3 under 3

[LJ1221]

I have a 22 m.o. and an 8 m.o. I just found out I am preggo with a third and I am a bit anxious. I am excited but also embarrassed, nervous, worried, etc. I am not sure how this is going to pan out. Does anyone have ANY advice or words of encouragement?

Currently cuddling my 6 week old as my 1&2 year olds create absolute chaos 😂 it's great! I love it! It's full on, so routine is your best friend! If you want to PM me, feel free!

Also congratulations!

I had 3 under 3 and it was lovely until the youngest turned 1 and I had 3 toddlers. That was really really tough but my youngest is almost 4 now and it's a lot better. I have four in total so when I had 3 under 3 I also had a 6 year old. Utter madness, but they have a lot of fun with each other now 🙂 Congrats & good luck! I did find my body took a bit of a hit. Loads of aches and pains and greys since then. I'm only 31 but feel 41.

I have 3 under 3 and 5 in total. It's not that bad at all! For me, routine and organisation is key. You gotta plan a routine for feeds, naps, baths, bedtime etc. Put it on paper and stick it on the fridge so that your partner's on the same page. Life will be busy but the unconditional love so worth it!

3 under 3 here too and then no.4 came along! It’s chaos but getting much easier now youngest is 2 - hang in there!

Nope. I think it’s irresponsible and unfair to your existing children - but that’s just me

She asked for encouragement & advice NOT your judgement. Ignore OP. Best of luck to you. No personal advice but my mum had two sets of twins a few years apart...v hard work but we were all very close growing up.

@Raspberry290 haha oh raspberry. Lighten up. Think of all the giggles. Ha I’m sorry but your day/week/month (life?) must be so morning to feel the need to comment that on a post looking for support.

Have you worked out yet what's causing this? If not you may have 4 under 4 next year. 😂😂😂😂

Congratulations, it's hard work, but worth it when they play together.

@Raspberry290 please explain why you think it's irresponsible and unfair!

Congratulations Raspberry290 for being the first mean comment I've gotten this pregnancy. 👏 Not what I asked for but thank you taking time out to make me feel like a bad mom. On a parenting forum too, special kind of mean.

@Raspberry290

Congratulations. They will all grow up together and hopefully be the best of friends.

I'm one of 4, also all fairly close in age, we had a great childhood and remain close - congratulations 😄 hard work for sure but at least they'll always have someone to play with and hopefully entertain each other!

@Raspberry290 That's so rude and condescending, and completely untrue. Children LOVE having siblings close in age with whom to share interests and play together, as opposed to having a sibling who's too old or too young, or being all alone and missing out on the experience of having a sibling at all. And I say this as an only child, I wish I had had a brother or a sister to share my childhood with. My children are 1.5 and 3, and I'm expecting my third next month. My children LOVE playing together and my oldest, who's able to understand better, is thrilled to welcome DC3. He comes and kisses my belly and interacts with the baby. And as they're close in age I can follow the same routine for the 3 of them instead of having to plan for a child of school-age and a baby.

Don't listen, OP! Your kids will love sharing their childhood together and will grow up to be very close. You will manage 😊😊, @Raspberry290 has no clue what she's talking about

Congratulations! In theory I would love this but how do people cope? I'm on my first pregnancy and so tired all the time. You must be a superwoman to deal with two toddlers on top of this!

How are you @LJ1221? I'm expecting my third in February and will be in the same boat for a bit 😬 x

Sounds like lots of fun!

@Mommabear20 that was your experience as an only child, it is not the experience of many only children, they do not feel all alone. Also not all children who are very close in age get on, and you could say many middle children hate being the middle of three.

@RiderofRohan honestly it's not so bad! The trick is to stick to a established routine, get them used to independent play-time in their room and if possible nap-times so that you're able to have a bit of a rest during the day and also have time to clean the house. I send my kids to bed at around 7. I must confess on my last months of pregnancy I'm relying more on TV (before they were only allowed screens on the weekends and Friday evenings) but that's something I'll stop after I've had the baby and recovered a little bit. You just manage, life goes on. Also children keep you busy and make a pregnancy fly past

@toomuchlaundry I know many people who were single children who wish they had a sibling, and also many other people who have 2 other siblings and they get along perfectly fine and they don't have "middle child syndrome". A child feeling left out because he or she's the middle child that's the parents' fault entirely, it's not that hard to give attention to 3 children and appreciate their individuality. Also we're not stopping at 3, researchers found that families with 4 children or more are the happiest 😊