Calling all parents of THREE!

Hi,
I've recently discovered that I'm pregnant with our third baby, our other two will be two and almost four when this one arrives. This was completely unplanned as we had decided on two kids, so now I feel totally out of control :s People keep asking if we're happy about it and of course, you can't really be UNhappy about a new baby but honestly I am terrified!

If you have/have had three under 4, how did you cope?
How did you find time to breastfeed a newborn while having to chase two toddlers and do ANY housework at the same time?
What are your sleeping arrangemnt? Did you put the two older children in a bedroom together?
Did you need to buy a new car or just slimmer car seats? (we have a saab 900s, pretty small car :S)

That's enough questions for now, I hope there are some answers out there for me, I'm panicking a bit!

Thanks in advance.

Hi Charli,

I have 3 boys under the age of 4. DS1 is 3 years and 8 months and DS2 is 2 years and 2 months and we have a new little DS who is 4 weeks old tomorrow. For the first few days it was different but having hubby home was great. Once hubby went back to work I was thinking of how I would cope but I cope quiet well. With the breastfeeding thing. I always ask the boys if they want something before I sit down to feed and they tell me know but then 5 mins later they ask for a drink or something else which is annoying but I just tell them they will have to wait until I can get it which they are happy to do. I got myself into a routine with the housework before DS3 was born and have pretty much kept to that routine but hubby has been helping out with cooking dinner. He has been helping out with a few other things also which is great. I don't stress about having the housework done by a certain time, I just get it done when I can. People come to see you and the baby and not the house.
Our 2 older boys have shared a room since DS2 was 6 months old. DS3 sleeps in a cot in our room and once he is 6 months old he will move into the room that DS1 and DS2 are in and they will move into a different room but still together.
We own a Nissan Patrol and the car seats just fit. We didn't change the car seats for size (slim ones).

I hope all goes well with your pregnancy. I remember always getting asked if we were happy?, was it plan?, did you try for a girl?, etc
Now I get are you going back to try for a girl?, are you happy with 3 boys? my answers are always no we are not going to try for a girl and yes I'm very happy to have 3 handsome little men to look after.

When DD2 was born (no. 3) DD1 was three and DS1 was two.

Fortunately for me, DD1 and DS were very easy going kids. however DD2 was a nightmare. I could not put her down, she would scream indefinately. I tried leaving her for a while thinking she has to get used to it. Didn't help, she would just continue to scream. Mind you I was right there standing/sitting next to her! she was like this beyond 12 months.

She refused to sleep in the day(She was bad at night too) She would be in the deepest sleep and the second I put her down, she would be wide awake. So the only way I could get her to sleep was to hold her the whole time. Therefor I got nothing done all day and I had to carry her everywhere I went! I had to do atleast the basics for my other kids! Plus we were up until 2-3am trying to get her to sleep at night!

She is still rather demanding but has greatly improved in the last six months. She improved alot since DD2(No.4)came home from the hospital about a month ago. I think she's just decided she's not the baby anymore. Thankfully!!!

I got absolutely no housework done in the day time. DF and I would just get stuck into it if she did fall asleep early in the evening. We knew she would wake up before midnight and not go back down for hours! Otherwise we did it on the weekend!

We moved house one week before DD2 was born and we put the two other kids in their own room (they previously shared a room at our old house) and they were fine!

We are in the process of buying a new car now. We have no choice with no.4.

We also thought that we had this issue with no. 3 and DF just kept saying that three car seats won't fit. One day I made him just try it and all three fit! Very frustrating considering we had juggled kids for over three months. At the time all three of our carseats were Safe n Sound AHR Platinums which are one of the widest seats. We have a Renault Laguna which is a hatchback and they fit in that, however we also have an Audi A4 sedan and they don't fit in that. So try three in your current car. You never know!

I hope I have not worried you too much!!!
I don't think my issues were having three kids. I just think DD2 is a difficult(But very much loved) child and would have been a struggle even if she was our first. We were just so lucky that DD1 and DS1 were such easy kids and loved playing in their new back yard.

Hi Congrats on your pregnancy!

Like pp I have 3 boys mine aren't as close in age though DS1 had just turned 5 and DS2 was a week away from turning 3 when DS3 was born,

I found that being organised (even though you were so tired you just wanted to sit) made everything easier so I made sure I kept up with the washing and dishes and just did other jobs is i got a free minute,

I had DS1 at kinder so I made both his and ds2 a packed lunch the night before so when i was feeding DS2 could help himself to his lunch box or drink bottle, I also got clothes out the night before and got tea ready to go on early even sometimes at 10am I was getting good use of the slow cooker!!

We already had a wagon so seats fitted in fine and DS1 & 2 share a room I will be honest and say it is a nightmare for us and they still muck around terribly at bedtime after 2 1/2 years blink we are selling our house at the moment and buying one with four bedrooms and an extra living space as we really have outgrown our house now!

In a lot of ways I have found third time easier and a lot more enjoyable I really found the third child just fits in with your routine! I love having three and Im sure you will too!

Good luck you have done it before and Im sure you can do it again smile

Hi

When my daughter was born my boys were 2 and 4yrs..it is hard and stressful just remember u need to have a break!! my boys are full on and we call our daughter the devil lol cause she is a nightmare which has made my depression return. my boys share a room together have done so since Jake my youngest was 1 and a half. U need support and take help when its offered.. breastfeeding wasnt to bad the boys watched tv or played outside im sure there was times where there were naughty but i cant remember lol..we already had a big car when she was born a ford territory it has 3rd row seats to the boys love riding in the bk.

with cleaning im not really fussed if it doesnt get done then it doesnt..i dont panic over things like that

congrats and i hope that helped a lil

Not sure how big your car is in comparison, but we have a commodore wagon and fit the following combinations

a safe'n'sound maxi rider, a s'n's convertable forward facing, newstyle capsule

a safe'n'sound maxi rider, a s'n's convertable rearward facing,a mothers choice full booster

a safe'n'sound maxi rider, a s'n's convertable forward facing,a mothers choice full booster

If you want to trial different seats go to a baby store - most will let you try the seats in the car

good luck!

we also have an Audi A4 sedan and they don't fit in that. So try three in your current car. You never know!

