Two under two must haves?

[Leeloo22]

Hi all. We’re expecting our second baby in a few months when our first will be 18 months old. What things would you recommend to make life as easy as possible when having two little ones?
Equipment? Tips and tricks? Any knowledge is a great help!!

Lower your standards tidiness wise.

Mine are 17 months apart and now 4 and 3, and the only time the house isn’t an absolute shit show is when they’re both at nursery.

As long as the place is clean I try not to sweat it- it’s not forever.

You need a really good comfortable sling, and a double buggy.

A play pen to put one in whilst you’re dealing with the other.

Wine 🍷

Decent double buggy. Walks every morning until naps are in sync..
Cake...

SLING

When your eldest is bug enough switch to a single buggy and a buggy board. 13 months between my DDs and the difference it made to going out and about and on buses was phenomenal!

Double buggy
Try to get first one sleeping as well as possible before number 2 arrives
Bath seat type thing as we didn't bother with baby bath for number 2 and put them in together

Booze, a double buggy, and a nice husband.

Agree with sling plus double buggy.
My first two were 18 months apart; I made a pact with myself not to wash up during the day and not to tidy until the evening.You could be doing these jobs all day long if you let yourself.
DC 2 was a bit of a horror and the first few months were exhausting.I had a routine of sorts in that we had an activity most days for DC1 , went to the supermarket once a week and spent most of the rest of the time at the park.The great thing was that by about 6 months DC2 was copying a lot and so a lot of things eg eating, bathtume bedtime, etc we're done together.It became hugely easier from that point on as they played together and their activities were more or less the same until DC1 started school.

The best double buggy you can buy, that’s easy to push and is suitable for a toddler and newborn, I am going back some years but we bought the Mountain Buggy twin, really great buggy, stable and never moved if the toddler jumped out.

Other than that, accept offers of help.

Good luck OP, I am really pleased my two are close in age.

Make lots of mum friends who will hold the baby/ chase toddler for you when baby arrives. And suss out the best playgrounds/ playgroups and softplays that are nicely contained so toddler can play and you can sit with the baby. You've got this!

There's just shy of 21 months between ours, they are 5 months and 26 months now. Honestly, we didn't need anything specific. Like PPs say, make peace with the fact your house will be a dump for the foreseeable! Accept all the help that's offered and ask for all the help you need as it can be overwhelming at times trying to meet the needs of 2 babies.

Congratulations OP! I have 14months between mine 🤣🙈. If I had my time again I wouldn't do anything different.

It's tough at times, but agree with the others. Lower your standards. I bought a mountain buggy duet which is the old style off eBay. Really robust and a true work horse. I miss it 😢

Get your husband to get in the habit of making you a cuppa every morning and putting some sandwiches in the fridge for lunch. Get a flask for hot tea so it stays hot. Accept that there will be occasions when your kids have everything out of your cupboards and have removed all of the nappies from the packet and the wipes out of the pack. And you won't care because if it gives you 5 mins peace it's worth it.

Only tidy the house once a day at the end of the day. And get out as much as you can. Saves them wrecking the joint 🤣

I had a 15 month gap. My must haves were a double buggy, a buggy board and a single they could both use so DH could take one out separately.
Somewhere safe to put the newborn while they are asleep.

A sling proved pretty useless as my toddler loathed the baby being a barrier between him and me.

Gin

We never had a double buggy, but did have a sling and then a buggy board.

More gin

A playpen

And put the changing mat on the floor. Your toddler will attempt to distract you by - oh I don't know - climbing bookcases, sticking his fingers in sockets, weeing on the floor - while you are changing your babies nappy. Ds2 rolled off his changing table when I was distracted by DS1. He was okay, but it happened vv fast and he could have been hurt badly.

Google Chromecast and eyes in the back of your head

Don't worry about excess TV for a few months if it's what helps entertain the toddler. I stressed about it, but it really isn't hard to rein back on it when life with the baby gets easier.