How do you manage it?

So all you mums with more than one child – HOW DO YOU DO IT??


The further along in this pregnancy I get, the more and more I start to worry about how the hell I’ll cope with a baby and a toddler.

Of course you just “do it” and you somehow manage to get through the days, but are there any tips or tricks for how to better manage it?


I’ve been thinking back on the early days with Skye – unfortunately she had colic and silent reflux - but we didn’t realise she had reflux til she was older, and it explained A LOT.

Anyway, I vividly remember some days where it would take me 2 + hours to get her to settle off to sleep, often with non-stop screaming along the way. Only to have her sleep for 20 minutes, wake screaming for a feed, and go through it all again. Exhausting. I would come out of her room after hours of burping and settling her, to flop on the couch and cry. Quite a stressful time.


We tried everything to fix the colic/reflux, but sadly the only remedy was time, and putting her on solids at 4 months as advised by the doctor.


Obviously I had the time to spend settling a colicky/refluxy baby back then – but I will not have that luxury this time.


Of course we’re hoping to not have a second unsettled baby. I’d like to officially place my order for one of those “dream” babies you hear about!!


Unfortunately, both reflux and colic runs in my husbands family – they AAALLLLL had either one or the other, even his niece and nephew. However there is none in my family, so we can but hope.


This bub is MUCH quieter and less active than Skye was. Skye was beating me up internally, constantly, from about 16 weeks onwards – all day AND all night. She never seemed to stop kicking me or constantly hiccuping while in utero. And she’s totally active now, never stops. This bub though seems MUCH more sedate. Sometimes I get a bit worried because I haven’t had much movement – and then I get a good strong kick or feel it "squirm" and feel better.


Anyway, I’ve bought a Maya Wrap/ring sling to try, as I’ve heard that baby-wearing can help. I’ve also got a Baby Bjorn carrier too from last time. I’m thinking that this bub might just have to learn to sleep on the run, in the swing or in the baby carrier. Or else I might just have to buy some noise-cancelling ear phones!

Hellooo!

Hello my poor neglected blog, are you still there?? I seriously don’t know where the time goes these days!



We’ve got about 7 weeks to go until we meet the newest family member, and the countdown has begun in earnest! Cannot WAIT for this pregnancy to be over!

The whinging has started MUCH earlier with this pregnancy :)

Seems like my coping abilities are declining with age maybe? Anyway, I’m certainly not breezing through this pregnancy like I did last time.  My knuckles started to swell weeks ago, so I’ve had to move my wedding and engagement ring to my little finger so that they don’t get stuck like they did last time.

I’ve also just this week started to notice some slight swelling in my feet – here comes the “sausage toes” look, just in time for summer – hooray! :)
 I think the main reason for the lack of coping is having a child approaching the terrible twos!! I love my child to death, but seriously she is learning how to push all my buttons lately.



Is it normal for a child of this age-group to NOT CARE if they get into trouble? I mean, everything is like water off a ducks back to this kid. Cheeky? Oh yeah, with a capital “C”. She doesn’t care if she gets yelled/roared at, privileges removed, bedtime story withheld, nothing else to eat if she doesn't eat dinner, smacks on the bum or anything. Just doesn’t care - everything is funny to her.


Last night she decided that she’d had enough of her dinner, and started squirming in her high-chair, twisting around, and then standing up in it. After being asked a couple of times to sit down, daddy ROARED at her to sit down. Which she did. She hung her head for about 5 seconds, then glared at him and gave him the evil eye for 5 seconds, and then proceeded to chuckle and giggle at him!



To which we both had to turn our heads and cover our faces so she wouldn’t see us cracking up laughing! But she saw us laughing anyway, and it just reinforced to her that getting into trouble is funny!!  How do you deal with that?  Its SO hard not to laugh!


I suppose the good thing is that she doesn’t sulk, ever. She gets over things in the blink of an eye. Its hard to stay mad with her for long because she herself just ‘gets on with it’.


She hasn’t really had many tantrums yet – her big thing is if she decides she doesn’t want to walk where I want her to go, she just lies down – wherever she happens to be – in the shops, on the driveway, in a carpark etc. She just lies down and looks at me as if to say “ha-ha – come get me!” So I then pick her up, drag her by the arm or whatever – I try to make her walk if I can, since my back isn’t coping with carrying her much anymore. I’m fast running out of energy, especially with a huge pregnant belly as well.


Negotiations don’t really work either, so sometimes I just give in because I really don’t have the energy or the patience to fight with her anymore. Toddlers really are exhausting little people!