Managing a newborn with two energetic older children over summer

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Does anyone have survival tips for how to manage a newborn and 2 older kids?
3rd baby is due at the end of July so we have not planned this well AT ALL.

2 other kids are 4 and 7 and they are High-Energy. Hopefully all goes well with the birth and I come out reasonably ok but from memory with the boys I was still pretty sore and bruised / leaking everywhere at 2 week PP which would be when DH would be going back to work.

The closer it gets the more worried I am about how to manage 2 kids who don't do quiet colouring activities, a newborn and potentially hot weather without my usual tools of extended bikerides / long runs around the park to wear them out.

I think plugging them into the TV for a whole month in the summer is pretty unfair so does anyone have any strategies or tips who might have been through this?

DH does do his fair share but we need to try and balance out his AL for time off later in the year as well as he doesn't have a great allowance.

Put them in some holiday clubs to wear them out and break up the weeks a bit. Newborns are pretty portable so hopefully things like taking them to a park will be fine with baby in a sling

Get a sling and take baby along with you to park trips and things like soft play and community summer activities. Arrange lots of play dates with their friends to keep them occupied too.

New babies are very portable! Get a sling and go out to the park and let the older ones run around while you sit on a blanket and feed the baby, bring a picnic (weather permitting!) Or set up some fun activities in the garden, paddling pool/mud kitchen/sandpit/trampoline etc - DH can do this before he goes back to work! Also look into some holiday clubs - mine did football, rugby, dancing, athletics in the holidays, great for wearing them out and giving you a bit of time to rest if baby sleeps 🤞

Do you have a garden?
Do you have friends that you do play dates with?

Work on them playing together more independently? They need to work out how to play with very little parental input. I can send mine out the garden and tell them to pay and for the most part it’s fine and they work out something to do and have a great time.

That aside I’d book them into a holiday club for some of the days if you can afford it to break up the week.

Providing you’re well enough after birth newborns are pretty portable, parks, national trust places etc. where you can just sit on a bench or a picnic blanket whilst they run around or play could work well too.

I think I’d be tempted to get a fun new toy for the garden or something but that’s very money dependent.

Maybe hire an older teen to help out a couple of half days a week as a holiday job?

Camps!

I had a third son when I already had two boys 4 & 7. I actually found it easier than the 2+ age gap as they were old enough to entertain the baby (sat in his bouncy chair) whilst you got their food ready or put the washer on etc.

Mine never liked going to activity clubs, wanted to be home, and to be honest I preferred a relaxed start to the day rather than trying to get them somewhere for a set time like school days.

I'd start collecting new activities for the garden (just issue one at a time so couple a day), doesn't have to be expensive, mine loved a big tub of water with various containers from the kitchen like plastic jug, colander, water bombs (did used to use sandwich bags but guess that's not eco now, it's 30 years ago😂, but seen some sponge balls intended for this) nerf guns, hoopla, tenpin bowling made up of empty plastic drinks bottles with a bit of water/sand in the bottom to weigh down, and sponge ball, paints that they did outside on old rolls of wallpaper, floor chalk for pavements, hopscotch, safe darts boards, boules.
Floor jigsaws, stickerbooks, magic painting, polystyrene planes you get from home bargains type shops that they put together etc for wet days. And don't feel guilty if they watch more tv than usual, won't do them any harm! Mine had plenty of films/cartoons and managed to grow up as useful members of society with good jobs🤣 they need some down time too in the school holidays!

Holiday clubs if you can afford them. Do you have any friends with teens who might be interested in a bit of money in the summer and entertain them.

Just take the baby with you, no need to change things.

A newborn is pretty much the ideal age for carting around with older siblings, surely once you feel up to it physically after birth you would just do all your normal activities but with a baby in a sling?

I would just plan on using the garden a lot.

If baby due end July, and your dh off 2 weeks, then it’s only around 2-3 weeks summer holidays left. It won’t hurt them to have a simple summer this year.

Get supermarket deliveries of easy food like pizza and ice cream for garden lunch’s. Use your house as base and invite some friends with similar age children over so they have friends over and you have helping hand of another adult a few hours.

Have your dh set up garden before work with paddling pool if hot etc. He can also take them off for late evening trip to park if you’re not feeling up to it after work.

And if you do feel up to it when baby is 2/3/4 weeks old you can just add in little trips here and there if weather not too hot to parks/ museums/ on scooters. Your dh can take them somewhere longer on odd weekend alone, or if your up for it schedule something like day at zoo for weekend so dh can child wrangle and you wander with baby in pram or sling and sit when you need to.

I think my main concern is being physically able to do the "shove the new born in a sling" thing as that is very much the obvious answer

My core was so unstable after my second that carrying baby in a sling for any long period of time became really uncomfortable and I spent a lot of the first 8 weeks slightly worried my insides were just going to fall out of me if I walked for any extended time. (I don't know why I'm only just remembering this now!)

Holiday clubs are a good shout and to be fair I hadn't considered youngest would be old enough as he only starts school in September. I wont be without help from a few people every now and then though!

They do play together pretty well although the 4 year old is going through a "scream with rage at all minor inconvenience" stage so they need a fair bit of refereeing!
Maybe I'm worrying too much or just scarred from how hard it was with a newborn and 3 year old! I think they both understand the baby thing a lot more than my eldest did when his little brother arrived!

For the first few weeks, it will be completely fine if they watch tv all day. Truly, it won’t break them. My 7 year old literally watched tv 8 hours a day 5 days a week for 9 months during COVID when school was closed (my 2 year old did as well for about 4 of those months). I had to work. There were no other options. Dh can use paternity leave to get them out so you can rest with baby. But then after the first few weeks, babies are super portable. Go do all your usual stuff. Snacks and a break for ice cream or whatever every time baby needs a feed.