Advice Needed on Making the Transition Easier

Relax...It will all work out! I have two little ones that are 15 months apart. My daughter is now 2 and my son is 10 months. It was rough in the beginning because she was mad at me and didn't want anything to do with me. But after about a week, she realized that I was still going to be there for her. That was the hardest part. I made her a part of everything I did. Changing the baby, rocking him, and even feeding him. The less I worried about her clumsy little hands, and the more I let her be apart of him, the better we all were!! You will be fine, and your son will adjust! He is so young, he will soon forget a time when he was the baby of the family!!! Good luck to you!!! It is truely a blessing...isn't it?!?!?!?

One small advice. I kept a basket of board books next to the couch where I nursed my daughter. That way my son, then age two, could grab a book and we could have story time at the same time I fed my baby. Basically, everything will have to be multitask!!!!

I have two little ones that are 14 months apart. They are 18 months and 4 months old. The main thing that will make life easier is to make sure that by the time the baby is born that the one just born in Aug. is falling to sleep by himself. My hairdresser had two kids this close too and she was up all night when her baby was first born because she'd rock the baby to sleep and her toddler would wake up and she'd rock the toddler to sleep and it was a never ending cycle. So make sure you start training your littlest guy to go to sleep by himself. It'll save you from some sleepless nights and exhaustion later. Oh and when the little guy gets to a year old and doesn't need formula anymore put all the bottles away and dont give them to him anymore. It will be ALOT easier than trying to wean him from the bottle which isn't really necessary anyway and you don't want to have to chase him down because he's snatched the baby's bottle and taken off with it because he thinks it's his. He might get mad and fussy for a little while when you first take the bottles away but it will pass quicker than you think. Just keep saying the bottles went bye bye. I also never put anything but formula in the bottles. when she started drinking other things like juice or plain water (around 9 or 10 months old) I always put that in a sippy cup. The sippy cups with the soft tops are great. It's a little easier to transition to sippy cup with those. Hope this stuff helps. Good luck with the little ones.

My sons are 18 months apart and the transition was actually pretty easy with them. When my youngest was born, I stressed to Jonathan that this was "his baby" too. He really seemed to take pride in "his baby."

I also made sure to put aside extra time for him... While the baby was napping, I would read Jonathan books or play with just him. If I was running out quickly for something, I would leave the baby at home and take Jonathan with me. I also made sure I had a book on hand to read to him while I was nursing... He could cuddle up right beside me, while I read to him and nursed the baby.

I was pretty lucky though, because Jonathan was a very independent child and loved having the baby because Colin would distract some of my attention from him... I never really had any issues with jealousy, although we did have a couple issues the first few times I nursed the baby in front of him because he thought the baby was eating me.

I am sure you will do great!!

D.,
My kdis are 17 15 almost 10 and 7... When I was preg with the younger ones in the "groups", I made sure to include them in the planning of things.... My oldest went shopping with me and basically "planned" her little brothers room, clothes etc.... she totally loved it... and dont forget to get gifts for the older ones thanking them for all of their help when the baby comes (from the baby of course).... hope this helps