Pregnant and parenting a toddler

[PWPATYO]

Hi all, I'm 29 weeks pregnant and my eldest is 2 yrs + 8 months. I'm finding it hard to be the same kind of parent shall we say as I was before I got pregnant (or before I was this pregnant anyway)!

I wondered whether we could have a thread for solidarity/shared stories etc! Some of the daft things I'm having to do:

• use a rubber ring to sit on so that I can sit on the floor and play (can't sit on ground due to tailbone pain)
• I've made a fake Gaviscon bottle for her (it has milk in it) so that she can have some too when she sees me taking it at all hours of the day 🤣
• we "sit like fairies" to read stories now (sit facing each other with legs out, I hook one leg over hers and she hooks the other over mine) rather than her sitting on my knee as there's no room!
• she draws on my belly with face paint crayons, and when baby kicks it means he likes the picture

It all feels a bit ridiculous! The above obviously in addition to the fact that TV time has gone up a lot, which I don't love but needs must.

Does anyone else have funny stories of parenting a toddler while pregnant? Or useful tips would also be great! ♥️

I am 15 weeks with a 2yr 3 month DS so not far off you! The things you are doing with your DD sound really sweet.
My biggest problem at the moment is that DS loves to jump all over me. He also likes being picked up a lot which I’m struggling with as the weight of him is starting to hurt my stomach so I have to tell him no sometimes and he cries :(
And same in our house with TV time 😂 i wouldn’t normally let him watch it as soon as he wakes up but that’s when I feel really sick, so now I let him watch Milkshake while I lie down feeling awful 😅

@LuckyMoonstone congratulations! Exactly the same over here with the carrying, I've tried to explain to her that I can do it sometimes but not every time, and it seems completely unpredictable whether she'll just be fine with it or get upset! Some Milkshake in the morning never hurt anyone, that's what I keep telling myself anyway!

I feel your pain!

I’m 25 weeks with a 19 month old, it’s relentless. Her sleep has gone to ruin and wants to be rocked and held constantly but it’s difficult with a bump, I’m sitting on a pillow due to PGP (though it’s eased thanks to physio) and I struggle to carry her too!

I actually don’t think I can get through the next 15-17weeks!

You're all doing much better than me! Currently 27 weeks pregnant with a two year old. Between working full time, recuperating after extended hyperemesis and pregnancy insomnia I barely have any time for my toddler. I find spending time with her exhausting when I get home from work - all I want to do is go to bed!

33 weeks with a 3.3 year old.

Her behaviour has gone to shit but just for me - possibly because she knows something is up or possibky because I’m just too knackered to be fun!

She spends a lot of time blowing raspberries on
my bump to ‘talk to the baby’ because I can lie down while she does it. God knows what the poor baby will be used to when she appears.

Im 33 weeks pregnant and 3 yr old invented a great game today. I lay in bed and she told me it was night time and I had to pretend to be asleep. It lasted a blissful 5 minutes 😂

@PWPATYO aww bless her, it’s sad when they don’t understand why you have to say no to them, I don’t want him to think I don’t want cuddles 😅

35 weeks pregnant and my DS is 2 years 10 months so sounds like we’ll have a similar age gap!

Honestly sounds like you’re doing brilliantly. I’ve been beating myself up about screen time as well but it’s not forever.

I’ve been really careful not to blame the bump/ baby for anything so I’ll just say I’m not strong enough to pick him up for example.

Can’t think of anything particularly funny but my birthing ball is definitely being used more as a giant football this time around.

Ah yes, 'Mummy goes to sleep' the best game ever!

I'm also dreading trying to balance time between a newborn and a toddler who is a mummy's girl. Definitely going to have to set time aside every day.

Hi, I am a bit behind you all. Dd is just turned 2 and I am 7 weeks pregnant. Any tips for surviving morning sickness? I've actually felt ok so far but worried I'll be hit hard soon. I was very ill with DD.

