Tiffann4k said:
To me 2nd & 3rd was just the same as having one....#4 is what did it for me, but then again I had all 4 children in about 3 years. The biggest age gap is 16 months & the smallest age gap is 10 months :flower: My oldest DD was 3 when #4 was born

Sorry no adjustment tips, my children got to a point where they almost expected a new baby every year :rotfl:

WOW!! I could not imagine having 4 that c ose.

I was fine with #1 & #2, There are 7 years apart. #3 came 5 years later.. so I was just getting used to being a mom of 3 and found out I was pregnant with #4 when #3 was 3 months old :earseek:

#4 is almost 4 months old and I still do not have the hang of it. I know it will be fun in a few years when they play together but now I dont even go grocery shopping with the 2 of them. I am also working PT weekends only now where with the other 3 I worked FT and did not have them during the day. Now I am making up for it with the 2 little ones.
 
Hi Lisa! Where are you from in NJ? I am originally from Pompton Lakes - we now live in Rahway.

It's funny - i am DEFINITELY more relaxed with this baby then I was with DS. I remember when I found out that I was pregnant with DS #1, I was about 5 weeks along. I called me doctor, who didn't want to see me until I was 8 weeks along. Instead, I went to the ER. I was just so nervous and wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I had two friends who suffered from ectopic pregnancies that I just had to know.

With this 2nd one, while I still wanted to make sure that everything was okay, I was able to wait until 8 weeks without a trip to the ER ;)

I think that my biggest concern is being in the hospital for 4 days (I had a previous c-section and the doc is recommending another one). That's 4 days without DS :(
 
To all...

THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your experiences! I have enjoyed reading them so far, and it has been so helpful to me!

Thanks again!
 
I think that my biggest concern is being in the hospital for 4 days (I had a previous c-section and the doc is recommending another one). That's 4 days without DS

I had a second c-section and since it was planned, we were able to prepare my DD for time to be spent with Nana and Papa. My parents made a big deal to take her shopping for a gift for her brother and even took her to see Bear in the Big Blue House on stage! (Only for BIG KIDS--no babies allowed!) My husband was able to have time alone with her, too and they made crafts and decorated for our return. I was able to get lots of needed rest before we went home and our hospital allowed sibling visitors at all hours, so we were able to be together as a family during our hospital stay. I missed her horribly at bedtime, but I think you will be so busy with the new baby and recovering from the c-section , you may enjoy the down time of the hospital.

By the way my 2nd c-section was so much easier! I hope yours will be, too. My first was an emergency after a day of labor, so I was pretty tired. Plus I knew what to expect and wasn't so scared. LOL!!!
 

I have 3 kids -DS 3, DD almost 2, DS 2.5 months old. I love them all equally and more every day!!! They are all 20 months apart and I can honestly say that they have never been jealous. We have always made a big deal about them becoming older siblings ("Wow! You are going to be a big brother/sister! How exciting! You aregoing to have to teach the baby all sorts of things!") My kids also for some reason gravated towrds my belly and used to love to sleep on it and kiss it all the time. It was very sweet. I know some people mentioned that they can't shop etc., but I do it all the time with the three of them. In fact, I just went food shopping with all 3 the other day. It can be a bit of a challenge some days but you get through it. They are very close and watch out for each other. They share well and only have the occassional sibling fights (my toy! etc.) Most of the time they play together and will even wake each other up in the mornings to play! DS#1 and DD love our new baby DS#2. They kiss him and talk to him and are very sweet to him. DD snuggles up next to him and makes sure she covers him when she covers herself. DS#1 will talk to DS#2 and tell him not to cry that his big brother is here. It makes me melt! I too was most worried about being in the hospital and away from the other children but they were okay with DH. My DH is great with them so I had no real concerns except that I missed them! I will also say that I nurse all my kids so I do hold the baby alot and nobody seems to mind. The best part is having all those cute cuddly babies to snuggle up with at once! :cloud9: You will do great! Just enjoy every minute and have a sense of humor. It is so much fun! :banana:
 
Camping Griswalds said:
Okay I am a mom of 3 and do have some advice, ...

first off medically the "3 " year gap is supposedly the best for both mommy and baby. It gives mommys body 2 full years without being pregnant and the older sibling 3 years (by time baby is born) of "babyhood' Well mine are 4 years between the first 2 and then 8 years between 2 and 3 so I didn't follow that advice :goodvibes


I too was VERY worried between one and two .. I mean no way could you love #2 as much right...Well i was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong....even liked the new baby better some days as he did not back talk, run away, throw things, have tantrums ask "why?" etc. Well then comes #3 ( a lovely girl surprise) and low and behold I have apparantly an untapped amount of love! I now know withut out a doubt that I could love 10 kids! Sure some have easier personalities, some have better days, but you love them all.

