Occupying 3yo DD when next one is born - ideas please?

[christiana]

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have you tried her on this on the computer?? keeps my 3.5 year old happy for hours....

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buy her some books that you can read while feeding.... julia donaldson is a hit in our house!

lego duplo?

colouring in? you can print off cbeebies...or buy a colouring book.

jigsaws? (he can do up to 35 piece at 3.5yrs on his own as a rough guide and needs help with bigger ones)

I'm using a combination to keep DS1 occupied while I feed DS2 (12weeks)

9am not too ambitious but it'll take a week or two to work out how to get two up and dressed in the morning on your own...

im in the same situation, except that ds will still be at nursery for a few weeks after baby is born, but i'll still have the getting out of house and down to school for half nine issue. tbh i dont thik it will be a problem. set out all clothes the night before, and when you get up, only do the necessary. ie dress and feed. dont worry about tidying except the brekfast dishes unless you have a dishwasher. the baby might wake at a good enough time in the morning to have you up and active. and dont overload yourself, if you dont feel like it, dont go to the class, there are more important things and like fy suggested, ther are lots of things you can do at home. that website is great for my ds aswell. same age.

where do you live? maybe try to do a couple of "days out" a week, to petting zoo, local museum, soft play etc. (take sling/carrier for baby so your 3.5 year old can go in buggy in need be) Maybe get a mother's helper in, a local teenager to help out with your DD for a couple of houts in the mornings whilst you and baby are sleeping? They could do activties such as making biscuits, making pictures with stickers/magazine cut outs, bits of felt glitter etc, if it's a nice day they could take DD and some teddies to the park to do a teddies' picnic. I was a mother's helper in this stuation when I was a teen, and I did all these things, also took the little girl to park, soft play, shopping centre etc, so mum got a break and had energy for her in the afternoons.

DD1 was exactly three when DD2 was born.

The best tip I got (on here, I think) was to make a "busy box" for her. So she had a special box, near the chair where I would sit to feed DD2. Box contained an assortment of colouring things, magazines, small toys and snacks that she could manage on her own. After she'd gone to bed, I put some new things in, so she could discover them the next day and it didn't get boring.

Her strongest abiding memory of DD2's first few weeks is "I had a special box with cartons of juice in, which I was allowed to drink all by myself"!

And will she listen to music/story CDs? I never mastered feeding and reading at the same time, but DD1 loved listening to something on the CD player.

Beyond that, nice, slow walks to the park, where baby will hopefully have a nice long snooze. Personally I wouldn't book for summer holiday courses etc, because if she doesn't settle you'll have more stress, not less, and you don't need to be getting anywhere for a certain time. But you may be more organised than me!

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day out ideas locally

and a few more a bit further afield

I would ask around your street/church etc to find a local teenager, much better someone you know or is known by people who know you, or post up a notice at the top local high school

Hi, I'm also from Edinburgh and find the Edinburgh area on MN can be helpful. You could mention no there that you would be interested if anyone has a teenager who would want to earn a few extra pounds. Or do you know anyone with a CM / nanny who wouldn't mind earning a few extra pounds for a short term arrangement just while things settle down.

My DS1 was about the same age as your DD when my DS2 came along and as long as I had something to keep him busy while I fed the baby (a special dvd / book / toys etc) then he was fine. We also went out every day to allow DS1 to burn off some energy. I'm in west Edinburgh and there are some great soft plays that, provided you go at the right time. Or try to visit friends with kids the same age as DD so that she has something going on each day. I'd steer clear of organised courses, only because when I tried it it was a waste of money as we missd so many classes.

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HI christiana - I like the one at ratho a lot - where the climbing arena is, do you know it? Or there is play planet over the bridge into Fife which is not far for me and great as parents can go on as well ( - I mean to look after the littlies not for my own fun obviously ). Gym tots at south queensferry was also good but has closed down sadly. Tumblezone in livingston is also good... Have you been to many? Are you over my side of town?

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