2 under 2? How hard how bad?

[bumblebee2903]

Got 4 month old.. just found out pregnant.. what is two under 2 like? Will I snap? Also due date is in birth month.. typical if it's on her first birthday 😅

Partner is booking in for snip.. I have always dreamed of 2 children and will be done now..

It’s hard, I won’t lie, but it’s great too! Yes you are WRECKED, but then watching them play together is so special (hang onto this part😅). Congratulations op!!

Agree, it’s great having dc at similar ages - makes family time a bit easier to cater for everyone and my dc are close. Mine are a year apart so we do slightly drown in birthday cake each for 2 weeks each year. The baby years also pass quickly which is both a pro and con (would secretly like a third as I feel I almost missed the baby years it was such a blur). Congratulations!

It's hard but you do get into a routine and you just have to remember it's not forever. And the bonus is the bond they have x

no advice as I have a bigger age gap of 3yrs- but I wish my kids were closer in age- yes super hard at the beginning, but after that newborn/ toddler haze you will reap the benefits!

Horrific, but then they can start playing together earlier. You just get on with it.

I had 3 under 2

Get organised and cut corners

Don’t rock the baby to sleep, saves hours -
Have a boot full of spares when out and about - double up on bottles nappies wipes dummies etc if bottle feeding ready made milk is a life saver - I added all the free stuff you get

house work - drop your standards it’s only for a short while

Get help and take it where you can!

sleep when you can and get you DH to give you a break when he’s home -

divide bedtime chores one baths one reads one cooks or cleans every night - I always have DH the choice!

I don't remember much about the early days, but we also moved house up the country 2 months after birth of dc2. It could be tricky at points trying to split myself between two so young but then pretty soon their needs evened out. Tbh I think I'd find it harder now having a baby and older children, the dc are so close in age that their routine is the same, needs are pretty much the same, interests and games/play are the same. Outings/holidays/treats are easier. Dc1 has special needs and his development is delayed, for a while development wise it was like having twins. They toilet trained at the same time too so we got rid of nappies in the house within a week.

I love having them close and actually after dc2 I told dh if I wasn't pregnant by the time dc2 was 18 months we wouldn't be having a third as I wouldn't go back to the baby phase again once out.

We have this age gap with eldest two, I think I coped by making sure we all had afternoon naps. I needed those naps to survive the first two years.

the eldest spent their early childhood inseparable and have lots of friends in common. They are best of friends and sworn enemies all rolled into one. They compete over everything.

the close age gap was useful in lockdown as they were into same things.

Congratulations, I had twins and it wasn't too bad, they slept 6-6 from 5 months so that helped. I made sure I was really organised and no matter what the weather we went out most days in the buggy. It got harder when they turned 3 😁

I'm expecting my luck while one naps the other wants to play then swap over 😂 then typical if I end up with twins and have 3 😭

For me it was easy, much easier than going from 0 to 1, but only because my husband was 100% on board and I was rarely alone with both of them!

I had a bigger age gap than that though! 20 months between my girls. A friend of mine is one of what used to be called Irish twins - she was less than a year old when her brother was born. Her mum is very flippant about it. Easy apparently! But it was nearly 30 years ago...

Hard as in quite intense and a bit relentless for the first year or so BUT in some ways easier than a bigger gap as their needs are quite similar. And great as they get older as they should play together and be into the same games, toys, tv programmes, days out etc. Mine are 6 and 4.5 now and best friends. Fight like cat and dog about 5% of the time but the other 95% they are great.

Do not do what I did and have a third just as your eldest 2 are reaching an age you actually get the benefit of having 2 close together 😂

Awful. Really, really awful and I personally don’t think it got better.

I had DS when my DD was only 11 months old. They’re now 1 & 2. Still hard as fuck but you don’t have a choice really, it’s quite literally do or die

I have one year and one week between my two, currently in the thick of it - 18 months and 6 months. To be honest I found the pregnancy the worst part, no energy to run around after my 11 month old and the heavy lifting but I do have very big babies!
And I found lots of people scared me about how hard it would be. I had an emergency c-section in the end so I usually had someone with me for the first month to help, after that I was/am alone most days. You only know what you know - and I’ve found it so much easier than I thought. Just get a good double buggy (got mine second hand for a pittance) and try and get out once each day in the morning, don’t feel guilty about screentime for the eldest in the first weeks/months when you are getting the hang of things and feeding, cosleep if you can/it’s right for you so it’s easier to settle baby and you grab a few more zzzz’s, get a cleaner if you can afford it, batch cook like mad while you are pregnant so you don’t have to think about dinners for eldest for the first few months, trust that if littlest is tired they WILL sleep in their cot whilst eldest has their nap in the afternoon even if they cry for a while while they settle, accept help, give yourself a break.

you’ll be fine!!!!!! I literally am x

LOVED it! My daughter was born a day before my son’s first birthday and I was 41 !

i picked up a part-time evening job when my daughter was six months old, to help with income, and neither of them slept well so I was always shattered. But I loved choosing what to do in the daytime: a mums n tots group, a country park, a long walk into town. I’d had years of slogging it out in an office environment so the baby stage was a breath of fresh air…

Why can't you get your tubes tied after the baby is born aswel? Not just up to him, anyways everyone experinces this differently never know until you actually have to do it. Tbh it's a nightmare and it doesn't help when they are both in nappies if you really want an opinion

12 1/2 month between my oldest DC. Deliberately small gap. It was fine & I really recommend it to others.

Oldest DC wasn't walking when DC2 was born which was the hardest bit but I thought it was great.

We kept DC1 in usual childcare when i was on mat leave to keep to their routine & give me time with baby.

I had c sections for both of them (planned with DC2) so had to arrange help for the first few weeks after DH finished paternity leave but that was the only hard bit.

I wish we had had a similar small gap between DC2 & DC3 but couldn't afford it at the time.

They are now both late teens (m&f) & have a great relationship with each other, their much younger sibling & us.

Good luck (but you won't need it!)