And most importantly, my kids love each other! Really we were so worried when #3 came and how she would dissrupt the 12 and 8 yo life, but instead I have gotten to see what caring, loving, helpful individuals we have raised. Of course no one has volunteered to change any poopies or anything, but believe me, my boys really enjoy being big brothers. And my daughter just seems so much happier when the 5 of us are all together! It is almost a tangible thing to see her relax and smiling when we are all together!

We do think about having #4, which really would be "her baby" as the only reason we feel we need another one is that the boys are so much older than her, so we don't want her to feel like an only child. But aren't sure still what we are going to do about that. She is almost 17 months now, and I will be 37 next month, so time is an issue...who knows.

So all of you who are preggers with #2, or are thinking about #2, it is wonderful, just think how much better your life is now with one, and then double it!!!!

I am so glad you are on here. You have helped my fears so much! My dh and I have 2 girls who just turned 10 and 6 and I want another baby! (Actually I had a miscarriage a couple months ago.) I'm so happy to hear how much your older 2 dc love their new sibling!! Also, I turn 37 in May and that worries me too but wanting a baby seems to overshadow those worries. So, thank you again!!! :)
 
What a timely topic! Here I sit wondering how we will handle 3! New baby is due in August. DD will be 4 1/3, DS will be 25 months. They were 27 months apart which was a great age difference for us. She was just out of diapers and had no regression at all. She walked into the hospital room and asked where her baby was and has loved him completely ever since. She even named him.

The new baby and DS will be 25 months apart, I am more troubled by this as everyone tells me that boys mature more slowly. I think DS is doing great and have no worries about his maturity, just that he is so sweet and seems so small now, when compared to DD and I can't believe we will have another baby!!! Actually hoping DS will still be in diapers as they are so much easier than the newly potty trained toddler! I still have flashbacks of nursing DS while lifting DD onto the potty - she was too short and refused to use the kids potty!

Don't get me wrong, this was completely planned and wanted. Just a happy surprise to get PG the first month we tried! We wanted 3 and wanted them fairly close so they would share interests, be able to ride coasters together, etc!
ENJOY them, love them. And think, if you didn't want an only child you had to do it some day!
 
I have 3 children. My daughter was 4 when we had our son. I was so scared I would never love him like I did her. It worried me the entire time I was pregnant. Well, when he was born it was like when she was born what did we ever do with out him. We included her in everything. She was the 3rd person to hold him, my husband 1st and me 2nd when he was born. We took her to a big sisters class they were having at the hospital. I tried very hard to not be nervous when she was with him, about holding and touching him.
Well she is now 16 and he is 12, they are the best of friends. They have always been pretty close. Sometimes I hear them laughing and joking in the other room and it brings such joy to me. They are really their for one another and it is just a complete blessing. they are 4 years and 1 day apart.
Try not to worry it will all work out.
Good luck
 
our kids are 2 1/2 years apart in age (planned it that way). we made a huge effort to avoid the entire "it's your baby and you'll have a baby bro/sis to play with" concept when i was preganant with #2. we did'nt want our dd to get any ideas about the baby being her "baby doll" that could be put some place and ignored when she was bored or frustrated with it. we also did'nt want her to have unrealistic expectations about mom bringing an instant playmate home from the hospital (its a long road before the new baby can play with the older sibling). while we talked positivly about the new baby we also discussed some of the realities (the baby will need mommy and daddy to feed it, change it, it won't always be quite when you are trying to sleep at night...) so she would not be shocked by the changes that would occur in the household.

that said she realy looked forward to the birth, but had some idea of the realities a new baby would bring to the family.

our pediatrician advised us to only potty train her if she showed interest because most toddlers will regress in this area with the arrival of a new sibling (she did, but not greatly). i also made a huge effort to have her see me interact with other children-when i dropped her off and picked her up at daycare i would always allow alot of extra time wherein i would interact with both her and the other kids, letting the others share time with her sitting on my lap (i wanted to show her that she could share me with other children and not feel threatened by it).

she did fine with the new addition (there were times though :rolleyes: i clearly remember ds crying one night as he awaited feeding, dd shouts out from her bed "baby, will you never learn to be quiet and just sleep?!" :teeth: ).

the 2 pregnancies were drasticly different, dd (#1) had me spotting throughout and my legs and feet swollen beyond recognition, ds (#2) had me racked with morning sickness and intollerant to anything with caffeine (so i had headaches from the withdrawls). i worried too how i could love another child as much as i loved dd-it was a completly different emotional experience with ds. i recall loving him from the time he was conceived, but FALLING in love with him during the first days as he brought back a flood of memories/emotions from dd's first days. both kids were completly different babies-dd was a colic kid, ds started out easier but reved into being demanding in other ways (but both :teeth: managed to begin sleeping thru the night by 6 weeks).

they are 11 1/2 and just shy of 9 now. the fight, they tease, they love and they defend each other. i will never regret spacing my children such that they are capable of being companions as well as siblings.
 
