2 under 2 - Your experiences!

[Dozeyland]

:)

14.5 months between ours. First 4 months much easier than I expected as 2nd one bf and slept very well. After that it got bloody hard. No family anywhere near (we are overseas) and I have had pnd. They are now 4 and almost 3 and getting easier all the time but without help and DH working long hours I found it hard. But having said that they are at a similar stage so will play with the same types of things and play together.

I have to go now but last thing - I regret the older one having to "grow up" quickly - she was only 14.5 months but overnight stopped being the baby and maybe that was too young. I remember her coming into the hospital in the afternoon to see baby and suddenly she looked enormous to me - it was the strangest feeling having left her 5 hrs before.

Mine don't quite fit the criteria, I have 2.1 years between my eldest two then 2.3 between 2 and 3 my experience was similar to zwolfy's now they're nearly 7 and 5 dd1 and 2 are great friends dd2 and 3 are in a full on sibling rivalry phase but so were 1&2 at this age it seemed to calm down at 5&3 last time do I have my fingers crossed for a peaceful summer! The older they get the more fun my house is though it's chaos and fun

At first it was hard work. I fell pregnant when ds was 3 months old so when dd came along ds wasnt even a year old. so for a week or so I had 2 under 1
However they are incredibly close, I could potty train them together and in many respects it makes life a little easier doing it like that.....if you say had a 2 year gap between your babies you get used to having a little freedom again, they become self sufficient and then bam your back to square one again.... where as having them back to back means yes you are perminantly a milking machine for 2/3 years solid but once its done its done iyswim.

I loved having my 2 so close together! If I ever have any more in the future I would attempt to have a small age gap again because the pro's by far outweigh the cons and like I say my 2 have an incredibly close bond which I think is down to the fact that they are so close in age. hth.

My experience mirrors spingey's. When DS1 was 3 months old, we conceived DS2 and so, like you, we had 2 under 1 for a week. Strange to hear someone with exactly the same story when, to everyone I meet, I'm an oddity and the source of great merriment.

I found it hard going at first (although never any regrets) but now that they're 2.5 and 3.5, things are somewhat easier. Not so much of the constant fire fighting, which is how the first couple of years felt.

Seventeen months between my two. It's been really hard work, harder than I ever could have imagined. I realised the other day that dd2 is almost the same age as dd1 was when dd2 was born, dd2 seems like such a baby at 17 months. Agree that dd1 had to grow up more quickly.

It seems to be getting easier now as they're interacting much more and seem to actually like each other, which for a while I was doubtful was going to happen.

I love it, challenges and all.

My older 2 are 17mo apart. They're 5 and nearly 4 now and best buddies. They play really well together, are into the same things, so both enjoy the same activities, are in the same swimming class, etc. So in many ways it feels easy :)

I too saw the older one as more grown up than she really was once the younger sib came along. I guess I'm aware of that now, so try to guard against it.

It's a brilliant age gap and I'd do it again. :)

my oldest two are 17 months apart too, and i found it a good gap so i did similar again with 19 months between the next 2 but i agree about the oldest one growing up quick, i feel i might have expected too much from my ds1 at times, but that has not happened for ds2 with ds3, both of them are still like babies even though ds2 is now 2 yrs old
it is nice to have them close together, my oldest 2 play quite nicely together now (they are 3.5 and 2) although have gone through phases of them driving each other crazy!
advice would be get a good double buggy and get out the house a lot to keep them busy (although i have followed that a bit less with ds3.. with ds2 i really needed that though!) and stick to same routines with your older one and get the baby to fit in with them so your dc1 will adapt very quickly

My girls are 18 moths apart & it was all good. I returned to work for 5 months in between having them (for the maternity pay!!), & then kept the childminder on for the eldest to go 2 days a week. It was great that my eldest still had an afternoon nap & when I got my youngest to sleep at the same time I loved my 2 hours me time every afternoon .
I was blessed with a sleeper & from 4 weeks my youngest was sleeping 6-7 hours straight a night.

They are now 2 & 3 1/2, are great friends & play really well together (of course with the odd fight!!! )

Worked for us

Forgot to add that my eldest was walking at 10 months, a friends child didn't walk until she was 20 months. Made me realise that I could not have coped if my eldest was not walking.

