Anyone out there with two under two, having day of chaos

[hazeyjane]

I have two lovely daughters, 18 months and 4 months, some days (like today) it feels as though I'm trying to juggle a hundred things at once, in fact I can't believe that in the rare half an hour that they are asleep at the same time I am on Mumsnet ( I'm a bit of a newbie here ), of course I'm also surrounded by a sea of toys, lunch stuff etc etc. I just thought I'd see if there was anyone out there in the same boat, as sometimes i just want to sit down in the middle of it all and cry. Of course if you have any other combination of children or just the one I know its probably exactly the same. Going to get strong drink now (tea - before anyone throws there hands up in horror)

jennster, your lo is the same age as mine. Is yours having a growth spurt by any chance ? Mine is eating me out of house and home at the mo.

HJ, I got the sheepskin fron John Lewis, 25£, so a bit pricy but worth it. We took ours to New York in feb for dd1 when it was -15 and it kept her very snug.

Funny though how you look forward to the weekend when there is two of you, but it doesn't seem any easier. The only thing different is you can have a shower and go to the loo in peace. And have you ever noticed how the dh with the crying baby seems to follow you around ??

Also HJ, we also moved 3wks ago, so i think Dd1 at the moment is just pointing at everything she wants and grunting in the most annoying tone.

God it feels good to share.

Dd is getting her canine teeth all at once, and ds isn't YET having that feeding frenzy he had at 6 weeks. Last night was not good though as we had friends over and I had one glass too many of wine Mind it's not stopping me finish the bottle tonight.

Know what you mean about the grunting and pointing

Know what you mean about having dh around, its a real luxury to be able to go to the toilet alone (I never thought I would be saying that!), although sometimes find myself cleaning the sink while I'm having a wee (please don't think I am some sort of wierdo, I just try to multitask so I can sit and have a cup of tea and watch 10 mins of 'Sex and the City' dvd if they are both asleep). dd1's clinginess transfers to dh when he is around, and she gets even more tantrummy than usual, she had a great one today where she was clinging onto her 4 1/2 month old sister in her bouncy chair sobbing and covered in snot "Mamaaaa..." magnificent. My dd1 got canines through the week we moved house - pure hell.

funny you should say about the tantrums getting worse with dh around as we have the same problem.

anyway, off to bed now so will catch up tomorrow. Hope the growth spurts hang on till morning !!

hope u r all having a good day. I have just come back from doctors, where I was told that I have done something to my chest wall, the doc asked whether i ever did any heavy lifting?! I actually had both babies on my lap when he asked this, so I think he may be a bit dim.As a bonus he said I had a urine infection, and maybe it was because I was a bit run down...hmm I wonder why! Sorry to moan, just feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Oh Hj I am with you on the feeling sorry for myself. I woke up this morning feeling nauseous and then got the trots and puked about an hour ago. Believe it or not my mum is here for the day, Godesend I tell you. Feel a little better after being sick.

AlsoI think I have sussed out dd2 and her growth spurt feeding frenzies. she doesn't nap much during the day and when at night she was feeding for 5 mins and then sleeping, she was still hungry, hence the reg eating. Last night made her feed for 30 mins, kept waking her up and she slept from6 til 0230. yipee

Lulalullabye that sounds horrible, I hope you feel ok soon.I have spent the day trying to work out how to avoid lifting things, because it really hurts when I bend down. Hope you have sorted out your feeding problems, I, unfortunately was the worlds worst breastfeeder, and so dd1 was a horrible messy/painful mix of breastfeeding/expressing and bottle feeding for first 12 weeks, and I didn't even get that far with dd2.I got pretty depressed about the whole thing with dd1, so swore that if I had similar problems with dd2, I would switch sooner, as I didn't want to have to inflict all my misery on dd1 as well as everyone else!