I am currently pg with baby #2...due in May~ Yesterday we found it it was a she and DD 1 is thrilled! IShe is so excited to have a baby sister! I find I am more calm in many ways as I am so busy with dd 1... I have many of the same apprehensions that the rest of you..."How can I possibly love this new baby as much as dd?" I know I will, but it is difficult to imagine... Sarah has been the center of our world for so long! I am glad she will have a sister to go through life with!

DD is 4 1/2 and will be going to Kindergarten in September so she is also very excited about this new chapter in her little life.
 
I can't help with the going from 1 to 2 kids, as I started with 2. I was worried about how the girls would react to the new baby in a different way. They were so close, would they include another sibbling? They were 3 when dd number 3 was born. My one dd was all excited and loving from day one, while the other wanted nothing to do with the baby. The picture of them at the hospital when they saw their sister for the first time is priceless - one of them lovingly looking at the baby and the other standing as far away as possible, but still in the picture. But the day she came home from the hospital, the dd that wasn't thrilled, told my dad to "get away from her sister."

Since then, it has been great. You definitely are more relaxed the second time around. Our girls are now almost 12 and 9, and are best friends. We always tried to find some one on one time with the girls with both DH and me. Now, they'll ask to spend some "alone" time with us, so they aren't afraid to let us know when they need a little "extra" attention.

Any type of change requires adjusting and time to adjust no matter what your age. Adding another child to the family is just one of those times.
 
julia & nicks mom said:
As the mom of two - I will try to calm all of your fears!! :rotfl:

I was so sure I could never love #2 like I love #1 - I was worried that he would take away my attention from her - that she would feel neglected - that I could not give him the attention I had given her etc. etc. etc.

He is just another member of her large fan club - he ADORES her and she ADORES him -

it is true that you can not give two what you would give to one - but I feel that in exchange - they give each other so much more than I could give them

I am married to an only child and I know he is glad we have two - he thinks he really missed out on sibling interaction

Sure - I can't really take both of them to the store at 2 and 4 but then again I can't take the 2 year old at all!!! :rotfl2: I think 3 years is a great age difference b/c you will get some alone time with #2 while #1 is at school -

the biggest thing you will learn is that after having a 2 year old - babies are EASY!!! You will have time to work up to having two running around your house - in the beginning all they do is eat and sleep - although this seemed overwhelming with #1 - you will laugh at how hard you thought #1 was when you have #2

Oh - and I do love #2 the same as I love #1?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I love him for totally different reasons in a totally different way - but just as much!!! They have such different personalities and I get so many different things from each of them - I didn't fully understand this before he was born - but I do now!!

I KNOW you will not regret having #2!! #2 will be just as scary as having #1 - it's just a whole new set of concerns!! Weren't you a little worried when you had #1? and you wouldn't trade them for the world!!

I completely agree with this poster!! Especially the comment about how much easier a baby is the 2nd time around.

My girls are 21 months apart, neither DH nor I are close to our siblings (we each have one), and we think part of it is the larger age gap. A dear friend had her kids 22 months apart, and said while the 1st year of the younger's life is chaotic and a blur, then they start to interact and play well with each other. We decided to try to have our children about 2 years apart and got lucky.

DD#1 was still in diapers when DD#2 was born, so no huge change there, just needed a few more things in the diaper bag I was still hauling around. The hardest part was getting in the car after shopping or whatever. I'd have given about anything for a remote sliding door in my van. Holding a toddler's hand, carrying DD#2 in an infant carrier, with diaper bag and any packages I had, and then putting it all down to unlock/open the van without DD#1 running away was sometimes tough. I used my double stroller A LOT.

Grocery store - tough to take both unless the store has the carts with extra kid seating. and those are a PITA to push, but at least you have room for a large shopping outing. on one of my first trips to the supermarket after DD#2 was born, I had her infant carrier in the front seat, DD#1 sitting down in the back, with the groceries. She was good about not opening stuff, and I put the fragile stuff underneath, but decided I needed to rethink grocery shopping after I ran into a friend and she pointed out that DD was sitting on 2 loaves of bread. :rotfl:

when pregnant with DD#2 I couldn't imagine a child different than DD#1, and was so very surprised at how different they are. they are night and day personality wise.