We had a 19mo gap between DD1 and DS and I loved it. Like brighty I got them both napping at the same time for a couple of hours each day so I had a bit of time to myself. And DS slept through from 8wks which always helps!

Also, DD wasn't yet in nursery (I was doing freelance work during naps and evening from home) so we didn't have to be up and out anywhere in the morning.

We now have DD2 as well who is nearly 16wks. The older two were 5.1 and 3.6 when she arrived and I've found it harder. We now have a school and playschool run each day so everyone has to be up, breakfasted and dressed in plenty of time. No more slobby PJ days! Still wouldn't change things though

13 mths between them, unbelievably hard for the first year as DS was, in effect, barely out of babyhood when DD came along. Though luckily he walked just around the time she came along and was effectively forced to master using his own spoon and eat lots of finger food almost immediately after her birth if he wanted to be fed!!!

However, now, utterly and absolutely brilliant, they've never known life without each other and are best friends and do everything together despite being opposite sexes.

I would not have it any other way and would do the same again given another chance. We didn't go for a third for all sorts of reasons, though, a part of me was that I would only really want a third a year later again, max 2 years later and I simply did not have it in me at the time. I had a large gap between me and my sister and it's been nothing but trouble for nearly 4 decades so I would never wish a large gap between my own children.

GO FOR IT (unless you already have?!)

Like Spingey and madnortherner I have just under a year between my 2 DDs. It was incredibly hard work at first as DD1 was not walking and DD2 had reflux and did not sleep well. It was almost like having twins though in some respects. They are 5 and 6 now and are inseperable (even when they are fighting :o) and I love having such a small age gap. I now have a 2 yo too and if we had wanted a 4th child, we would definitely have a small age gap again.

I have 3 under 1 :)

It's not bad, they all nap together

I think routine Is the key and makes life easier

Wow xkatyx :)

I have my nearly 15mo DD, and am 22.5weeks pregnant with DC2! So she will be 1.5yrs when he/she is born.

I am preparing myself for tough times but at the same time, I think it's going to be the most beautiful thing watching them grow together (and any subsequent children we have :) )

Must ask though, Those of you who fell pregnant early after having you DC (like within the first 6 months) How did your body manage/hormones, changes etc when your body is not long coming down from pregnancy and birth?

I am feeling great pregnancy-wise( just tiredness sometimes as I am parenting alone at the moment as DP is away for very unfortunate reasons until the day before DC2's EDD, hoping i dont pop by then!)

I fell pregnant with twins when my baby was 3 months old, personally my body struggled but that was prob a twin thing!

Towards the end I couldnt actually move.

4 weeks post birth body back and I feel fab :)

Good for you :) Its amazing how the body just recuperates. DP & I would love twins one day too :)

I must say (whilst touching wood) even though we are only 4 weeks in, the babies are doing really well, I dreaded how I would cope as I have 5 children now .. 8,5,1 and 4 weeks twins, and things haven't been bad at all.
The first week was maddeness though lol

It's great you are feeling well. I loved all my single pregnancies and it's sad I won't be doing it again

Katy WOW! is all I can say.

I found a 22 month gap with only two a bit of a truggle at times!

What a fantastic familly you have:)

2 under 2 is better than 3 under 3!

xkatyx how come no more?

Dozeyland - 5 is more than enough :) I feel very lucky to have them and don't want to push my luck, plus I couldn't cope being pregnant again, the twins pregnancy was god awful.

Honestly aslong as there is a routine it all runs smoothly, saying that I attempted bath time on my own for first time today with twins .. It was manic lol

There is 19 months between DS and DD1 then exactly 2 years between DD1 and DD2. I was very apprehensive before DD1 was born as she was a surprise and I felt it was too soon but it turned out to be MUCH easier than I'd anticipated as she was an angel baby! She was just so content, slept through early on, napped well, fed well, etc. I'm not saying it was a breeze but on the whole I found the age gap to be perfect, they have their squabbles but they are such good friends and now DD2 is playing with them too, so I can actually sometimes sit down with a cuppa for 15 minutes when they're playing! Wouldn't change a thing.