How did you find the transition from 2 to 3?

detoxkid

I might be in this scenario if I am, my eldest would be just gone 4 and youngest 2 and 5 months. There is 19 months between my two and I found the transition of going from 1 to 2 traumatic to say the least. How did u find going from 2 to 3?

shesty

Ahem....possibly ditto.😨 (actually potentially worse.....not yet 4, and 2 & 1 month would be the timing....)
I figured if I can survive the first two, I can sure as hell survive the next one!!!!
Plus no.1 is now started in playschool so, ya know, small mercies.....

Romantic Rose

Would love to know about the transition from 2-3 too. Mine are 4 and 1. I would love another soon. My 4 year old will be going to school next year and I think I could cope with another by then but I'm wondering about logistics like taking them to shops, money etc etc.

Chocolate fiend

2-3 was a lot easier than 0-1, it might have been because our number 3 was and is the easiest of our children, but maybe she just had to be.

sillysocks

My third is 9 months old now. I think I've found the transition the easiest of any of the kids. On number 1 you just haven't a clue and everything is daunting. Number 2 is all about learning to juggle more than one child at a time. By number 3 you've (hopefully!) mastered both the juggle and have an idea on raising babies so I think I've been able to enjoy it a bit more.

It probably helped that my other two were a bit older when number 3 was born - they were 6 and 3.5. That helped because they could entertain themselves and understood everything that was happening with a new baby coming etc.

Number 3 is generally calm but loves early mornings which isn't so good 🙄

Editing to add a third child does bring some logistic issues. Mainly with cars.... we've a 'family suv' and really struggled to fit the kids in. Not sure if we will manage when the baby moves to the next stage seat but our only saviour was that the eldest was old enough for a booster seat. She uses a tiny one which fits in but 99% of the seats and combinations we tried didn't work.

The third child spends a lot of her time in the car seat with different school & Montessori drops, plus activities etc but I guess that's just normal to her!

gifted

Hard....but worth it

1....the car.....had to change avensis ( brilliant perfect car ) to a 7 seater to suit child seats....dealers have you caught by the short and curlies...

2....with two kids you could hold a hand each...cant do that with three kids...one is going to be "free" lol lol

3....booking hotel rooms...two kids no bother ..loads of options....type in three kids and watch those option disappear and the price rises

4....buy one get one free in sweet shops is perfect for two kids...doesn't work for three kids...

5....babysitter costs go up with three kids

6....most things in supermarkets come in two item packs , not three item packs so you have to buy two packs...always a single item left over

7....two kids are good to share a room...a third means two rooms unless you put three in a room...do that and listen to the carnage

8....with three kids you are shattered at night...i mean drained...barely enough energy to drag yourself to your own bed.

However, on the plus side....

There kids and they are brilliant and I wouldnt change a thing in the world about them..hugs, cuddles, little smiles huge smiles, belly laughing from tickles, watching them develop into beautiful little girls......if i could afford it I'd have a dozen of them lol lol

soirish

gifted wrote: »

Hard....but worth it


7....two kids are good to share a room...a third means two rooms unless you put three in a room...do that and listen to the carnage 

Love #7

Romantic Rose

Chocolate fiend wrote: »

2-3 was a lot easier than 0-1, it might have been because our number 3 was and is the easiest of our children, but maybe she just had to be.

My 2nd is such an easy baby who doesn't demand at all, outside of food. I would have 10 of him. My 1st takes after her Mammy and is very emotional but I understand her so well. I definitely would love another but the logistics is what to get around. Would definitely need the bigger car but we need that anyway. We have 3 bedrooms here but I shared with my 3 sisters and I think that's good for children growing up.

It would have been great to have triplets. Family done and dusted in one go

jlm29

It totally depends on the children, and the age gaps. My second (middle) child is hard work. He was born that way. There's four years between him and my first, so I don't think I really noticed the difference. But i had another recently, and there's only twenty months between them, and now I know how exhausting he was! I could have ten like my first and my third though.
The car is a big thing- very few normal cars will fit three in the back, so we needed to change. Bedrooms- all ours are small, so we will lose our spare room when we move baby out. Stuff. There's just stuff everywhere. Clothes everywhere. Baby equipment. Toys. Just stuff. Everywhere.
Cleaning- maybe it's just my toddler, but he creates a LOT of housework.
But I think age gaps could be what makes or breaks if! As I said, 4 year age gap the first time- there's pluses and minuses- the older lad was in playschool, so once he was dropped there, I had a few hours with just the baby every day. BUT it means you have to get up and out twice a day to drop and collect- and that can be tricky!
This time he's in senior infants, and I've three of them to get ready and out. My OH generally can't drop, because of his work hours. And it's half an hour away, so it's not just a quick round trip in the car. If they were all small, I wouldn't have to juggle that, but they'd all be there, all the time!

Childcare costs are also a factor.

In short- I haven't found the jump from 2-3 too much, but my littlest boy is very low maintenance!

All that said, I am VERY keen to have another. And without too much delay. What's one more, eh!

julyjane

Still struggling sometimes and #3 is 4

shesty

I think the car and the increase in laundry (if the arrival of no.2 is anything to go by)is going to be the biggest challenge here.My no.1 is the hard work one.No.2 is generally a walk in the park(has her moments now alright).Bedrooms not a problem here. We have the double buggy on the go anyway, stuff everywhere, childminder costs etc....I am all for doing it again while I am in the middle of it anyway!