I know this thread is probably dead, but just wanted to have a rant and nobody is here and awake, except the cat (and frankly she would rather wash her bottom than listen to me whinge). Long, long day. DD2 is teething with her first tooth, and she seems to be going through hell, I don't know if I've forgotten, but I don't remember it being this bad with DD1, I guess they are all different . Also I've forgotten how I used to deal with it and it was only last year, 2 babies in 2 years can really mush your brain up! Have just been to chemist to stock up on anbesol, and hocus pocus teething granules, which DD1 used to love (but I don't think they actually made any difference).To make matters worse have just spent an hour and a half at HV, having girls weighed + measured (even though DD1 was just done at hospital, which was horrible and all thanks to silly HV getting a measurement wrong)I think that they just enjoy watching the fraught, over hot mum with Ugly Betty hair trying to wrestle 2 crying babies out of 'one of those fancy buggies', and frankly that is enough to make anyone sit and eat 3 banana muffins in a row. There Rant over.

Hazeyjane thread not dead! Hope you feel better soon.

Just tried to get paracetamol into 12week old ds. Ha ha ha. Pointless. 12 week injections today. Last time they measured him they converted it wrong. Luckily they plotted it correctly in KG but used the wrong side of the chart to convert into lbs. They didn't notice though because he is a jumbo baby. I was sitting there puzzling and then realised.

Yes, I'm in the same boat - 2 boys, one 2.4, the other 10 weeks. When I have both of them, I feel like my head will explode with the stress of trying to get everything done. Plus my 2 year old no longer sleeps in the day, so I get no down time at all until they're both in bed. Today, a rare day when I just have the little one, is like an absolute doddle in comparison - makes me wonder what I was complaining about with ds1 when he was born!

Hi guys, hoping I could join this thread as having been looking for support from others in the same boat for a long time!!DD is now 2.9 and DS 19 months ( a 14 month gap).
It can be hell but is beginning to improve as I have recently become a sahm, after a year of deliberation.
However now the lack of adult converstion and battles over toys, pencils, tv progs and even grapes!! is causing me to look for a sympathetic ear or two.
imo you have good days and bad( bad mainly for the first 15 months due to PND) but now they can play together, I am beginning to see the joy in them.
My only comment is that whereas I always wanted a large family, the close age gap has made me and DH to reconsider, and he is awaiting the old snip snip . Has a small age gap put anyone else off more children?

TBH, giving birth to dd1 was so horrendous, that I swore I would only have the one, also it had taken us nearly 7 years to have her. So when I found out I was pregnant with dd2 I was, to put it mildly, a little shocked! Of course I was over the moon that my dd1 would have a sister, as I am very close to mine, so my shock subsided, but I don't think I could have any more, and anyway I'm 38, so it would have to be another small age gap, so yes, dh does get the occasional snip snip comment.
I had my first day away from the girls today, as someone offered me a days work, so dh had them for the whole day, he was fantastic with them (but not too fantastic, obviously!)I think it was great for all of us actually.
IKWYM about shortchanging on or the other, I sometimes bring dd2 into bed with us for a cuddle in the middle of the night, just because I get to spend so little time, just playing with her, and she always looks so delighted that it makes my heart melt.

FannyAnne YES! Can see myself having a late baby in 6 years, but right now no chance. Thought 2nd labour would be much better, shorter and easier than 1st but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong it wasn't horrendous, but hmmm.

I've got 3 under 3 and some days it is so hard! I find that if i get out the house it makes it much better, even if we just walk round the block! Its great fun though, i do feel that people can be a little judemental lots of dirty looks if we have a paddy while we're out. on the whole mine are well behaved, all children have bad days and some days they all have them at once!

We have 16m gap between ds's. We had the stage the OP is at now, then we had the full time refereeing, now they are starting to play together/watch cbeebies together/giggle together in the mornings instead of the older one just coming waking us up. They never had naps at the same time so life was haaaaaaard. This time last year I was on a slippery slope of stress and exhaustion and wouldn't want to repeat that first six months of 2 under 2 - no way!!

