General Advice for Kids Two Years Apart...

I have 3 back to back. I never worried about it, when they wake up you handle it. I would rock my kids to sleep so my older 1-2 would sit and rock with us in a recliner so I had them all on the same nap schedule. I'm not going to lie, it's not easy you just keep things calm when you are having nap time. Then again I was so exhausted we all napped together so it was easier for me.

General advice: do not make any major changes to your daughter's life during the 3 months prior or 3 months following the birth. This means any transitions would need to be 100% complete before the 3 month mark. I think the bed transition will depend upon your daughter's temperament. If she's a naturally compliant child, you could pull this off.

Also, put all the baby equipment away, out of sight, as soon as possible. This will prevent any misunderstandings that the new baby is stealing her "stuff." This includes the high chair, boppy chair, all infant toys, and *anything* the new baby will use. If she's in the high chair, transition her into a booster seat (this is a very easy transition.)

Personally, I let my daughter keep her crib and purchased another one for my son. She LOVED her crib -- it was her warm, safe haven that was a constant in her little life. I just couldn't see taking that away from her, knowing how crazy life was going to get, so it was worth the extra cost of another crib to me.

I think all Moms feel different about how tough the different transitions are. I thought going from 0 kids to 1 kid was as shocking as being pushed into an icy cold lake. And going from 1 to 2 was the same thing...but this time I was blindfolded and dizzy. However, your adjustment period will be MUCH, MUCH quicker with #2 -- and you'll feel like you know what you are doing. You'll quickly find your groove in managing 2 at once! Best Wishes! :)

First - don't push the potty training. Even if you were able to get her on the potty before the baby arrives, chance are she'll revert once baby shows up. The second baby's arrival requires adjustment for the first baby. Suddenly she's not the center of your world. As for sleeping - sounds liek she has a great sleep cycle. I would consider trying to stretch her night time bedtime 15 minutes a day to get her to at least 7:30.

YOu're not going to get concrete advice since every child is different. My first child never napped more than a half hour at a time - my second child would nap for 3 - 5 hours at a time and began sleeping through the night at 2 months - my first didn't sleep through the night until she was 2 yrs old!

The biggest thing is to try to prepare her for this new baby who will take alot of attention away from her. There are a lot of great picture books about a new baby coming to the home. Try to give her ownership of her new baby - let her tell people the baby's name, particulars about "her" baby, etc. Ask her if she wants to help - don't tell her she's the new helper - she may not want to be. The more she understands about what new babys' do and don't do - the more smooth the transition.

I recall one time trying to get my older child to sleep - she really desreved to have her mommy get her ready for bed. My husabnad was working evenings at that time and the baby was howling in his crib. Instead of running in there to get him, I stayed with my daughter until she finally told me to go get her little brother and help him to stop crying. I allowed it to be HER decision so she had a little bit of control over this crazy situation where this loud crying baby who was no fun at all had come and taken over her world. He probably only cried an extra 2 mintues that night - but it empowered her.

It's never as bad as it seems it could be, and it's never as smooth as you'd like it. You'll have times when they'll both be cranky and in need of a nap at the same time (and you'll be in need of a good cry!) and they'll both have peaceful time together. There will be trimes when she'll be a little mom to "her" baby - and there will be times when she acts mean towards him/her. Let's face it - she's only 2! Whatever you do - don't leave them alone together for more than a moment. 2 yr olds hae been known to try to flush the baby in thetoilet or hang them out the window, etc. They don't understand the onsequences, cause & effect - they only know this baby can be a real bother sometimes. ;o)

You will get through this - mamas have been for generations!

I have 5 kids while I do not have any 24 months apart I have 35 months,27 months, 17 months and 5 years. That being said I would not or did not push the older one into anything during the 3 months when it was obvious that a baby was growing in there.
If your daughter is not dry at night or during naps than do not push the potty thing she will regress when the baby comes in some way and it could be the potty.
Have a double stroller, and a basket of mini books to read to her while nursing the baby and a maybe a few snacks for her and you that only big kids get and a refillable water jug. Also ask to be your special helper by bringing you fresh diapers and wipes especially during the first few weeks.
Congrats on number two! Good Luck!
J.

The first thing I would do (depending on how much time you have until baby #2 arrives) is to put your daughter to bed later. 6pm would be okay if she was sleeping 12 hours. But if she only needs 10 hours (as my daughter did until a few months ago), then you should try to put her down around 8 so she'll sleep until 6. That being said, that is something you can do slowly - let her stay up 10 mins more each night until you are an hour or two later. That way once baby arrives, you can hopefully get them in a similar routine of sleeping at the same time and then mom/dad can sleep too.