Romantic Rose

Did anyone stay at home when they had their 3rd? I don't want to give up my career or money but I think it would be too hard to juggle everything if I had another.

sillysocks

Romantic Rose wrote: »

Did anyone stay at home when they had their 3rd? I don't want to give up my career or money but I think it would be too hard to juggle everything if I had another.

I'm working part time (mornings only), works great because the older two don't need childcare after school then and the baby only needs half days. So we pretty much have the same amount as we would if I was working full time and paying full childcare for them.

julyjane

Romantic Rose wrote: »

Did anyone stay at home when they had their 3rd? I don't want to give up my career or money but I think it would be too hard to juggle everything if I had another.

I stayed at home for the first year and then went part time. I found it hard financially and still do being on a lower wage but having the added expense, back to school has critppled me this year. I have very little savings left and not much disposable income left to save, I'm lucky that I didn't have to change my car and it's old but still running well. I can manage financially but it takes a lot of work and micro management, down to trying to remember when their classmates birthdays are so that a surprise party invitation doesn't upset the apple cart.

But it's not forever, next year the youngest will be in school so I'll be able to examine my options a bit more.

I do some work from home too but I find it really hard to switch into work mode when I'm at home

ariana`

I work full time with 3 kids. The 3rd was/is a breeze. Maybe it's his personality but he hasn't caused a moment's bother. He's very independent, plays with the older kids or will play happily on his own, he was the easiest by far in terms of family adjustment.

But running the house is expensive, feeding & dressing 3 growing kids. Days out that involve entry fees are definitely becoming a real luxury since the baby turned 2 because we're paying full wack entry fees for the 3 kids. I've perfected the art of picnics and thankfully we all enjoy going to parks and doing things that are low cost

The older 2 are now partaking in more after-school stuff so the bills are mounting up there which is something i didn't really think about when they were all under 5.

We needed a bigger car for the 3rd child. And health insurance is a big hit every year. We do worry about the future and putting 3 through college.

Booking holidays or hotels is more difficult too as the world seems to be designed for 2 + 2 So maybe it's just as well we can't afford much in this way :cool:

But we wouldn't be without the baby of the house and wouldn't change a thing, he brings us so much joy and is part of the fabric of the family now with his cheeky happy ways

jlm29

ariana` wrote: »

I work full time with 3 kids. The 3rd was/is a breeze. Maybe it's his personality but he hasn't caused a moment's bother. He's very independent, plays with the older kids or will play happily on his own, he was the easiest by far in terms of family adjustment.

But running the house is expensive, feeding & dressing 3 growing kids. Days out that involve entry fees are definitely becoming a real luxury since the baby turned 2 because we're paying full wack entry fees for the 3 kids. I've perfected the art of picnics and thankfully we all enjoy going to parks and doing things that are low cost

The older 2 are now partaking in more after-school stuff so the bills are mounting up there which is something i didn't really think about when they were all under 5.

We needed a bigger car for the 3rd child. And health insurance is a big hit every year. We do worry about the future and putting 3 through college.

Booking holidays or hotels is more difficult too as the world seems to be designed for 2 + 2 So maybe it's just as well we can't afford much in this way :cool:

But we wouldn't be without the baby of the house and wouldn't change a thing, he brings us so much joy and is part of the fabric of the family now with his cheeky happy ways

The food! I forgot to mention how much food they eat! I seem to spend my life, and all my money in dunnes!

Moonbeam

2 to 3 kids meant a new car and the house shrinking around us.
Holidays are more expensive and family tickets for everything tend to be for 2 kids.
My lot were born in Jan 09,11,13 and April '14.
The 2 year gap is perfect as there was only 4 months with 2 in nappies but for 6 years I had continuous babies.
We are in a new stage now 8,6,4,3 where they are all in school/pre-school and it is definitely harder then when they were babies.
We go through 4l of milk a day and I don't touch it at all!

julyjane

Yes the milk! We always seem to be running out no matter how much we buy, I think we should get a cow. Then she'd eat the grass and save us the bother of cutting it

soirish

What car would you recommend for 3 kids?

gifted

soirish wrote: »

What car would you recommend for 3 kids?

S Max.....we have ours now 4 years...brilliant car...tons of space

sillysocks

julyjane wrote: »

Yes the milk! We always seem to be running out no matter how much we buy, I think we should get a cow. Then she'd eat the grass and save us the bother of cutting it

We ended up getting a milkman (milk woman actually!). Got sick of late night garage trips for milk.

jlm29

gifted wrote: »

S Max.....we have ours now 4 years...brilliant car...tons of space

Love mine too. Had three adults and four kids in it yesterday, it's a right job! Still room for a buggy in the boot too.
I hope it lives forever!

nikkibikki

soirish wrote:

What car would you recommend for 3 kids?

I drive a citroen grand Picasso. I like it.

On the transition from 2 to 3, I only had 2 minutes with 2 so I didn't notice! #2 and #3 are twins so we went from 1 to 3 on the same day! They are 9 and 4 now. I'd love another if my health issues and my husband allow!

Chocolate fiend

soirish wrote: »

What car would you recommend for 3 kids?

We have a Volvo XC90 and I love it. Plenty of room for the three and all their stuff.

cbyrd

I have 6 ... Nuff said.

Romantic Rose

cbyrd wrote: »

I have 6 ... Nuff said.

You're a brave woman