How do you cope...?

[Nidoking]

Hi there,

I'm a Dad of 3 children (10,5 & 4) and we've recently found out that we are expecting our 4th. Bit of a surprise as we agreed we'd try one last time and if it happened it happened, sure enough first attempt 😅. To be honest I didn't think it would happen.

So as it stands I'm kind of struggling with the realisation of it, I'm happy for the most part but keep dwelling on the negatives as such, bigger car, bigger house etc etc. Just wondering how've you all cope with a brood of 4.

Thanks

I just have 3 but my best friend has six, same mum and dad. They are a very loving family and fantastic at budgeting.

I have 4 dc ( 10, 9, 5 and 14 months) and to be honest i havent really noticed much of a difference. Yes the food bill has increased slightly but i meal plan and budget.
Clothes wise dd3 has been in all the older 2 dds clothes and i havent really had to buy anything new so that has made a huge difference.
Congratulations by the way

Hi op congratulations on the baby news!
when we unexpectedly found out about our 4th we felt the same and spent the first few weeks wondering how the hell we would manage. Looking back now i couldnt imagine not having DC4. DD slotted right in and the DC adored her. Fast forward a few years and Yes it can be a struggle at times and life is a little more chaotic at times but you make it work. For all they have days arguing etc they also have days where they play amazing together and watching the closeness of them all is lovely. However You're only human to have these worries.

We decided that in the 9 month leading up to dd we had to get super organised. Super fast! We didn't have much savings but decided that regarding the house we'd tackle a room each month (finish odd jobs, decorate/storage issues/declutter etc) i found this to be a massive help as once i had an organised house my mind was more organised. We began working on a routine during the week for the DC ready for the new arrival.

Meal planning, school stuff, after school activities, etc are all wrote and organised on the note boards so we know what is happening each day.

We currently live in a 3 bed & ideally would love to move to a bigger house but the 4 beds around here are out of our price range at the moment however we have began saving in the hopes of either moving or extending at some point in the future.

Thanks for getting back and thank you for the congratulations. That's pretty much were we stand at the moment, initially stressing over everything feeling like there's a million and one things to do. I'm no doubt over thinking everything (as I always do). But as you say, no doubt we'll be fine.... just embrace the chaos. Haha.

Thank you.