Two under two.. Going a bit mad

[NorthLondonmum83]

At home 2.5 days a week with 7 week old and 23 month old, feel as though I'm trapped in hell tbh. Hate myself for admitting that I'm just not enjoying a minute of this. Absolutely love spending time with the toddler, ditto the baby - but can't cope with days when I have the both of them! The baby needs to be held an awful lot, fair enough, and the toddler is incredibly difficult and jealous. Have brought forward my return to work date already and feeling as though I'll regret it...does it get easier? Can't help but feel like an utter failure

Tess I'm always keen on a Eurovision flutter! I'm massively beating myself up about screen time.. DC1 had never so much as seen a cartoon until the baby arrived (he was in full time nursery when I went back to work between the pregnancies) - now he's glued to Peppa Pig when we need to be in the house (rain, no playgroups, baby to feed etc...). I feel crappy about it. Guess the better weather is the key right?

Oh don't worry about telly.

My DS is 6 now and he hardly watches it.

I remember on one bad day he did about 4 hours of peppa pig.

Same as the torment I had over him having juice & squash - he tells me he wants water now to be fit and healthy.

I've got a 21 month age gap, DD is now 6 months old and DD 27 months and it is definitely getting easier (fingers crossed it stays that way ).

DD had reflux and what has turned out to be dairy allergy so was really hard work - a sling saved my sanity in the early stage you are in. Other things that helped were getting out to toddler groups as you say. Also, look into TV entertainment for the toddler you don't mind watching - our Amazon fire stick has been amazing, with Prime we get things like the Grufallo for free. As things have got easier I've been able to cut down on the TV watching.

My DD is now a lot more settled which has helped a lot, I can put her down a lot more. Ds is also that bit older and more verbal, so he is more company when we're at home. They are also just starting to interact properly and entertain each other a bit. Hang on in there, you are in the worst bit!

God don't give the telly thing a second thought, it's fine! My two are 19 months apart and things were fine for the first month...then colic and over tiredness hit and dd would scream for 2 hours solid every evening. Absolutely soul destroyingly awful. Ds wasn't in any childcare and we don't really have any family help so for the first 6 months it was just me and the kids 12-13 hours a day. There were days we were all crying all the same time. Many days.

However after 6 month dd was much more settled and ds started a morning a week at pre school - everything was much easier. Now at 3.5 and almost 2 they're a joy (mostly!). They're best mates and just play and giggle together most days. I think having the two of them is probably easier than just one tbh. This is the hard yard and it will get loads easier. This too shall pass.

Forgot to say a few things that helped me:

• Bit of a cliché but my sling was a massive help
• Call in the cavalry. Any cavalry. My friend came over to mine once a week with her toddler and some cake and it was great to have company and an extra pair of hands.

-Try toddler groups until you find one you like. I found other mums incredibly sympathetic and helpful, really handy when you need to change one or fed the other.

• Don't worry too much about tv, biscuits, easy meals etc. Don't, under any circumstances make your life any harder than it has to be!!