I love watching my girls play together and am so glad we were able to have more than one.
 
cruiserkaren said:
DH and I have been discussing #2 and I went off BC in November. Some days I'm terrified of having 2 kids, other days I'm like....I'm so ready for this! BTW, DD is 27 months now. I'm an only child and so I want DD to have a sibling to share life with. I would love to have a sibling now at my age. I don't remember thinking that when I was younger, but now I'd love to have someone close to talk with, laugh with, worry with....etc...

We've heard both things....that it's going from none to 1 that's the hardest and that one is easy, two is a major, major adjustment. Also I enjoy my sleep, it's hard to think about getting up multiple times at night again! :earseek:

Keep the experiences coming. I love reading them. Isn't it funny how you can be so excited and terrified by something at the same time? :earseek:
We too had been discussing this and I went off BC in late Oct/early Nov. There are definitely some days that I think "do I really want to go through this again???" particularly when dd3 is giving me a rough time. Then there are the times when I'm so excited at the possibility of having a second child. She will be at least 4 when/if we have another one, so I'm hoping that that will make it a little easier with being able to help out, being more mature and not jealous, etc. Jealously is what really worries me.
I've always wanted two, just had to wait for DH to come around. He finally said that he thinks we should have another and we both think that it would be good to give dd a sibling. Is that a bad reason to have another? Just to give an only child a playmate/sibling? Of course that isn't the only reason we have for wanting another child.
We will take whatever we get though as it took us 18 months of really trying hard before getting pg with dd3. Here's hoping it doesn't take that long as I'm only getting older! (34 now...) :teeth:
 
Our 2 Princesses said:
I am so glad you are on here. You have helped my fears so much! My dh and I have 2 girls who just turned 10 and 6 and I want another baby! (Actually I had a miscarriage a couple months ago.) I'm so happy to hear how much your older 2 dc love their new sibling!! Also, I turn 37 in May and that worries me too but wanting a baby seems to overshadow those worries. So, thank you again!!! :)


We too had a miscarriage between 2 and 3 (so technically our DD is # 4, and we do think of our pregnancies that way) I became very "obsessed" with having another baby, but had pretty much given up hope. Also DH didn't want to "push the envelope" again, well we had our surprise and our lives truly couldn't be better. We appreciate every moment..you will too, I'm sure. Plus it's kinda neat being older parents this time around! We don't have those newly married, new jobs/careers, buying a first hope stressors. We just get to be parents. VERY nice!

Good Luck and pixie dust for your own healthy bundle of joy!
 
Camping Griswalds said:
We too had a miscarriage between 2 and 3 (so technically our DD is # 4, and we do think of our pregnancies that way) I became very "obsessed" with having another baby, but had pretty much given up hope. Also DH didn't want to "push the envelope" again, well we had our surprise and our lives truly couldn't be better. We appreciate every moment..you will too, I'm sure. Plus it's kinda neat being older parents this time around! We don't have those newly married, new jobs/careers, buying a first hope stressors. We just get to be parents. VERY nice!

Good Luck and pixie dust for your own healthy bundle of joy!

Thank you so much! :goodvibes
 
Going from one to two was much easier than 2 to 3 IMO. I was a Nanny before my kids so I don't know if that helped being used to handling 2 all day but the preggo part and breastfeeding.

My girls are 2 years 2 months and 2 years 3 1/2 months apart. Both Dh and I are only children and we wanted them as close in age as possible.

I take my kids everywhere with me and that means the store, doctors, etc...They were never excluded from the baby and all the baby stuff. The oldest always got to shop and help pick out things for the next. I would say it is her/their baby and have friends and family ask about her sister.

At the hospital I had a present for the big sister(s) to help the "baby gets everything" thing. I would have her (them) open the presents and help the baby with stuff like pick out what to wear, bathing.

Best wishes!!!
 
I have three, so far. There is 3 years (almost exactly) between the first and second and a mere 19 months between #2 and #3. #2 is exteremly high maintance and was a very sick infant. I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant again. However, he was so young, he never missed a beat. There was no "adjustment". I'm hoping for another 1 - 1/2 year age difference.

Now when I had my first, we did a lot to prepare him. Books galore. The one I love the most is What to expect when mommy is pregnant and What to expect when the new baby comes home. There were many others too that were just stories. The Seasame Street video Three Bears & a Baby is also good.

