Pregnancy is a beautiful experience. Starting on the road of parenthood 3 years back, my husband and I knew a little about babies, beautiful snuggles and real struggles that came with it.
Recently, a month back (to be precise) we welcomed an adorable little boy to our family.
Now being a mom of ‘two under three’, I learned the key to keep up with my sanity is to be in an absolute control of patience and holding tight to the sense of humor (lol)
Parenting a toddler and newborn can be demanding and challenging in its own ways. Sticking to a routine would anchor this juggle to a great extent, of course, you may feel a need to make a shift in the routine every few weeks as the newborn continues to grow.
First and foremost, the tip is to appreciate the importance of much-needed sleep, remember ‘happy mommy makes a happy baby’.
I always gave formula to both my children during the night and preferred expressing milk early in the morning to get a ‘goodnight’ sleep (at least for a few hours). Formula being a little heavier than breast milk keeps your baby asleep for a longer time and this trick helped me a lot.
Start your day early
I prefer starting my day early to prepare afternoon meals, leftover tasks (laundry folding etc) and to get ME time (let me be real here if you are getting ME time initially twice a week, embrace a big blessing 😊).
Quality time with toddler
I have a 2.5-year-old mini-tornado whose super inquisitive brain cannot be trusted 😊 It’s essential to give her undivided attention while taking care of an infant. I try to time my newborn bath time an hour before our lunchtime. Babies sleep nice and tight after a relaxing massage followed by a bath and feed. And I utilize this time by helping with her lunch and spending more quality time. Also, during the baby's evening nap, I take my daughter out for a walk or a scooter-ride, now that she has started to take control of prioritizing her to-do list.
Household chores can wait
Laundry takes a back seat and usually is prioritized during late evening followed by laundry folding during morning the following day.
Sibling bonding
Encourage your toddler to help you in the simplest ways like fetching a diaper or a wipe. My toddler loves to join me while I give bath to newborn. All she would do is try to console a crying baby by saying, “Don’t cry baby, water is so much fun”, but I see the bond full of crazy fights and laughter riots already growing 😊
Stay Realistic
I do have moments when my toddler and newborn both are screaming at the same time, leaving a little room for peace in my heart, but as I said in the beginning patience is the key.
And yet there will be times when mom’s guilt would come unwelcomed knocking on your heart and leave you wondering if parenting is going the ‘right’ way. Why let it stay in any corner of your heart when you have beautiful little munchkins to focus. I would rather spend that time setting up my toddler’s dollhouse or cheering my little boy to roll over.
