Tinsel and Tantrums- The NEW (and festive) 2 or more kids under 3 thread!

[SpookyGrrrl]

Here we are girls!

Feel free to join us if you have 2 or more kids under 3yrs old- we won't bite

For any potential newbies, I have 2 boys, the oldest is 2 yr 5mths, and the youngest is 13mths.

Morning everyone, can I join???

I have a DD 2yrs 5mths and a new DS who will be 3 weeks old on saturday!!

Only just heard about this thread from someone on the AN thread i'm on so thought I would join you, am hoping that you will give lots of advice and tell me it does get easier as at the moment it just feels like chaos!!!!!!!

HI sorry did post before on other thread but time has run away with me. Just to recap I have five kids. Three old boys 18,16 and 10 and my two relevant ones dd 20months and ds 10 months. I have put up our tree and barracaded it in the corner with a footstool and storage box which my dd has decided makes a great way of climbing up to get her favorite "bally" off. I have decided to only put unbreakable decs on this time as she keeps helping herself but she seems to be sticking to the rule of only one at a time so far. I made the mistake of letting her help me put the baubles on, so of course it is only logical to her that what she can put on she can also take off. Ds has only just started dragging/crawling so cant get to it yet thank goodness.
I have just managed to get them both up for a nap at the same time as both are suffering with runny noses so I am having my much needed sit down with a cuppa.

hi mumto- congratulations on the new baby, and no yes it does get easier!

Hi tracyface- i'm not brave anough the put a tree up this year. Getting a small real one for the window sill instead. Next year though!!

Hi mum2becks and welcome It does get better (and when you want to whinge or have a tantrum, this thread helps). Congratulations, by the way.

(I think if you read back to everyone's earliest posts when they had one toddler and a tiny baby, none of think we can cope... And yet somehow we all do.) (Some even have 3 under 3... They are brave )

Hi mumto - yes chaos is a good word to describe it at the beginning but it does get better. Mine are 12 months apart and I have found that by getting them into a similar routine things have become slightly more organised if you can call it that. It was really hard work for about the first 3 months as I was breast feeding but after that it has improved. I still have wobbley days when I am scared to leave the house with them incase some unimaginable scenario happens (and sometimes it does) but I always have a laugh about it with my dp at the end of the day and just take each day as it comes.

Hi all

Tracyface - We have braved it and put our tree up too. Don't know how long it is likely to actually stay upright for

mumtobecks - Hi!! You have the same age gap I have between mine and my Lo is now 10mths and is easier (on the whole!!)than at the beginning. I used to just muddle through the day then I think.

DD is now on her third bout of teething but still no teeth

DS being child/brat from Hell ATM as he is tired when he comes home from pre school so finding evenings tough ATM especially as DH works most evenings.

DD crying AGAIN must dash....

Great Christmas names all!!

Welcome newbies .

DD2 has her first tooth popping through!

I'm knackered and have promised myself no MN tonight, just ant and dec .

LM/GDACD

Well our tree managed to survive another day. Lots of redecorating by my 20 month old dd but I think the novelty will wear off soon. She has decided it is much more fun to keep emptying the fuzzy felts into as many nook and cranny she can find at the moment. Yes even in my bra as she seems to pop them all over the place when I am not looking. Both babies had a really long 2 and half hour nap at lunch time so actually feeling guilty I had so much time to myself and didnt make good use of it, unless you count sitting on the sofa with feet up as productive. Off to do my ironing that I should have done earlier in the hope that I too will get a chance to see im a celeb.

I am counting down the days at the moment in the hope that we dont come down with chicken pox as we were in close contact for a couple of play dates with some friends who now have it. So no spots today hurray!

Evening, Ladies

GDACD - What is it with teething and no teeth? DS has that problem too. He now has a grand total of 4 teeth for 11m of intermittent agony (and he still doesn't have any facing each other so he can't even bite yet).

Grrrrr. DD has not been eating much for days (she's not totally off her food, but she's surviving on about a crumpet and three blueberries a day). I know it's pretty normal for a toddler and she might even be getting molars, so that would give a reason. But we're a little worried that she's ill (she's really tired all the time too). It's so hard to tell...

Must get a christmas tree this weekend too.

morning all, thanks for such a nice welcome!

Pleased to hear it does get (a bit) easier I think part of it is as you say that breastfeeding takes up so much time, and DD always wants my attention when i'm feeding DS even though I get her a drink, check if she needs potty etc before I start!!

I'm hoping to put our christmas tree up this weekend, DD is obsessed with the christmas trees wherever we go but not sure how she will be with ours this year? Last year I ended up taking the baubles off as she kept taking one off and saying 'ball' so expected them to be thrown or kicked as she would with her actual ball

Hello all and welcome newbies It does get much easier especially when they are napping at the same time, and yes, when the BFing part is over (Freya used to shreak and scream when I was BFing Izzy when she was newborn and this is mostly why I stopped - and it was a shame because Izzy was such a good easy baby to breast feed)

Well good news is Izzy took her first steps yesterday! And bad news is not the first time is god knws how long, she woke in the night and only after a dose of calpol did she re-settle. A friend of mine said the fact that she took her first steps may have overstimulated her during the night - who knows but let's hope for her usual 12 hours tonight!

I these festive emotions!

Evening All

mum2becks -- CBeebies and books got me through bf a little one while I had a toddler around. (I had a smaller age gap than you, so that might have helped.) Or I fed DS at the table while DD was eating and we'd spend a lot of time with her telling him he 'couldn't have yogurt until he was older' (or whatever else DD likes) which made her feel superior and more grown up. It might have a lot to do with what your older child is like, but we didn't really have any problems (unlike with Jewels and her Freya it seems).