All children have different temperaments - my son was born when my daughter turned 2 and she has never been a great sleeper. He, on the other hand, sleeps so much better than she ever did (and still does!). Part of that is being a 2nd child - sometimes I waited longer when he cried because I had another child to attend to.

I would expect your daughter to be upset with you - especially after being gone for a few days then coming home with a new baby. My daughter was for about three days. Then everything was okay between us. From the get go, she adored her baby brother and has always been super loving towards him (sometimes too much when she's hugging him around his neck!).

I made sure when breastfeeding to include her (as my husband worked Mon-Fri nights until my son was 9 months old). We would usually color, read books or watch tv. As most people have probably told you, don't expect her to do anything to help but always ask and see if she'll be your helper. She may love to, or may hate it.

I would be careful to not push too much how 'big' she is and how much of a baby her brother/sister is. In some ways this is okay "You can eat pudding because you are a big girl. Baby brother cannot." But when it comes to not using a bottle, sitting in the swing, etc I would not emphasize "Baby brother is a baby and you are not so you can't sit in it." Just a thought!

I breastfed and my son slept in a cosleeper attached to our bed for six months so waking up in the middle of the night and feeding him and going back to sleep was never an issue.

Definitely buy some kind of baby carrier. I had a Moby and didn't like it. It took too much time each time to get it on right. I bought a bjorn type carrier from Target and loved that for the first few months. Then I moved to an Ergo and LOVED that. I have two hotslings that I didn't like that much either.

Don't plan on going out and doing a lot in the first month or two. Just get used to having two kids and you'll naturally figure out their similarities and differences. I used to put my daughter in the car first (warmed up with kids music playing) then put her brother in second. That way I made sure she was contained and not running around! My husband was up with our son for about two months when he was six months old because he started getting up at 12 and staying up until 3-4am!!! I was lucky enough to not have to worry about that.

Don't worry about making sure your older child is quiet during the baby's naptime. He/she will adjust to the noise!

Good luck!

I have three all of them 2 years apart. Don't force the potty training issue. My daughter had some regression when her first brother was born but then bounced back with the potty training. My middle guy potty trained faster than my daughter and the baby is only 10 months old and all it took for him was buying some colorful big boy pants and he was hooked!!! :)
If you daughter is showing signs of climbing out of the crib then definitely transition her to her big girl bed before the baby that way she won't associate with the crib being hers and hers only. Go with the flow. You'll find that while your daughter will demand attention she will want to be different than the baby to get attention.

Mine are 28 months apart and the little one is only 8 weeks so I don't have too much advice, but I will say it is already MUCH easier then I thought it would be and I stay at home and am with them 24/7. I definitely agree with others saying not to push the potty training. I was on a mission to potty train my son before the baby came, but he just wasn't ready and even his pediatrician told me it would be better to wait until after the baby because he would be likely to regress once the baby is here. Honestly it is a lot eaiser having them both in diapers right now (just a little more expensive) Also, like someone else said, make sure if you are going to switch your daughter to a bed or try to potty train her, do it now, don't wait until the baby is almost here, that would be too many changes going on at once. I moved my son from his crib to a bed (and to a new room) in my first month of pregnancy and it worked out great, I don't even think he remembers that room and crib were even his at one time! I set the babys room up as soon as I found out I was having a girl, I put her clothes in her closet and talked about baby sister with him EVERY day and brought him in the room to show him all of her stuff. By the time she was here he was so excited to see her and he loves her so much. Even though I miss having alone time with my son, I absoultely LOVE having two and I really didn't think it would be this great. No, I don't sleep as much as I used to and sometimes I sleep with them just to get some sleep, but it's really not that bad. If you think your first one grew up fast, wait until your second comes along! Time just flies by now and I can't believe she's already 2 months old! Good luck, it will all work out just fine :)

My toddler was 26 months when baby sister came along. I needed her out of the crib before I delivered so we decided to create a "big girl" room for her across the hall in a whole new room. We picked decor, new furniture, etc. and went to decorating. It was done by her 2nd birthday and it was a big to-do, her big girl room for her birthday...very exciting and she loved it. So we got her out of the nursery and out of the crib and it was a positive fun thing for her. I introduced the potty to her around that time too but it was much later before she was ready to take on that feat and that was okay. My advice there is don't push her on the potty training. When she's ready it will happen relatively easily for everyone. As for the sleep training, I would DEFINITELY get that handled now. Put her on a schedule that works for you and stick with it. Let her cry if she wakes up during the night (and she will because she's so used to being able to get up any time) but believe me, when that baby comes you will need her sleeping thru the night. If you don't do that now you'll be out of luck when the time comes. The last thing you need is baby waking up toddler and toddler waking up baby and both of them waking you up. NO ONE will be getting any sleep. Now is the time to toughen up and get her on track. As for the transition from 1 to 2, I found it to be much easier than I expected. All the really tough baby problems had already been figured out and I was much more confident, much less stressed with baby #2 and was able to enjoy it much more. Congratulations and best of luck to you and your family!

