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Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
For parents of 2+ Adjusting to a new baby in the home
Hi Ladies! We're due this month and I was looking for any tips you might have to make the homecoming process with a second baby a little easier.
I guess my main worries are getting Carson (2 yr. old) adjusted to the new baby with as little pain as possible, and tips for managing 2 kids at the same time. Carson will continue to go to daycare during the day so I'll only be home with the little one while on maternity leave but I was thinking about those evening outings, etc.
Any tips you may have accumulated in your experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Re: For parents of 2+ Adjusting to a new baby in the home
It was important to us to try to disrupt Ella's routine as little as possible once Brody came along. She thrives on routine and consistency so we worked really hard to alter as little as possible for her. I was induced so we were able to plan a little more than most and we took her to daycare like a normal day the morning of the induction and our sitter brought her to the hospital once he was born around 3 PM. Jeff stayed with me at the hospital until about 8PM both nights and then took Ella home and spent the night with her there so she wouldn't be thrown off. I didn't mind him not being there at night because it gave me a chance to get some sleep (as much as you can get in the hospital ha!) and he came back early in the morning and spent the whole day with me.
Once we were home we worked really hard on making sure that one of us was always interacting with Ella while the other was tending to the baby. We did special little "dates" with her where Daddy would take her to the "inside park" (Menards) or she would go with me to Target. We praised her positive interactions with Brody but made sure not to force anything on her as by nature she takes awhile to warm up to new situations. It was tough but instead of napping when B napped, I took that time to have quality one on one time with her and I think it really paid off. I have to admit I was pretty nervous about how she would react to the new baby as I had heard horror stories but it was a complete breeze for us. She adjusted perfectly and has never looked back. She absolutely adores her little brother now. I think the key was keeping things as normal for Ella as possible. Good luck to you!
Carson is about the same age as my Cohen when his little brother arrived. Cohen continued going to daycare too, which was the best decision we could have made.
We also made a big deal out of Cohen advancing to big brother status. We made it seem like his new role was very important and privileged. He loved becoming a little helper, like getting a new diaper for AJ, singing songs to him, adjusting the controls on the baby swing, etc.
Regardless of your intentions and plans, there'll be times when Carson needs to play on his own while you're tending to the baby. Someone (I think Mrs. Reem) posted that talking to kids has the same effect as actually playing with them. I was amazed at how true that was. Cohen would be pushing his toy truck around and I'd ask questions about where it's driving, what he'll do when he gets there, etc. It totally satisfied his need for interaction and attention.
Thanks ladies. I understand about the importance of keeping the routine going and hope that will be as uninterrupted as possible. We plan on doing the tag team thing where one is with the baby and the other provides Carson with the attention he is seeking. We hope that works out well until he adjusts to being a big brother. We too have been playing up the big brother role and talking about how mommy will need his help once baby arrives. I hadn't thought of those specific tasks Carson could help with but those are great tips on the diaper running and swing adjustment. I know exactly what you mean about talking to kids as a substitute for playing, we have had to do that a few times (while I'm making dinner and DH is still at work, etc.) and you are right, it works exactly the same way! I will keep that in mind while feeding baby, etc. This was all great advice, thank you!