Going from 2 to 3 positive stories pleaseee?!

[Lefmry]

As you can gather from the title I’m a little anxious now I’m 35 weeks pregnant about the idea of going from 2 to 3, although fully aware it’s too late to go back now! 🙈 My eldest is 5 and I will add he does have ASD so can be quite challenging although honestly prefers his own company and is a very gentle soul 95% of the time. My youngest is almost 19 months and a complete whirlwind. He came along and humbled us massively, he’s made me realise how much hard work a neurotypical child can be, harder than my eldest with ASD ever was. 😅

Anyway, we’re due our third in 5 weeks and this baby was a bit of a surprise baby. We always wanted a third but not quite this soon tbh. I’m getting nervous and just wondering if any of you have either recently gone from 2 to 3 and wanting to ask what it was truly like? Or any of you years down the line can share your experiences? I’m after positive stories but happy for you all to be as brutal honest as you’d like.

As everything gets bigger and achier I can’t lie that the idea of a third in the mix terrifies me. I keep trying to tell myself that pregnancy makes parenting SO much harder and that it is also the six weeks holidays which doesn’t help. We’ve all also had a couple back to back illnesses so it’s been easy for me to fall in to despair about how we’ll cope tbh.

I only have 2 but my friend has 6 siblings and I asked her mother how on earth did she manage? She told me that the more children she had, the easier it was because they all played together and entertained each other and the older ones helped with the younger ones. She’s a very nice lady my friends mum so I have no reason to doubt her and I know she did a great job raising her children who are all lovely, successful grown ups now. Best of luck! And don’t forget, if you do find you’re struggling, ask for help! There’s no shame in it. Do what’s best for your family regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Mine are now 12, 9 and 7 and life is significantly easier now than it was and just gets easier!

It’s a whirlwind, but it’s amazing how fast it seems that it’s gone and I’m looking back at it!

my advice? Roll with it. It’s a bit bonkers when you’re in the thick of it but this too will pass.
I also don’t take parenting advice from people with less than 3 children. It’s a different kettle of fish!

We are early days in on 3 as the youngest is almost 3 months, the others are 8 and 4. She was a little surprise baby and to be honest she has just slotted into family life perfectly. I’ve felt much more relaxed with her than with the others and they’ve adapted really well too. Don’t get me wrong it does have its moments and I do feel stretched between all their different needs. But to watch the eldest with the youngest is so lovely, they adore her.

I have three: ages 15,12 and 4. Both older (boy) children have ASD and I suspect younger one might too although she is a girl and presents differently. I was really worried about having our third in fact I remember having a massive panic attack about 2 months before my due date about going back to nappies and broken sleep again. In our case there is a huge age gap of 11 years between my oldest and youngest. It was also right in the middle of lockdown….

I’m not going to lie the first few years were tough and I had PND, I think mostly because I was very sleep deprived. My DD does not sleep!
My middle child found having a younger sibling very hard. The extra washing / housework/ cooking was/is intense (they all eat different things due to ASD) and they all want to do different things when they go out they were all screaming out for attention BUT 4 years in with 3 and I love it:
It’s brought out the best in my eldest he’s now a brilliant young man and very caring towards his sister. It’s also encouraged his independence as he does the things he wants with his friends now (rather than us) and is often off exploring our city. The middle one has grown up a lot and is also very practical where his sister is concerned … he’ll keep her occupied when I’m busy cooking and is very watchful and caring. He’s also less demanding ( as the youngest he used to get a lot of attention probably too much tbh). Now he has to share and I think it’s made him more patient.
All three help out with chores round the house now which the boys didn’t really do before. The boys are very motivated by pocket money! Most important is that it’s never boring and there’s lots of laughter. It’s not overtly noisy but we do have fun! Of course they have rows with each other like all children but when they get on it’s lovely and I’m glad they will always have each other.