I’m 19 weeks with a toddler and now we’re past the initial lying on the sofa exhausted or being sick constantly stage it’s okay again but I am starting to struggle a bit as my belly is so much bigger this time. I went swimming with him last week and you have to do that weird crouch the whole time you’re in the baby pool but it was really hard to do with a big belly in the way 🙈 I’m just imagining the concept of 30+ weeks pregnant, toddler and potentially hot weather in summer is going to be hard work 😳

37 weeks with a 2yr 8mo. I’m exhausted! I’m really trying to appreciate the last few weeks of him being an only child but it is so hard. I finished work a week ago and I do have more patience with him now. I do still pick him up and carry him around if he asks. I know that once the baby is here it will happen less so I want to make the most of it if he wants a cuddle. I just ask him to stand up on the sofa or bed first so I don’t have to bend all the way down.

@Skyla01 I really struggled this time.. he would stand laughing as I had my head down the toilet thinking it was hilarious as he couldn’t work out what I was doing 🙈 it was between that and the completely exhausted feeling all the time. I was so glad to see the end of the first trimester and even now I’m in my second, the sickness hasn’t completely stopped this time. I really don’t have any tips unfortunately. If it’s really bad I know a lot of people find the medication helps. Those travel sickness bands work for some people. For me I just had to never let myself get hungry so I was having breakfast every 2 hours some mornings

also we saw a friend’s newborn today and as I was getting a hold the baby started to cry. He then started to cry and was waving for me to get her off me. So that didn’t fill me with confidence 😬😂

@BCxx oh dear, but also quite funny I can see why your toddler was laughing at you in the toilet. I was wondering how people cope with toddler & sickness but I guess you don't really cope just muddle through. I hope your sickness goes away soon. Once your toddler gets used to your baby being around and held all the time he'll not get upset anymore. My DD has the same reaction last time she saw my partner holding my friend's 1 year old.

Hi everyone! I'm 28 weeks with a 2yr 1 month old and we've had back to back illnesses - covid, chest infections, sickness bugs - you bloody name it!

That's what I'm struggling with the most! Currently signed off trying to recover from a horrendous kidney infection.

Sleep is a struggle as our DS still wants us to go in with him most nights (he does have a big double bed though) but I tend to send DH in now.

We spend a lot of time cuddling and reading books at the moment! I feel really guilty :(

39 weeks with a 4yo and it's been pretty hellish to say the least 😬 my DS has gone through phases of mimicking my symptoms (pretending to throw up because "he's ill too" or grabbing his lower back and going "owww" 🤣), stealing my nausea snacks, being generally boisterous and not understanding why I can't run around and carry and play with him etc. On the other hand once I had a hormonal crying fit because we forgot to get milk at the shop (🤦🏼‍♀️) and he instantly went to fetch me some chocolate and didn't even ask for any for himself 🥺 Second pregnancy has been sooo much harder than the first that's for sure...

37w with a 2y4m old 🥴 it's exhausting! We sit, read and dance a lot of stories.
Toddler loves 'the mummy slide!' I kneel on the floor in front of the sofa while the toddler climbs head first off the sofa and over my head then down my back to the floor 🙈 We have a lot of laundry fights - balled up socks launched from one side of the bed to the other is the current favourite. We cuddle lots and I'm another that still carries and picks them up when asked because there will be a time soon I'll have less availability to do that 😔 I'm still working, albeit part time, mat leave starts at 40w!!! I really don't recommend that.

Good luck everyone!

Hi, I'm some years down the line now, but when I was pregnant with my second I remember two occasions where I just needed to nap. 1st time I dozed on a bean bag in my oldest's (about 3yrs) room intermittently being woken to administer 1st aid to her toys. 2nd time I slept on my bed and woke to find her having set up a teddy bears picnic in my room.

I also had another occasion where I did hand over from the child minder in town at about 8 months pregnant and that was the day oldest decided to become a runner. Running to grab her with pgp then manhandling her to the bus stop was definitely not appreciated

I'm 30 weeks with a 2 year old. My DS is determined to be carried a lot of the time still, and sit on my lap for story time but barely fits. The worst are the tantrums when I have to carry him away, but he's flailing around and the kicks catch me in the bump. It's got easier so far, I struggled a lot more earlier in with first/ second trimester from exhaustion. Now I'm a more natural sort of tired and think I'm getting fitter.... I get dragged around by the hand a lot and feel like a sulky teenager moaning at having to do anything!

Hi All! Currently only 9wks with a 2yr2month old! He normally likes quite physical play and lots of climbing all over me so it could get interesting! Following for ideas and general support!