Shelley wrote:
OK, give me the truth. How much different is two kids than one. I
know many people do it and seem to survive but I'd love to hear the
lowdown from you experienced moms of what to really expect. Some of
my concerns/questions may seem a bit trivial but I wonder anyway.


Personally, I didn't find going from 1 to 2 children was particularly
hard - nothing like the difficulty in adjusting to having the first one.
However, my children are 5.5 years apart, so by the time #2 was born, #1
was in kindergarten all day, and could do a lot for herself. It wasn't
like having a toddler and a newborn.


- Does the new baby crying at night wake up older child

The burglar alarm going off has never wakened my older child. Neither
did the baby.

- How does older child react to younger child. Any ideas for helping
with resentment issues for the older one.

My daughter was furious with us, and despised her little brother, for
2-3 months. We waited it out - she got over it.


- When baby is mobile, how do you keep them safe from older childs
toys

We watched him really closely, and put extra effort into making sure my
daughter's stuff was put away regularly.

- What do you do to keep older child happy while breastfeeding younger
child

Since mine was 5.5 when her brother was born, this didn't apply - she
was used to amusing herself by that point.

- Any techniques for taking two children on errands


I avoid taking children on errands whenever possible, but by the time I
had 2, my daughter was old enough not to be any trouble.

My DS will be 3 years, 2 months with baby is born. Any thoughts you
could give me about your own experiences would be great.


This is just my personal opinion: I would want to find a preschool or
mothers-morning-out drop-off program I could take him to a few mornings
a week, so I could have a little time alone with the new baby.

Clisby

Thanks,
Shelley
mom to Jacob (2.5)
edd march 30/05