Struggling with a larger age gap, any advice?

[Thurlow]

I have a 5.5yo and an 11mo. The baby is currently at that stage where he wants to be helped up all the time, he can't crawl or stand up himself yet so needs me all the time if he wants to stand or move. He used to play nicely sitting by himself but now he just whinges and cries if he's sat down!

Which means I don't have much ability to sit and read, do crafts or play board games with the 5yo, which is what she wants.

I know this is a brief phase but right now I'm struggling to get through the day trying to entertain them both! There's only so much walking and bike riding we can do, which means the 5yo ends up spending too much time watching telly or on her tablet.

Any bright ideas to get us through this until DS can move a little bit more and might entertain himself for 5 minutes?!

A walker or jumperoo?

Well I'm 15 years older and my brother is 18 yrs older than my sister. No age gap is perfect.

I have 4 years between mine as well. At that stage, it was a pain but I had to keep the pre-walking baby safe. So the 5yo got my undivided attention during naps to make up for it. And then I dealt with cooking, house etc at night. Exhausting, I feel for you.

It is exhausting! He won't go in a walker or jumperoo anymore. Maybe I can convince the 5yo that doing housework is fun?