BUT
.
No regrets about having them close together, I definitely think that in the LONG RUN it will be easier than having a bigger gap - we will encourage the same hobbies, there will only be one school year when I have one to drop at school and the other at nursery, and they look SOOOOOO CUTE in the matching parkas I got for them the other week!
Am now knitting matching hats!!!!!

Wow! 3 under 3, that must be exhausting, but great that life can still be fun. It does feel a bit like a rollercoaster, with my 2, going from all of us laughing and screaming with joy bouncing on the bed ( well 3 of us, dd2 is usually watching from safe distance in her cot, but happy, nonetheless) to huge tantrums, tired grizzling and fraught mum & dad in seconds!
I know what you mean about people giving you looks, its usually in the middle of town, with dd2 screaming. and dd1 doing a bucking bronco as I'm trying to put her in her buggy. Also get lots of comments about having a Phil & Teds, one woman said that I was being cruel putting dd2 underneath, even though she was snoozing happily away in there at the time.
Like the idea of knitting matching hats for my 2, (although I sometimes worry that if i dress them alike, dd2 will look like a bit of a mini-me to her sis!)but I am the worlds slowest knitter, so I may try and do something in crochet.

Hello everybody, soory have not posted for sooo long. Knackered. DD2 sleeping paterns are all over the place at the mo. She is waking up to four times a night between midnight and six. So tired and sore from constant feeding.

Last night a little better and thought things were on the up. Went to mothercare world and dd1 had biggest tantrum. She hasn't had one for a couple of months. Had to leave her on floor and walk off, with the usual people staring. You would think they would understand a bit in mothercare.

Anyway, hope everybody is well and keeping sane. I have re discovered rescue remedy spray, good stuff. DD1 is now singing in her bed when she is supposed to be sleeping !!!

BabyTV helps sometimes too. i have a 13 month old and an almost 3 year old. sometimes they are coordinated and then things run fairly smoothly, but when they are not, putting on some nice relaxing shows and music realllllly helps

BabyTV helps sometimes too. i have a 13 month old and an almost 3 year old. sometimes they are coordinated and then things run fairly smoothly, but when they are not, putting on some nice relaxing shows and music realllllly helps

my day is getting worse by the minute. dd1 is in the hallway having a tantrum. door to living room is shut. dd2 is wanting to be fed every 2 hrs. How does everybody else cope.

dd1 doesn't eat fantastically and that stesses me out also. I like to think I am a strong person but I think there are cracks appearing. Does anybody regret having them so close together ?

Hi All, I had 3 under 3...felt a real looser as it was so exhausting, messy, chaotic, dull etc...and thought it was all my fault...I am out the other side now (dc now 9,7,6 and had another 1 for luck 18months)I look back now and see that it was hard, that it did pass, that parenting brings your emotions to extremes in minutes 10 time a day - one minute its all going well the next all 3 have kicked-off screaming etc...weather the storm.. treat you rself to something importnat to you ...for me it was a cleaner £6/hr x2hrs/week...changed my life...keep things simple...get out everyday..recognise the flash point of the day...for me anytime after 4pm when we were all tired, hungry and grumpy with the most things to do ..ie cook, feed clear up, bath, teeth, pjs, stories, bottles, sleep etc etc...it is hard...but it gets better...at abad moment all cuddle up oon the sofa, chat, rad watch a film...stuff the housework...the main achievement for the day is keeping everyong calm and feeling loved. Once they hit 3 all of the hard work is over...potty trained, feed themselves, can get in and out of the car etc. Just appreciate the moments its all running well and take a deep breath when it goes tits up !!

Aah nice post knakered.

Lulalullabye, I know how you feel about eating. Sometimes dd eats loads, sometimes she eats hardly anything. I grit my teeth and figure if she were REALLY hungry she would eat. She still sleeps through the night, and is happy.