3 children. Talk to me...

[superfrizbee]

I'm 8 weeks pregnant with my third. And people keep asking me if I'm crazy?! If all goes well I will have a just 5 year old and a nearly 3 year old when this baby comes. My 3 year old has additional needs. Speech therapy, physio and occupational therapy are all involved after he had a stroke at 7 weeks old, but he is doing amazingly and I think having a younger sibling will be really good for him.

My dh works long hours. He's out in the morning before its time to get up and ready and he's generally not back until they're in bed, sometimes home for a quick story.

How do you manage with three? I'm thinking of school runs, bath times, meal times, bed times... All with three and solo. Please share any tips and tricks that make your life easier. How do you do things? I'll hopefully be breastfeeding again so that might make things more tricky at first too.

Someone please tell me I'm not insane. Please tell me some of the good parts of having three, or any positive experiences.

 

[catty]

No your not insane!! Well maybe you are but i am too then.

I have a 3.5 year old 2.5 year old and a 9 weeks old.

I am solo from around 8am until 5pm so i do get help with bedtime but i have done it myself quite a few times and so far so good!

what i would say is you just have to be extra organised, clothes out and bags packed the night before.
I have an area downstairs all stocked for nappy changing and another upstairs so save me time and effort. My son starts nursery at 8.30am and i dont get my youngest dressed to go just put her pramsuit on. I dont even clean up the mess from breakfast until im in and that way im not rushing around stressed out.

So some things iv had to change -
Sometimes saying no to things. I used to say yes to everything regardless of if it would work well for us. Now things like softplay at a time whrn my daughter will probably be wanting breastfed and the kids will probably be tired i just say no.
The kids are in quite a bit more in the afternoon than they used to be, it made me a bit upset at first as there so used to being outdoors but they got heaps of activity games for xmas and weve been reading much more and playing, i still try and get out to the park every few days.
Going shopping with them all is a no no for me now so i just do it when i have 2 or later at night.

Hmm thats all so far i have felt much more stretched now more washing, more cleaning, more of everything but i am so glad we had her. We were going to stop at 2 but im so so glad we had her you will do amazing .

 

[bbbbbbb811]

It's hard at first, I'm not going to lie! But a baby carrier is how I managed to get dinner on the table, bath the other two, put them to bed, cleaned. I still couldn't get it all done how I used to but it was getting done. If I needed to go somewhere (school run, shops) put baby in the carrier and 99% of the time she will sleep the whole time.
That said, watching my two daughters with my newborn daughter is precious. They both love her so much, even my not even 2 year old wants to cuddle her and kiss her all the time! Also I let myself go a bit lol, showered when needed, enjoyed the peace when there was some, and left the dishes til the morning if I needed sleep.
I know you're OH works long hours but in the first few weeks especially I leaned on my partner a lot so if he gets paternity, share the load and get a few lay ins after being up all night breastfeeding! I felt guilty at first but I was a better mum all day with an extra hour sleep while my OH did breakfast.

 

[donnarobinson]

I found 2-3 much easier than 1-2 which I found tough it's got harder for me as baby 3 got bigger because when I'm seeing to him the other two fight like mad little monkeys lol! There almost 5,3 &a the baby has just gone 1. I have a 24 month age gap and the 22 month! It's busy I never get a minute one of them always wants or needs something but it's also amazing to X

 

[lau86]

It's hard!!!!! I've answered these posts at various stages and my answer is still... it's hard!! People do say 'oh my third just fitted in', I didn't find that at all. They're all at different stages and especially my youngest and oldest are demanding. So maybe it depends on their personalities. After a year of being a threesome my older two still don't understand how to wait!
It's hard at the moment as my oldest is really growing up, he likes doing Lego and I have to be on my toes the whole time as the baby will eat literally anything.
From their point of view I'm sure it's absolutely brilliant, the boys love each other and mostly get along so well. They loooove their little sister so much. I love them all and would have a fourth, it is chaos so I might as well have another?! Mad logic but hey. You'll love it but you will be tired!!
ETA my dh works away and late hours so I do a lot of bath time myself. When they were little I would do all three together, now they're bigger they have tea together then the boys watch tv while I bath baby and put her to bed, then the boys bath and stories.

 

[bbbbbbb811]

People do say 'oh my third just fitted in', I didn't find that at all.

I agree! Two was so much easier than three, but I didn't want to scare anyone

 

[sil]

I'm in the same boat as you. I have a 3.5 year old, 18 month old, and I'm 17 weeks along with my third baby so they'll be 4, 2, and newborn.

I am planning on wearing the new baby as much as possible for things like school runs. I'm also planning on trying to bathe the boys together (my older 2) and start reading their bed time book together as right now DH does one boy and I do the other separately (we switch off who has who each night) which would be difficult with a newborn as well.

I was worried about how I'd handle two at the same time when DS1 was an only child but we learned DS2 and how he works and he slotted right in. I'm sure we'll adjust just as well when DD arrives (or maybe I'm being naive, but I hope so!)

Good luck

 

[misspriss]

I am in the same boat but mine will be 4 and 2 when the new one is born.

I also plan to babywear a lot! DH and I currently take separate kids to bed now, still trying to figure that one out myself.