Looking for advice/experiences of having 3 under 3?!

[HarperJess]

Hi!

We’re about to start trying for baby no3, I’m so excited and can’t wait to grow our family but can’t help but be a little nervous about what life will be like with 3 little ones!

I had my first two really close together, 11 months between them! DS is now about to turn 2 and DD has just turned 1. We got pregnant within weeks of trying for both babies so far, so if I get pregnant in the next couple of months I will have 3 under 3.. eek!
Does anyone have experience of this? Am I crazy?! grin

We have three of a similar age, our eldest turned 4 at the weekend, middle is 2.5 and youngest is 13 months. It's great but certainly very challenging! Especially to begin with as your youngest may suddenly be very aware at not being the baby anymore. Lots of love between them but also lots of competition for attention. Our eldest two used to have a lovely relationship but not they fight a lot more. Our middle is pretty rough with our youngest now he's a bit bigger and trying to join in. All in all it's incredibly hard work every minute of the day - I really noticed the lack of downtime compared to having only two which felt very calm & easy by comparison - but it's amazing and I wouldn't change it at all. I think it'll be lovely (as well as super tough) having them all so close in age as they get older. Good luck anyway!

Why do you want baby no 3 so close in age to the other two? Don't you want a bit of a break between them?

Sorry, but it is I got pregnant, not we got pregnant.

I had three under two. It was hell for a few years. Love my DC to bits but I wouldn't recommend three small kids in quick succession to anyone. Your body needs time to recover.

I had three under 2. I won't lie, it was hell on Earth for a good while, but now it's now issue at all, if I could have I would have spread it out (second baby was twins). I think we all cope differently, but I certainly found it difficult personally. Although mine also have additional needs so that wouldn't have helped in my case.

Good point about allowing your body time to recover. I used to know someone who had 3 children in quick succession, and she looked permanently pregnant afterwards.

What's the rush?

I've got two under two and I find most days a real struggle. I think I'd have a nervous breakdown with three! Lol!

TapasForTwo, I’ve always wanted my children close together, it’s never appealed to me to have big age gaps or wait until one is older to have another, much like it might not appeal to you to have them close together ☺️

Myotherbagisgucci Bless you! 2 under 2 can be a struggle some days but 9/10 I absolutely love it, how old are your two?

They're 17 months and 8 weeks, both girls! I can honestly say that I'm done having babies, DD2 has had horrendous colic and it's been a rough 8 weeks!

Hats off to you! I have 2 under 2 (14 months apart) and it has been really really hard. I get the occasional broodiness but then I just can't bring myself to do it so soon remembering what the early days of these 2 was like!

Good luck!

mummyhaschangedhername I can imagine that would be really tough, especially having additional needs to cater for too. Twins are a handful as they are! I feel like I’m ready to have this one and make it 3, it’s more the logistics I’m questioning - pushchair, car seats, doing the food shop?!

Myotherbagisgucci It gets easier! Colic won’t be helping and it will seem impossible to imagine at times but I promise you it does! Routine has been my saviour, not even necessarily for the babies but more for myself and what I need to do when, it’s really helped me!

I will never have a third child, purely because my mum had twins with her third pregnancy! Have you considered something like that happening?

I have to admit having a 2 year age gap was hard, but at the same time easier because they're at the same stage and everything happened around the same time. We're out of the woods with it now at 4 and 6 and life is much easier now they're older.

What would put me off is being pregnant while also looking after 2 young children. Have you got a lot of support around you?

Thank you for all your comments on whether you think I should or shouldn’t have another baby.. but that wasn’t what I was asking, I might not have made that clear..

I’m wanting some advice & experiences on the logistics of having 3 under 3, like day to day tasks and what pushchair will work and how to nip to the shops, breastfeeding with two toddlers etc!

I can see the appeal once they are older, but having three so close together does take its physical toll.

Then when they are teenagers you will have GCSEs x 3, A levels x 3, university top ups to maintenance loans x 3.

You can tell I am a parent to an older teenager

Just don't underestimate what being a parent to 3 teenagers close in age entails either.