Ha! Now I feel like an idiot! I jokingly call our Audi the Aldi as I don't like it. Never have. As you can probably guess, i'm not a fan of Aldi either. Have only tried a few things and have not been overly impressed with any of them, but many people love Aldi, so maybe it's just me!

That's what happens when you use stupid names for things. You call it the stupid name so often that you mistakingly call it that when you don't mean to!

Yes I did previously correct this!

Hi, mine were just under 4 and just under 2 when I had DD2.
I have found that 3 is a bit of a handful... not because of the kids themselves - they've all been really great - but because there's just so much more to organise and more money to be spent lol.

I'm not much of a cleaner, so that side doesn't bother me laugh

It's just hard when you're out shopping by yourself - I tend to get the older two in the car first, then get the youngest in...
My DS isn't that smart when it comes to carparks, so I like to make sure he's in the car, so I can put DD2 in stress free.

For me it hasn't been that bad and the positives far outweigh any bad anyway..
My three adore each other and are all quite individual but will (usually) play happily together as well.
Plus they amuse each other, leaving me alone unless they want drink or food!! lol
(I'm not one of those mums who has paint/craft/puzzle/play sessions - I like them to amuse themselves!)

Don't stress - just do the best you can..
that's all any of us do smile

when my 3rd came along my boys were 4 and 2, we loved that age gap which is why we wanted it again but to be honest for the first probably 10 months it was rough as far as time was concerned, i found it quite hard to manage my time, i was never a routine person and with having #1 in preschool i had to have somewhat of a routine and then throwing a baby in there put me out of whack but it did get better as time went on. as far as housework goes you can always just strap baby to you and do it if you need to. you will manage, you always seem to make things work.

forgot to add, we have a ford falcon and we fit the caspule a full back booster and a carseat in the back, very very squished but it fit.once he outgrew the capsule the careseat fit too.

also we put the boys in a room together (we are in a 3 beddy) and even though the baby slept with us he had his own foom just in case he did sleep in his bed we didnt want him waking the others up but now the eldest has him own room and the 2 younger ones share.

Hi,
I've recently discovered that I'm pregnant with our third baby, our other two will be two and almost four when this one arrives. This was completely unplanned as we had decided on two kids, so now I feel totally out of control :s People keep asking if we're happy about it and of course, you can't really be UNhappy about a new baby but honestly I am terrified!

If you have/have had three under 4, how did you cope?
How did you find time to breastfeed a newborn while having to chase two toddlers and do ANY housework at the same time?
What are your sleeping arrangemnt? Did you put the two older children in a bedroom together?
Did you need to buy a new car or just slimmer car seats? (we have a saab 900s, pretty small car :S)

That's enough questions for now, I hope there are some answers out there for me, I'm panicking a bit!

Thanks in advance.

Wow, do I know how you feel!
My DS will be 7 next month and DD will be 5 the month after Babybump no. 3 comes along-and may add DD will start Kindy next year!!
Bub is Due early October!
And he/she was a massive OPPSY DOOPSY! AND I can gaurantee alcohol was involved! So a massive shock!
DH & I Did not take it very well at all and almost saw us go our seperate ways.
I am not almost 15 wks prg and finally accepting congratulations off people-when I first told close friends and family I demanded that NO ONE get excited....but Im ok now. (Not looking forward to the getting fat part)

I think I will be ok with this bub. Im only taking 3 mths MAT leave than returning 2 days a week ( for sanity reasons) But will continue to breast feed.

We also had gotton rid of ALL our baby stuff - and as I had my first baby )DS) when I was 18 I didnt get much of a say in ANYTHING as my MIL took over completely-Im having fun picking out my cot, pram, baby toys etc smile

We are also on the market for a new car! My DS although only 7 does not use a car seat anymore as he is way too big for them! His very tall and when he sits in them his head almost touches the roof of the car! So figured it's much safer not having one. His taller than most the kids in yr 6 (his in yr 1) at his school - just to give you an idea!

You have done this twice already darling - YOU can do this again!
You have our full support here on huggies - day and night smile
You can do this! Enjoy it now because they honestly do not stay little for long!
My mother also promised me I will never get busier than 3! lol so take comfort from that.

xx

OOO and when is your EDD!!!!!?

I agree with the PP if you cando it with 2 then you cando it with 3. That's the way I Thought anyway. My boys were 3 1/2 and 5 weeks off of turning 2 the boys are great together they go off and play or watch tv. When it came to feeding my youngest DS2 he was always right inbetween my legs while feeding the baby. Sleeping arangments the boys shared a room from three months when my DD moved from the cradel to her own room.

I have had days and I'm not on my own when I say this I have thought whay did we have three I'm not coping, but then I look at all of them suck my gut in puff my chest out and just do what I have to do.

I had 3 under 5 though DD1 has turned 5 now. Try not to worry too much I agree with pp that if you can do it with 2 you can do it with 3.

Going from 1 to 2 is far more difficult because you have to learn how to juggle 2 kids. Adding a third is far easier as you are an experienced mum and as your life is already choatic, or can be at times i'm sure as a mum of 2, whats a little more choas laugh .