2 under 2!! (Advice)

[PumpkinQueen]

So I found out this morning that I am having another baby! Mine is 8 months at the moment and will be just shy of 1.5 hr when baby # 2 comes. I love lists so naturally my brain is in overdrive thinking of everything I need to do before February. Flood me with advice for having 2 under 2!! The only thing I can think of right now is that I will probably want a tandem stroller.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[apple_20]

Congratulations! I had a slightly bigger gap but I'm pleased to say most things can be re-used (especially if like me you don't mind your girl having 'boy colours' or the other way around)
Look into pushchairs carefully tandems come in all shapes and sizes, I loved my city jogger it.fit into my tiny car boot and has so many options. However it's Heavy so there are things to consider.

I would seriously look into a sling/carrier. Being able to carry your new baby around (and even bf on the go) is very helpful with a toddler to keep up with.

 

[oliv]

i have 16 months between my two and my DD didnt want to get in a buggy once DS arrived so im glad we never got a double buggy.

Also if you DD is still in your room move her into her own room sooner rather than later so she doesnt feel pushed out by the new baby

 

[petite ping]

I never got a double buggy -there's 19 months between my two.
I got a buggy board and encouraged DD1 to walk holding the buggy. DD2 spent a lot of time in the carrier.

We bought a cot (identical to DD1s) and new blanket (so DD1 wouldn't have to give up hers) and extra bed linen and a few new pacifiers.

We also bought a new chair for DD1 and a new carseat - but those can wait until baby is big enough to use them.

I think that was it.

 

[george83]

Congratulations! I have 15 months between ds2 and ds3 and much prefer that age gap to the 2 1/2 years between ds1 and ds2. I did have a double buggy and used it all the time but that's partly because I prefer to walk than drive and while ds2 was happy to be strapped in I wasn't going to stop him. Other than that we didn't need anything and everything flowed fairly well - as soon as ds2 out grew anything (clothes, toys, equipment etc) it was just past straight on to ds3. We did buy a new cot and then kept ds3 in with us for over a year but that was because that worked for us we could have moved them around earlier but I didn't want ds2 disrupted while he was so little

 

[catty]

Congratulations! I have 11 months between my oldest 2 and a double buggy was an essential. They both were using bottles, dummies, nappies etc so i set up a little box for each one just so it was easy to have there own things and the teat sizes etc not getting all muddled up.
I dont really think theres all that much you need to do for the specific age gap but is nice to be organised. Actually really enjoyed the age gap as they both napped no such luck these days.

 

[Pipakoka]

I have 25 months between my two boys. I practically reused everything: the stroller, the crib, the clothes... But like oliv said: you have to be careful ... you need to do all the changes before the second baby comes, so the older kid doesn’t feel pushed out by the new baby. We wanted to reuse the crib, so three months before the baby came we switched the crib with a bigger bed saying to the older son: “You are too big for the crib, so you need a bigger bed.” So the older son thought that he got a bigger bed because he was too big for the crib and not because we wanted to give the crib to the new baby. You need to do all the changes in a way that the older kid thinks you've made them because of him and not because of the new baby.

We didn’t have a tandem stroller because we didn’t need it. But your gap is smaller and if I were you, I would buy it. Because my older son at that age wasn’t confident enough going around with a balance bike, and he was walking also very slow My friend has this double stroller

https://kidishare.com/uppababy-vista-double-stroller/

She is very satisfied and she highly recommend it.

 

[WackyMumof2]

DS1 and DS2 are 21 months apart. Wasn't too bad but there was when they were young, a LOT of double teaming so it could spell trouble. There is always a leader and a follower and the follower will always be blamed. :/

This time, DS3 is 8.5 months and I am due with lucky #4 (last baby) so are looking about 17 months. I'm hoping DS3 and his younger sibling will be closer than the first 2 and have more respect for each other but at the same time, I expect a repeat of double teaming.

I will however, be buying a new infant seat (the last one I hated with a passion I gave it away), another cot as DS3 will be staying in his, bottles, binkies, bedding. But I had DS3 bedding designed so I will do the same thing this time. Not too sure as of yet if I am going to replace my buggy with a double or just buy the secondary seat to sit under. However, I can't recline the buggy if I do that so a newborn would have to go underneath and I just don't know how I feel about that.

 

[sil]

We have 25 months between DS1 and DS2 and will have 22 months between DS2 and DD.

The most important thing for me was a baby carrier. I am a stay at home mom so am with the kids alone most of the day, and it was essential for me to wear DS1 when he was small.

I also made a box of special activities for DS1 to do while I was nursing DS2 because that took up a lot of time in the first few months.

Don't be hard on yourself. It's ok if you get a little behind on cleaning or if your child watches a little too much tv every now and then. Things WILL get back to normal and even out as the newness settles down.

We were lucky and didn't have any acting out or jealousy issues when DS2 arrived and I think it was due to him being so young. He almost viewed it as us having a new pet in the house (he would actually pet his brother with his hands and say 'niceee' like we taught him to dow with the cats).

 

[Twag]

I have 21 months (just) between my two and I would second the getting a baby carrier so you can have baby close and settled which dealing with your older baby
Also making changes regarding bed, feeding area, change of buggy etc sooner so they do not feel pushed out etc

I had no jealously between mine or acting out thank fully

Good luck & congratulations

 

[kajastarlight]

I have 19 months between DS1 and DS2 then 11 years between DS2 and DS3 and the 2 years between DS3 and DD. Reuse reuse reuse!! Lol I even have DD in DS3's very boyish car seat. Cuz really, she doesn't care lol Double strolers are great and baby carrier is essential for me! Also if you plan to nurse it is helpfulness you can gate off your living room so your toddler can't destroy the house while you are on couch lock.