Come and share your ideas of how to occupy a toddler when new DC arrives

[BaaBaaHerdwickSheep]

DS will be 22 months when new DC arrives soon. He's a very active type. His favourite thing of all is running around with a football with dad (or mum - but I'm getting a bit huffy & puffy for that at the moment), but he also likes books quite a lot and will sit and 'read' on his own although as with other activities after 10 minutes (tops) he'll want to come and sit on your knee to do this or otherwise get an adult involved. He will do a bit of drawing (well, scribbling) but it doesn't hold his attention for long at all. He has cars and things like that but we've not got much else in the way of make-believe toys or craft activities.

We are all looking forward to arrival of DC2 but my only worry is how to occupy DS when I'm feeding the new one. How did you deal with this? What sorts of activites kept your toddlers occupied? Were you able to keep jealousy at bay or not? I know that CBeebies is going to become our best friend, but we're not much of a TV-watching family and while I've no issues with it being on occasionally I'm sure there must be other solutions along side.

Any and all ideas welcome. Thank you!

Get out of the house as much as possible
Also if you have any helpful family/friends who could take your pfb out and spoil them with lots of attention.

Think you have the rest covered!

Just thought of a few more:
Puzzles
Crafty stuff like stickers
Blocks?
Is your dc1 self freezing yet? That's a major help at meal times.
Try and get them independent as possible

agree about getting out the house, it keeps the older one busy with their activities and baby can sleep in buggy, or if you go to childrens centre or toddler groups normally people want to have a hold so you can pass them round a bit if you need to give your older some attention

if your ds like cars also what about wooden train track or something like that, or toy garage? that keeps mine occupied a lot. and along the lines of stickers type things, i find magnet playsets quite good cos its like stickers but reuseable (as mine will use up all the stickers within 5 min and i think most small children are probably like that too?)

i wouldn't worry too much, i found with baby/toddler that it tends to be easier than you expect. everyone worries about jealousy but i found it not really an issue in the end, and most of my friends were the same, especially as your ds is youngish under 2 years its a good gap, they tend to adapt quick and not be too bothered by new baby

blimey, I could have written your OP! DD is now 4months and DS was 21 months when she was born. we have relied on Peppa Pig etc quite a lot for the times when I was feeding her and couldn't do much else. He likes stickers and his shape sorter which you can help him with one handed but he is not at all into colouring or play dough or anything like that. It is a bit tough but getting easier as every week DS gets better at stuff and DD can be left to play on her mat / in her chair etc for longer. Main thing is to make them feel involved. Sit on the sofa not a chair, so toddler can climb up next to you; ask them to pass you things; play "point out nose / ears" etc on baby. DS loves his sister so much he even gave her his dummy today while he was crying because she was too !

I agree with all the above suggestions and have one of my own:

We have loads of numbers/letters/animals/vehicle magnets on the fridge and ds1 had a little wheelbarrow and he used to love fetching me certain ones that I asked for, or just of his own choosing. He would bring them, we'd sort them, talk about them etc, then he'd take them all back! It took ages and we'd often do it while I was nailed to the sofa feeding ds2. He actually learnt a lot of letters doing this (though didn't remember them once we got out of the habit). Less specifically, he just liked running errands so I'd ask for all sorts of random stuff and he'd bring it in the wheelbarrow...

Happy days....