How to balance three children

[Sulkyatforty]

Just had my third child and already feeling the guilt at managing time with the other two. Life is so much more complicated than I thought - always said 3 kids is too many having been one of 3 myself - but when second DC born with additional needs and an uncertain future we wanted another sibling for her and DC1.

im already scared for how hard the future will be. We know it will be hard with DC2 condition but we can financially manage and I feel like I can manage as their mum. Their dad is a different story but overall tries his best.

Any tips for managing time with the three of them and also for fostering relationships between them? The other DC are besotted with baby currently but I can imagine the novelty wears off. Any advice from parents of older kids?

I'm in the opposite boat as third has additional needs so does need more attention. Are the older ones at school? If so I'd take time in day to dedicate to littlest plus try to get jobs done. Then after school time together but for bed time try to have a bit of time with each of them (assuming dp is also there) weekends do things aimed at older two as little one can be in the pram.

in partnership with their dad.
tbh going from 2 to 3 was easier than 1 to 2...
mine are relatively close in age which helps.

How old are they all?

Mine are a little bit older now but when my third was first born, I had one at school and another who was 2 at home with me. It was in many ways the hardest time because my 2yo still needed a lot of my attention. My youngest got my attention when she was awake. When she napped I'd spend time with my 2yo and my school age child got my time after school. Then my husband was around at the weekend to enable us to give more attention to all of them.

In the early days it felt much harder to balance everything and took a while to get used to it. Now they're older and 2 of them are at school it's still hard but in other ways (mostly their emotions and them wanting attention immediately). I find that it can be a bit reactive and we respond to requests rather than being mindful. However we've got used to having 3 and it doesn't feel so full on. Each week I sort of mentally plan the week and try to factor in some meaningful time. My husband will probably take our eldest to the cinema Friday night and then my middle the next week. Im planning to take my eldest on the train for a day out shopping in a few weeks. Time needs to be actively planned as much as possible I find.