My girls are 2 years and 2 days apart. I had all the same worries, as my oldest never slept in a crib, so I was worried what my second was going to be just like her sister. And how I would handle both of them and so on.

My second slept SOOO good, I always tell people God knew I couldn't handle much more.

I found I relied on my husband a lot, when the second came. And my husband came through. He kept my older one busy and he took care of her a lot when I couldn't or needed the relief. When I was at home with both, I found my oldest was in the phase of getting into everything. Trying to be very independent and getting things for herself. I thought it was because she just knew I was busy with her sister, but as her sister came a long I realized its just the age.

I think the first 6 months is your learning period and at some points it can be difficult. But in time you'll all settle in a routine and things get easier everyday. I wouldn't advise pushing the potty training issue. I did, and it wasn't until my daughter was 3.5 before I got her potty trained and it was so stressful. I also have a friend that got her daughter potty trained before a sibling and was doing great but then baby brother came and she is almost 4 and still pooping in her underwear and baby brother is 1.

Don't stress too much, it will all be fine. I love the age difference between my two, they are now 5 and 3 and play so well together!

Good luck!

I have four sons 8, 6 1/2, 4, & 2 and I know exactly what u mean...My first two wasn't easy but I improved better and better with each of them...Now the sleeping issue, I just got finish experiencing my 4 yr old and is currently going through it with my 2 yr old, but thats coming to a stop.

My 4yr old would not got to sleep before ten at night for nothing so what I did was prevent him from taking naps after 1:30pm (and that was cutting it kind of close) as well as for my 2 yr old, if 2 o'clock came around and he wasn't napping then he got no nap no matter how tired he was, it may sound cruel but it's not, trust me. Here's what I did if they looked like they wanted to take a nap after 2 I would get them dress and take them on a walk around my complex it wore them out but at the same time they was to excited to be tired any more, then we got back 2 the house it's usually time to pick up their brother from the bus stop, so we come home take a quick break then head back out.
Bout time dinner came round 6:30 or 7 he is finished, give all of them a bath around 7:30 by 8 everyone is clean fed and ready to take it down, at 8 no one is aloud to leave their room unless they have to use the bathroom. Including my 2 yr old....I have a counting system it only goes to 3, if I get to three before they return to their room I take the dvd player or I take something away that they like to do for the next day...they don't have to go to sleep right away when 8 comes around but they are so tired that when 9 rolls around three out four are tuckered out.

Now my 2 yr old can b tricky sometimes but there is a method for that to. he is already tired but he would want to stay up because mommy is up. So what I would do is lay there with him and watch the movie till he falls asleep which only takes me 20 to 25 mins for this to happen.. I do this when I REALLY need him to go to sleep at a decent hour and it works...After a couple times of doing this he goes to sleep on his own at a reasonable hour, i sometimes have to lay down with him bout it happens rarely now.

My 2 yr old has been potty trained for 4 months now, I started one day when I noticed he did not wet himself when taking a nap (that day I ran out of pamper's and couldn't make it to the store til later) so that's when I took the opportunity to start. He learned a lot faster then his brother's did but that credit goes to his brother's cause watching them go to the bathroom when they needed to made him want to use the potty like a big boy too LOL it worked out good...Sorry for rambling but you can tell that I talk to children 24/7 that I just can't help it lol I hope I helped.(^_^)

dear 1little1-

All of my kids are less than 2 years apart...I remember having 3 in diapers at once...when one needed a change...ALL got a change! lol

I did not push potty training to be honest...it was little help to me unless they were able to pull pants down etc...I trained mine in the summers...lounging around the pool with potty seat outside...pool was good incentive to potty as 'no diapers allowed' (this was before swimmies). Each, by the end of 'their' summer was trained...night time as well.

Good luck! I would not do it any other way (age wise)...kids are adaptable...and we as parents are as well!

Take Care
michele/cat

My kids are 2.5 years apart and I can tell you that it is a perfect age difference. They are 6 and 9 now and are eachothers best friends (and sometimes worst enemies lol!) But something to think about in potty training....it was almost easier with both in diapers. When you start training they will have to go at the most inopportune times-at least that was my experience! Nothing can be more of a pain when your older child has to poop really bad and the only place that you can take him is a yucky little bathroom with your baby in tow. I have literally had to stop shopping or eating or whatever and gather up everything to sprint to the bathroom and sit there for 15 minutes while my son figured it out in the stall. And it is tough to help if you don't have the stroller to put the baby down.