Third Baby, Making a Smoothe as Possible Transition from 2 Kids to 3 - Layton,UT

What I did to prepare the kids is I had them involved with the pregnancy, Feel the baby, talk to the baby help mommy sign to baby, then when I was in the hospital my hubby went out and the older kids bought a gift welcoming the baby to the house wnat ever they wanted with in price range but that was the only resrtiction. Then Baby also bought a gift for each of the older kids so when they came to visit baby in the hospital the baby gave a little something each day they visited and a big gift when we came home. They really liked that. It was a good thing for this baby to be there b/c it bared gifts. Not expensive ones just something.

I also made them watch look whos talking too , with me. They got some of it but not all of it but I think it helped because as I saw issues little mikey had we talked about it.

I also set up things they wanted to do to help mommy. Get the diaper, get the wipes ect.

My kids were all 2.5 yrs apart.

"Wear" the baby. That way you still have lot's of snuggles for your baby and two arms for your kiddos. Congratulations! Oh and contrary to what lot's of people say my 3rd kiddo slipped into our lives with barely a ripple.

We took my girls to a sibling class at the hospital, they toured the maternity floor, got a book about becoming a big sister/ brother. I also made something special for each of them for when the baby came home (I finished a rocking horse for my oldest when her sister was born, they both got babies when their brother was born - which they both changed diapers and "nursed" when I was nursing.) My girls were 5 and 3 when their brother was born.

I have 3 kids. We had an almost 4 yr old and a 19 month old with the 3rd was born, so I can relate completely. For me, the key was organization and lead time. It took me a while to figure out how to pack up for all 3 kids to go somewhere, so I would suggest giving yourself extra time to get out the door anytime you need to be anywhere for awhile. I have also found that being organized has helped me know what I need to do & to get it done. For me, with 3, I've had to plan on getting fewer things done each day - it's just amazing how much of the day is eaten up tending to the needs of 3 little ones. I am not naturally a very organized person, but with 3 I've had to learn some skills just to keep my sanity! Congrats.

Good luck to you! Congrats on your awesome family!
I don't have advice...I only have 2...but DH jokes about a third fairly often and it hit me the other day...when he said, "let's have 4 more!" (he's totally kidding...I think he'd get snipped if we end up with 3...though I'm loving the idea of a big family now!) I have 2 kids...I have zero time for myself. So...even if we had more...I still have zero time for myself! LOL Not much of a change there! LOL Best of all to you!

Congratulations! We just welcomed baby #3 with b/g twin 3 year olds in the house. Several parents of multiples advised me that twins handle a new addition much better than a 'singleton' so I kind of 'wrote it off' thinking it would be a breeze - but that's not at all how it worked out in our house.

One thing we did to that helped was get a book that we read several times before baby #3 arrived - the Berenstein Bears have a book called 'Baby Makes 5' that talks about how #2 (Sister) is having trouble with the new baby because she's used to being the center of attention. Our twins still enjoy reading that book.

You are fortunate that you've already had the experience of bringing home another baby so my recommendation is to reflect on that experience - bet you'll find some great ideas you used last time!

Good luck!

When my third one was born we just kept up the same routine of school and library day, and pre-made frozen dinners. Dad also would take the older kids out to sled and do "big kid" stuff that the baby could not do on Saturdays too. He also did more of the errands for the first 3 months as it was the middle of the winter.

When I had my third, my boys were almost 3 and 1 1/2. I bought them both Big Brother shirts. My 3 year old insisted on wearing it EVERY DAY for the last month. I had to get a second one for when the original was in the laundry. LOL! He took his big brother responsibilities very seriously.

We had been talking about it the entire pregnancy. I got the book A Child Is Born, and we tracked the baby's progress in that. HOWEVER, that book has some pretty graphic images in it as well. I did not show them those!!! At their ages, they weren't going to pick the book up and read it on their own, so I'd keep it in a special place so that the pictures for adult eyes only wouldn't be seen. That being said, there are some great pictures for kids to see what the baby looks like inside your belly. We also read a couple big brother books (can't remember the names now).

We had the grandparents with the boys when my daughter was born. They came to the hospital after and once home, my husband spent a lot of one-on-one time with them while I was feeding the baby. I would let them cuddle with me while I was nursing and I would just sit with them while they played here and there as the baby slept.

One thing I remember doing was to make sure that the boys had their sippy cups and snack before I sat down to nurse. I learned quickly that each time I sat to nurse the baby, one or both would need something. My mom bought me a little basket with a handle that I put the phone, remote and water bottle in so that I could always have those things handy when I fed the baby.

Congratulations and good luck!!

Honestly, the switch from one kid to two is WAY harder than 2 kids to 3!! (or 2 to 4, 5, 6, 7, etc)... once you make that leap from one to two, it's a cake walk. I mean, it's still tough, but you've already mastered splitting your time, multitasking, running off no sleep, finding time for a shower!, remembering to eat (or brush your teeth, LOL, you know you're lucky if you do BOTH in one day!)... don't think too much into it... because honey, YOU'VE ALREADY DONE IT ALL when your second child came into the picture :) The best thing to do for the older siblings, get them excited! Let them know that you LOVE that they're going to be your very best most perfect helpers (they'll beam with pride!). Make sure that once baby comes, you let them kind of check out baby in their own time (if they shy away... babies can sometimes be very intimidating to toddlers!). Just go with the flow honey... trying to be supermom will only make you more tired than you will be. Like I said, you've already been through everything you're about to go through again, and you'll have days when you'll laugh until you cry because you think you can't handle it all... then you'll look at your 3 little ones and know that every ounce of frustration is 100% worth it :) CONGRATS and best wishes! You can do this! Don't ever second guess yourself; you're strong! Keep your chin up :)

I have to say, for me adding the third was harder than adding the second. My first two are 20 months apart, then #3 came along when the others were 3 1/2, and almost 2.

The hardest part for me was keeping our regular schedule, but I think it really helped the boys to get to still do all their stuff even though we had a newborn. They each had a class that required my involvement at the time, and we just kept going. Yes it was hard to get out of the house, but we did it anyway, and it seemed to help the transition.

Enlist your husbands help with dinner, that's a hard time of day. Save TV for that time too - that helped me get dinner when my husband couldn't get home at that time.

Congratulations!