Juggling Three Children Under Four, One Month In

I cannot believe it but my baby is almost a month old. Where did the month go? It has flown by and unlike my first baby I have noticed time passing. I don’t want it to go too fast. I think I might be a rare freak of nature who loves the newborn stage. I love having a newborn! In fact it’s the two and four year old making my life challenging right now.

I have taken most of this month off from blogging except for a few posts here or there that I had already committed to, I am hoping to get back going soon. I have tried so many new products, and been given the chance to experience many new items in the baby world since being pregnant and having another baby. I can’t wait to share my favorites with my readers. It’s crazy how much baby gear and even baby tips and ‘rules’ change from one baby to the next to the next. I had my daughter in 2012 and many things are different already.

I was lucky to have help for the first few weeks of my third baby’s life but now I am on my own and it’s hard! I know it will get easier and I will find my routine, but juggling three kids is not for the weak haha..

My two and four year old started waking at all hours of the night and getting up at the crack of dawn a few weeks before the baby was born. I believe they sensed my weakness and started acting out. Or something.. I am not sure what it was, but they must have known our lives were getting ready to be disrupted. It continued even after her birth, and it is just now starting to get better and they are sleeping again for the most part. By the way both of my children have been amazing sleepers since the time they were about one so having non sleepers is not the norm for us.  Luckily my baby has been sleeping great but I am not under any illusion that it will last. I am sure around three to four months all hell will break loose as the ‘three month sleep regression’ hits but at least I am prepared.

My two and four year old have also become challenging during the day. My four year old likes to argue with me and the two year old is crazy and wild. They are demanding, they need snacks, they need entertainment.. and of course the baby wants to nurse all the time. I am handling it the best I can but I I would be lying if I said it was sunshine and roses all the time ha. When I am alone all day with them I feel badly that I am spread so thin and breastfeeding around the clock. I babywear as much as I can but even that has limitations to what I can do physically (it’s still hard to drag two screaming toddlers and their bikes home when they plant themselves in one spot and refuse to move).

So, that is life with three so far. Hopefully I don’t sound like a downer. I wrote this on a particularly rough day (they are in bed now!). My older kids are the challenge, and the baby is easy as can be. I know it will all get easier though. We have had some fun outings already. I spent my third week postpartum immersed in activities for the older two and we had some good times. Luckily summer is great for having a baby because we can find many activities to do outside. My son was born in the winter and I was so nervous to take him to a mall or an indoor playground due to germs. I am not concerned now and we spend a ton of time outdoors. I also took all three to Costco yesterday, my first time shopping with three in tow and it went well. So, here we are one month in and surviving! I know it will get easier.