Can't think of a xmas name Maybe I'll just be a mn scrooge...

Hello all, another newbie here, OK if I join in?

DD is 18 months and DS 3 weeks old today. Coping OK so far but have had lots of family help, next week DH back at work so I'll be going it alone, top tips very welcome!

Hi Bessmum and welcome And congratulations! You have a similar age difference to me: DD is now 2.7 and DS 14m. And I could get all broody with all these people joining the thread with little babies [awww emoticon]. I hope your DS isn't keeping you up all night and your DD likes her brother. (DD spends a lot of time shouting 'Mr Baby! He's my brother!' these days - and they play together which is really cute.)

Must go to bed now as I've been at work all day and DS will probably be up long before I want to drag myself out of bed.

Hi Bessmum! Congratulations! My top tip- go easy on yourself and take each day as it comes. Set yourself small targets to start with. When DS2 was born, i considered it a victory if we were all dressed by 11am because he was very clingy and i was very tired! Bit by bit you'll find your feet, and be surprised how it all falls into place (most days!)

I don't get broody Chaotica (which is handy since DH had the snip!) I go 'aw!' at babies, but no broodiness. I have my hands full here as it is! (Plus, on a totally vain note, i'm the slimmest i've been in 3yrs. I got into a pair of jeans i bought in last year's January sales that i've never worn this week, and a shirt i've had for a year and couldn't do up!)

New sofa coming today, and someone we know is coming to get the old one and give us £30 for it. Kids slept pretty ok considering they have colds again. Dylan woke about 3am, but i got him back to sleep and he's still in bed and George came into bed sometime after that and managed to keep him there until 6am, so he gets a tick on his chart for that.

I can't be arsed going to work today

Another tip for the early stages: when DS was little, I counted as a victory if neither of them was in immediate danger ... And I was coping if neither of them were screaming; and doing great if neither of them desperately needed anything...

Still no spots yet and they seem to be over their colds abit better today so maybe we will escape illness for a few days yet.

Going to avoid the madness of shopping crowds today and go for a walk in the woods instead. Does anyone else have a problem taking their toddler shopping? Melissa is a nightmare and screams the place down the minute we get there. I have tried bribery but there is only so many choc buttons she can consume without ruining her appetiite for food for the rest of the day. I find it really traumatic and I used to love shopping!

DD has only been walking about four weeks so really need to get her some shoes but had to give up last time and admit defeat as it took both mummy and daddy and three shop assistants to hold her down trying to get her feet measured. She is a stubborn little thing! Any tips anyone?

hello i have a dd of 4 a dd of 21mnths and a ds of 15 months. do i qwualify? lol

tracey I know exactly what you mean with regards to shopping with toddlers. It is a knightmare. And I always end up rushing to just get it done, without ever enjoying it. I also have Izzy at 11 months to contend with and there is only so long before she wants out of that buggy!! I leave them with DH and bugger off with my mum or friends, because then I get it all done and there are no tantrums (unless you count me having one because a particular is sold out in my size)

Speaking of which went shopping today and bought some new skinny jeans (present from brother) and new leather knee high riding-style boots (present from DH) and had a luurvley day.

Ladies do you think it is totally tacky for me to dress Freya in an angel costume for christmas day? It's just she looks so longingly when we see them, and usually I just get her a new dress from Monsoon, but this year I thought of her in her little wings and halo, and rosy cheeks and thought she would look very sweet.

Evening, All and welcome CherryEm.

Jewels - An angel costume?? If your Freya likes the idea then go for it. Our Freya would probably enjoy it for a couple of minutes before she decided she was building a rocket ship instead; then she'd spill her dinner on it and turn into the grubbiest angel around. (Our grasp on fancy dress is pretty slim around here. )

Shopping?? Tis hell - I agree.

Morning all. Haven't been on all weekend as I'm totally consumed by a CM problem I have. Won't bore you with the details, but I think I need to change CMs as I think current on is over her numbers (although she claims not to be) and she does a lot of walking with them, 3 long school runs (which are actually 1.5 hr walks in total) a day .

I have spent a very stressful few days looking for alternatives but no-one seems to have any vacancies. I am so stressed about it all.

jewels I bought some skinny jeans at the weekend too! Well, not proper skinny as I don't have the legs for them, but very narrow. I didn't think they'd suit me but I love them!
I say let Freya wear the angel costume, they're only young once .

That's three 1.5 hr walks a day BTW .

Oh sorry, it's gooddays/ luckymummy. I forgot I had name changed to post on the CM thread.

Hi Cherryem!

Not too bad a night here- Dyl woke twice and got up 5.30 with DH, George slept until 5am, woke crying (nightmare i think) so i took him into our bed until 6.15am.

Throwing away all Dyl's bottles today- can't believe he's so big already! They both play together well now too (usually!) and make each other laugh alot.

Had a disaster Saturday- sofa wouldn't fit into our living room door! Luckily, although they have a policy that once you've paid it's yours and it's tough, because the sales person hadn't specifically checked that i'd measured the access properly, i managed to arrange going to the store to speak to the manager and pick a smaller one. He was very accomodating on the phone, so going after work. He said they have some where the arms are put on after they're delivered, so that may help. Won't get it before Xmas now though, and will have to put this one on interest free credit as the original one was half price in a sale.

Put up my tree- very small but gorgeous. Never had a real tree before. This one i can plant in the garden after Xmas, then bring it back in next year. Thrifty!

grrl not thrifty, environmentally friendly!! .

DH went to the GP today and is now on the waiting list for the snip......yipeeee!!