2 under 18 months.

Charlies Angel

So, much to our delight, we are expecting baby number 2 later this year:D

We have most things already but need to get a double buggy.

I wonder if anyone else with babies this close in age, have any advice? Is there anything I should work on with my firstborn (who will be 18 months when new baby arrives) as regards bottles, soothers, feeding, I'm hoping he will be walking very soon..

Any general advice for coping with 2 so close in age, especially in the early days.. ?

Moonbeam

congrats:)
I have 24 months between my 2.
My eldest was off bottles completely by 18 months and soothers well before.
We got an out and about nipper double buggy.
I involved her as much as possible in organising for the baby and she barely noticed having to share everything.

wmpdd3

My sister has a bot and girl with 18 mts between them. They are like twins, they look after each other so well.

I think its a great way to have kids. The dont even know the meaning of MINE yet!

She bought a side by side compact double but sold it when the oldest was 2 for a small buggy and a buggy board. Turn out the big one goes in the buggy and the small one on th board!

18 mts is perfect for passing on stuff, so borrow what you can if the big one is not finished as it will only be a few weeks before they are finished. If you use them I'd recommend 2 bath seats, when the little 1 is 6 mts as you may as well bath them together but it is no mean feat.

When they get to 3 and 4 your laughing as they just entertain each other.

January

I have a 14 month age gap between my two.

It's a breeze... The only thing that bothered me was coming up to the end of my pregnancy I found it hard to lift my little one as she was still really only a baby herself. She learned to walk the week number 2 was born, so that was a big help.

I involved her as much as I could in the new baby, letting her help get bottles and nappies when she needed to be changed, we bathed baby and she would sit watching or rub some water over baby during bath time (always made sure daddy or partner is there to help though!), she would kiss her good night and fetch her lullaby box (cot mobile but just the music part of it, they didn't like things hanging over their heads for some reason!).

They are 26 months and 12 months now and they are starting to play together now. There was never much jealousy from the older one, the occasional "I sit on your lap mammy" but after the younger one goes to bed we sit down together and read a story and play some games together so she has some alone time with us also.

I found a routine easy enough to get into with two because I was already in pretty much the same routine with the first one. She still has a bottle of milk in the morning and night time and still has a soother (will be getting rid of it soon, it's only really for bedtime).

CathyMoran

There will be less than 14 months between our two - our eldest is a boy and was born in early April and our daughter is due in May. It is tiring but our son is in the creche now and that helps. My husband has got a baby carrier for older children...we will see how that works out. Good luck with your pregnancy.

Rosy Posy

We have twenty months between our two. It was tough at the start (washing cloth nappies for two anyone?) but its brilliant now, they are best mates and my son doesn't remember a time when his little sister wasn't around.

We got a 'toddler seat' that attached to the front of our buggy which was much handier than trying to manipulate the massive wide double buggy.

One thing that I found invaluable (especially if you are breastfeeding) was an extra big armchair that I could feed baby in and that my son could cuddle up in at the same time- he always seemed to want attention at her feeding times so I just got him to get a story book and he could snuggle up and I could read him a story while feeding her.

When I was pregnant I made my son a simple baby doll about the same size as a newborn baby. My OH was dubious but it was great for modelling how to be gentle with the baby and getting him interested in the whole thing. Something like this would be perfect http://www.ansiopabeag.com/product835.html

best of luck!

Cottontail

so what did people find was the biggest difference going from having one small person to having two?

CathyMoran

At the moment it is the normal tiredness of pregnancy while having this wonderful little bundle of energy who also takes up all your energy - worth it though!

Moonbeam

I could go anywhere with one but when you have 2 you need to make sure the older one is ok etc while you feed the baby when you are out.

January

Double the stinky nappies :eek: !!!

Ah no, at the start it was the sleep deprivation because the two of them were not sleeping through.

Now it's a breeze as they're both playing together

Moonbeam

the madness has got me again I want #3 lol
I am lucky that both of my babies have slept through the night since 6 weeks.
I could not cope with out sleep:(

CathyMoran

Moonbeam wrote: »

the madness has got me again I want #3 lol
I am lucky that both of my babies have slept through the night since 6 weeks.
I could not cope with out sleep:(

I alwayts wanted 3 all my life but age wise and financially it would not make sense.

Our son is still in our room and it will be hard to have him in his own room - that is one thing that I am finding hard at the moment - me going to the bathroom a lot with the best will in the world does wake him up. It is brilliant though and having a complete family is wonderful.

Having babies of a different sex means that we have to have different clothes, though our son's moses basket is unisex so that is something in the short term and she can go into the same first car seat as her brother.

esmewatson

Hi, in a similar boat - Ds1 was 14 months when ds2 was born.

DS1 is now 2 and DS2 is 10 months and while DS2 has adored his big bro from the off, DS1 is only now understanding "what" he is and that he might be able to have some fun with him now! Until now he has mostly ignored him and focused on his own wee world which was fine - a bit of attention seeking now and then though but that's to be expected. Now he talks to his little bro, and they play away together (well mostly "side by side")

Rosy Posy makes a very good point about feeding time - that seems to be when DS1 gets most interested in getting mammy's attention. I try to settle him down to some activity (like snack or play doh, etc) while I feed the baby.

Went with an inline double buggy p&t and has worked out great.

All the best, it's tiring bot so worth it