2 Kids Under 2 - Some Advice and a Guest Post by Emily from Have a Laugh on Me
I am lucky enough today to share with you a guest post from one of my favourite bloggers, the wonderful Emily from the blog Have a Laugh on Me. I asked Emily if she would be kind enough to write a guest post for me to have scheduled once new bubs arrived and we settled on the theme "Advice for having 2 kids under 2". This is definitely advice that I am going to follow, and to be honest, it's good advice for ALL Mums of newborns.
Looking back I'm embarrassed to admit I used to moan about my life as a mother of one.
Don't get me wrong, parenting isn't all shits and giggles to start with, but when you start adding more babies to the mix it starts to become FUGGING HARD WORK!
And if you have two under two years of old, like I did (and later 3 under 3.5), then it really can be a little bit overwhelming, especially if you're breastfeeding and are home by yourself from 5am to 5pm.
My second born arrived 10 days late (after an induction) on December 17 - yes that's right a week before Christmas.
I can't remember much about Christmas that year, but thankfully I have an amazing hubby and family who took over ALL household duties for me.
Looking back I wish I had taken things a bit easier and realised that trying to be a supermum didn't help anyone, ESPECIALLY me.
When I look back at photos from years ago I wish I could transport myself back and tell myself to 'just be' - with my kids, with my husband and my life.
So here is my advice to help you cope with having 2 kids under 2!
1. INSTINCT
Remember that you've done it before and did a fantastic job, so don't second guess what you are doing and honestly THROW ALL YOUR BABY BOOKS OUT!
2. DO NOTHING
Spend more time doing absolutely nothing with your baby and the toddler who won't leave your side. Go outside, have tummy time, turn off the computer, phone and watch them smile, laugh and get accustomed to the world.
3. SAY NO
Make sure friends and family visit when it suits you. If you aren't up to it say no, if they are true friends they will understand, if not then it's their loss.
4. TEAM WORK
Ask your hubby/partner to take out No.1 for a special trip to the park/playground so they get one-on-one time and still feel important. This also means you can just sit with your newborn and soak up their gorgeousness.
5. SAY YES
NEVER, EVER, EVER say no to an offer of help, suck up your pride and realise that you will be a better parent if you have a break, even if it's just 15 minutes to have a shower (and a quick game of Candy Crush Saga) and not be needed.
A bonus tip!
6. DITCH THE GUILT
Sleep deprivation starts to take up residence about four weeks after No.2 is born and you will become overwhelmed at everything you 'should' be doing.
Please don't do this to yourself - leave the mess, the dishes, and when you feel like you're about to have a nervous breakdown, go outside and look at the clouds, the birds and get some perspective.
Thank you so much for guest posting for me Emily, I really appreciate it! You can check out Emily's blog Have a Laugh on Me by clicking here, and you can also catch her on facebook here, and twitter here.
Stay tuned next Tuesday when I bring you Part One of Baby Zee's birth story. Part Two will be published the following Friday. And yes I had to split it in to two parts because it took so damn long! And next Friday will also happen to coincide with Zee's one month birthday, so it's perfect timing!
Linking up as always this fine Tuesday with Essentially Jess for IBOT.
Looking back I'm embarrassed to admit I used to moan about my life as a mother of one.
Don't get me wrong, parenting isn't all shits and giggles to start with, but when you start adding more babies to the mix it starts to become FUGGING HARD WORK!
And if you have two under two years of old, like I did (and later 3 under 3.5), then it really can be a little bit overwhelming, especially if you're breastfeeding and are home by yourself from 5am to 5pm.
My second born arrived 10 days late (after an induction) on December 17 - yes that's right a week before Christmas.
 |
| My Baby Boy, one day old! |
I can't remember much about Christmas that year, but thankfully I have an amazing hubby and family who took over ALL household duties for me.
Looking back I wish I had taken things a bit easier and realised that trying to be a supermum didn't help anyone, ESPECIALLY me.
When I look back at photos from years ago I wish I could transport myself back and tell myself to 'just be' - with my kids, with my husband and my life.
So here is my advice to help you cope with having 2 kids under 2!
1. INSTINCT
Remember that you've done it before and did a fantastic job, so don't second guess what you are doing and honestly THROW ALL YOUR BABY BOOKS OUT!
2. DO NOTHING
Spend more time doing absolutely nothing with your baby and the toddler who won't leave your side. Go outside, have tummy time, turn off the computer, phone and watch them smile, laugh and get accustomed to the world.
 |
| And then there were two! |
3. SAY NO
Make sure friends and family visit when it suits you. If you aren't up to it say no, if they are true friends they will understand, if not then it's their loss.
4. TEAM WORK
Ask your hubby/partner to take out No.1 for a special trip to the park/playground so they get one-on-one time and still feel important. This also means you can just sit with your newborn and soak up their gorgeousness.
5. SAY YES
NEVER, EVER, EVER say no to an offer of help, suck up your pride and realise that you will be a better parent if you have a break, even if it's just 15 minutes to have a shower (and a quick game of Candy Crush Saga) and not be needed.
A bonus tip!
6. DITCH THE GUILT
Sleep deprivation starts to take up residence about four weeks after No.2 is born and you will become overwhelmed at everything you 'should' be doing.
Please don't do this to yourself - leave the mess, the dishes, and when you feel like you're about to have a nervous breakdown, go outside and look at the clouds, the birds and get some perspective.
Thank you so much for guest posting for me Emily, I really appreciate it! You can check out Emily's blog Have a Laugh on Me by clicking here, and you can also catch her on facebook here, and twitter here.
Stay tuned next Tuesday when I bring you Part One of Baby Zee's birth story. Part Two will be published the following Friday. And yes I had to split it in to two parts because it took so damn long! And next Friday will also happen to coincide with Zee's one month birthday, so it's perfect timing!
Linking up as always this fine Tuesday with Essentially Jess for IBOT.
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Comments
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Sakura Haruka
I'm about to have 4 under 3.5 (expecting twins), so these tips are definitely something I'll need to remember :-)
Love this post Em
All of this bubby goodness.... sigh...
Kylie, you're doing a wonderful job! x
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