We did it, it was always the plan. So we already had the house and car we needed. I put a buggy board on the double buggy, and bought a sling.

I must have batched cooked about 3 months supplies of meals and stocked the loft full of nappies and loo roll, I had pints of milk on the freezer and loaves of bread. I was not going to be caught short needing to nip to Asda in search of nappies and a troop of Tinies with me.

I toilet trained my youngest last year, and I did a little dance of joy, as I’d changed nappies every sodding day for 6 years solid.

I was tired yes, but it wasn’t as hard for me going from 2 to 3, but I put this down to not working and knowing we had no school runs or job to get to it mattered not one bit if we laid in (rarely) or we slobbed out watching CBeebies as I might have had only 2 hours sleep.

I had 3 under 3. They are now 3, 20 months and 8 months.

It has been the hardest 8 months of my life. But also the loveliest. Dc3 wasn't planned but is the loveliest most calm baby ever and I wouldn't change her for the world.

I'm not going through lie though, there have been days it has been tough. But,I can already see the benefits of having 3 close and I'm glad it's worked out the way it has

Never mind the unsolicited advice! I hat three- newborn, one year old and two year old. A lot of nappies! Online shop and lower expectations. Routine is essential. When all three napped I did too regardless. Physically I found caring for my toddlers harder when in the last stages of pregnancy than the three together. I have a great hands-on husband. I look back on pictures and realise they were still only babies but I may have unwittingly expected more of them because baby was so young- that they seemed older iyswim? Long days, short years! I lost a baby after my third which was traumatic but I had to keep going. We had fourth (and final!) baby last year. No regrets!

Logistics can be a massive pain in the ass with three under 3! Everything takes more planning and thought. Even just how do I get it them in / out of the car if we're late home and they all fall asleep but I end up having to park a few doors down. Or how do we do the food shop (answer is go to Lidl and use the little trolly for eldest & put other two in your trolley or take husband & get two trolleys or order online) but yes logistics are a lot trickier with three LOs. Going to peoples houses feels hard too, it feel like we're invading now so I tend to only go to see people I'm 100% sure don't mind - so basically only family. We often split the kids up so I take two some where and my DH takes one or whatever. But everything takes a lot more thought & planning and everything is more tiring

Fucket, love this thank you! I definitely need to be more organised before this one comes along, the amount of times I have to nip to the shop for one or two things is silly! 🙈 when you say the car you needed, do you have a 5 or 7 seater? We have a specious 5 seater 4x4 thing which I think will be big enough?

I had 3 under 3.5. It was hard for a few years especially when they weren’t sleeping. I look back now and I didn’t appreciate just how lovely they were as I was just trying to get through it. Anyway, the practicalities, I too batch cooked and loaded the freezer with milk and bread. I had a double buggy and a buggy board/sling. The great thing as they were all girls is the recycling of clothes, however there were some objections from the young ones as they insisted the clothes were not theirs but their sisters and would not wear them at times! They can be very competitive as they all like the same things and want to play the same games but by their rules! I got a cleaner who came once a week and I would bring the girls to a soft play centre, baby in pram, with a packed lunch, and cane home to a clean house on that day. You will need a 7 seater unless your car has 5 full seats as car seats take up a lot of space.

Sontagsleere thank you, I definitely need to lower expectations, mainly for myself! Things won’t be ‘perfect’ with 3, but our family will be! Thanks for the advice, so glad to hear it worked out for you and you even had a 4th wow! What’s the age gap between the first 3 and the 4th? My plan is to have 4, but I’m unsure about having these 3 then leaving a gap?

Littlepooch, congratulations! Our first was a surprise too, but we wouldn’t change anything for the world! It’s lovely to hear that you can see the benefits already, I can’t wait to watch our 3 grow up together!

Following this thread with interest as we're due our third DC later this year.
When DC3 arrives, DC1 will be 2.9 and DC2 will be 1.8 so keen to see how others have handled having 3 under 3!

I had 3 under 3. It was a challenge but I was young and could handle it.i loved having them close together. Their 14,16 and 17 now and bloody hard work 🙈