Just remember to still make one on one time with older children. It is much more important than laundry. A walk around the block, 15 minutes at the local park, an ice cream treat once a month is all that takes. Then if you nurse, use that time to do quiet activities (reading, board games) with younger children. If you bottle feed (or pump) let the older one help with feeding. And let them help with diaper changes (getting the diaper, throwing the dirty one in the trash/diaper container). Let them make faces and talk to baby when your doing something else (close by). My oldest loved to burp #2 when they were little. They were also told what great teachers they were to the younger siblings. And then we catch them being good & helpful as much as possible. We also tried not to disrupt their normal routines & let them bring treats to preschool for celebration (ask teachers first!). We also refer to the new baby as "our baby".

Before the new baby was born, we always had our older children help pick out things for the baby (coming home outfit, new blanket/toy) and take it to they baby when they came to visit at the hospital. Amazingly enough, the new baby also got the big sibling(s) a gift also. And so did mom & dad. Last time it was "Big Brother" t-shirts from Mom & Dad and Build-a-Bear gift certificates from baby (also a great diversion for when mommy wasn't around).

We had people tell us not to let the littler one visit in the hospital or don't let him see us with the new baby if he did visit. I totally ignored that advice. I figured it would be better to let him see us with that new baby right away so when we got home it wasn't a complete culture shock. And I am very glad I did. It was by far the best thing we could have done. It was a little difficult in the hospital, but when we got home, he had already experienced it and it wasn't a hard adjustment. Not to mention the extra time to process the idea. I had a bit of time in the hospital since my first two were emergency c-sections and my third a planned c-section (after the previous two, no choice).

Oh--on the c-sections. My older kids didn't understand why I couldn't hold them when standing. We made up for it with lots of sitting snuggle time. And after the 2nd, I ended up showing my oldest the incision, something I was trying desperately to shield him from for fear of frightening him. After he saw it, he was OK with it all. It didn't scare him at all, but helped him deal with my limitations the first few weeks.

The hardest thing about the second is learning to balance their needs when they both NEED you at the same time. But it only takes a short time. And to tell you the truth, I didn't notice any difference between 2 and 3. I don't even think it is that hard to run errands with 3 v. 1--just use the stroller (or those wonderful race car shopping carts at HEB grocery stores!--it's a smaller cart were the older two ride in the front & the baby is in the normal spot. Not like those awful things Walmart has with the big double blue seats that are impossible to push and get around the isles with).

If you are worried about will I have enough love, don't be. Do you love your parents/siblings any less once you met your husband? Your you DH any less after having a baby? There is an infinite amount of love to go around. The more kids you have, the more love multiplies. Although, I do have to admit that I didn't think I loved my 2nd as much as my first. I was horrified at my feelings after his birth. I had post partum depression though. Luckily some people noticed it and I got help with those issues. Once the ppd was gone, all that love was there and bubbling over. SO, if you think you don't love the 2nd as much, talk to your dr. about ppd!!

I wouldn't worry about having a second. A sibling is one of the best gifts you can give a child. Someone to share the same experiences and memories. Someone to keep in contact with as life goes on into adulthood and old age. Someone to share the joys and heartaches in life in a way no other person can because you come from the same place, no matter how different you are in every other way. And do remember, all kids are different people.

This is way too long, so GOOD LUCK!!
 
We also tell our kids that the reason we had more than one of them is so that when they have to go to therapy as adults because we screwed them up so bad, they will have someone who can validate their stories. If we had only one child we could just DENY TILL WE DIE :goodvibes
 
Camping Griswalds said:
We also tell our kids that the reason we had more than one of them is so that when they have to go to therapy as adults because we screwed them up so bad, they will have someone who can validate their stories. If we had only one child we could just DENY TILL WE DIE :goodvibes

Funny! Tha'ts one of the reasons we decided to only have 1! We figured with just one-the parents are still the majority and can't be outvoted :rotfl:
I give credit to all those having #2 and #3. We are happy with our only and can't imagine having another! Good luck!!!
 
Our kids are 19,12, & 10. We didn't get started until we were 30 and finished up at 40(there was a miscarriage between #1 & #2.) I worried a lot about the age difference between my oldest two, but I didn't need to worry. They have been best of friends since day 1. DS19 takes wonderful care of his sister & brother and never complains about them. They don't fight and they truly miss each other when one is gone for awhile. They each have their own friends & interests, but they have not problem finding things to do together, like movies, video games, etc. DD19 introduced DD12 to Aerosmith at MGM when the parentals were too chicken. :rotfl: Only a big brother would do that.
 












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