How to manage with 2 under 2?

Just wanting to hear from those of you who have been there already. I'm due in 5 weeks with #2 and DS will be 18mths old.
DS will continue to go to day care 3 days a week so that will make life a little easier. I've bought him a doll so that he has his own 'baby' to care for when bubs arrives. Day care tells me he's very kind & gentle towards the other babies in the room, however I know he will probably be jealous to begin with because he's not getting my undivided attention.

I'm prepared for the fact that it will be hard in the beginning and am after a few tips on how to best get through the first few months.

I have 21 mths between mine. My tips are:

The late afternoon was the hardest time for me. Baby was clingy and toddler was tried. I liked to put baby in the front pack and go outside either DD1 played with water or we went to the park.

DD1 loved the bath so I used to give her a bath as something to do later in the afternoon and just let her play.

Get some recipes you like for your slow cooker, you can make meals for two nights etc.

Prepare food for your oldest in the morning so you have lunch and snacks all prepared and ready to serve/leave out. So when you are feeding baby he can eat too.

Rotate toys. Put toys away so when he looks like hes gettting bored you can take a new box out to play with.

Change nappies at the same time - saves you time smile

Hi there. My DS was 16 months old when DD was born. I was worried when I was pregnant of how I would cope and how my little boy would go...I felt guilty for turning his whole world upside down. But I was incredibly lucky that he adjusted so so well and my little girl was a brilliant sleeper who was very placid from the get go.

I think the biggest thing is remembering that your DS is still only a baby himself and don't put too much expectation on him. Its hard when there is a newborn in the house to not consider your first to be a big boy, and I really made sure I didn't constantly say "don't do that" "leave baby alone" etc etc. Give him lots of one on one time when possible.

It won't take long before you forget what it was like only having one child and fall into a routine. Can't be that bad because I'm 26 weeks pregnant with my 3rd and my eldest will only be 3 1/2 years old! Good luck xx

Hey, I agree with all the others but ill add my 2 cents as well. I have 21 months between my first 2 girls. When my 2nd daughter was born we bought a present (just a dvd and a colouring book and pencils) and put it under the cot at the hospital. It was a present from the baby and DD1 absolutely loved it. She loved the baby for giving her a gift! I found that because DD1 was quite young still there was not really any jealousy at all. I would perhaps suggest dropping your son back to only 1 day at daycare as although you may want the break they tend to get fairly clingy and he may regress in lot of things like sleep or crying at drop off s he will miss you and the baby.
The thing I struggled with most and cried about a lot was splitting my time between my girls. When they were both crying I would end up upset as I wanted to be with both but sometimes it just wasn't practical....
Take 1 day at a time and you will be fine smile
Im really happy with the age gap ive got and I wouldn't change it.
good luck with everything smile

Thank you very much for your replies! Knowing that you have all been there and survived makes me feel alot better about it all. smile