How did you juggle parenting a newborn and older child?

Question

I have a 7 year old daughter and a week old son. My daughter has spent the past week with her father while I recovered. Today is the first day my daughter has been home with me. I've been non-stop with her, the baby, dinner, etc. I'm utterly exhausted. How do/did you manage your time through this? I could use some suggestions and encouragement.

Answer 1

I had a newborn and a 10 year old...Now I have a 10 year old(was the newborn) and a newly married 21 year old(was the original 10 year old),college graduate,honeymooning about to move out of state for Dental School,..but I still have my baby at home!!
I will just START OFF WHERE I LEFT OFF..We all survived and now I can "figure out anything I may have,thought I missed.."These children are a blessing,and keep me young,too!Nobody would question this age difference if we had one in the middle,but you only get what you can handle!!

Answer 2

I have a seven year old son, a three year old daughter and I just had a son on the fifteenth so I know what you mean, the thing that has gotten me through this last week is to remember that all the house chores, the dishes and laundry, the dusting and whatnot can always be done tomorrow and if for some reason not everybody gets a shower tonight before bed nobody will die. What is important is that your children all get to spend time with mommy and or daddy and you also need to take the time for yourself. So if by some slim chance both of your kids are sleeping at the same time, take yourself a bubble bath and relax, read a book, paint your nails, something little but relaxing for yourself there will always be tomorrow for chores. If you find that you are going nuts, see if your mom, husband, friend, or a neighbor can watch your kids for two hours and go do your errands, being alone with silence occasionally can be a God send for your sanity. Good Luck.

Answer 3

I had all of my kids 14 months apart. My oldest is 3 and my youngest is 1, and the middle one is 2. I am a stay at home mom and also help run a business out of the house. I am still trying to get everything done with out being exhausted. Luckily, my husband we take the older two for a walk or over to his work shop so that when the littlest one is sleeping I can take a nap. I try not to think of everything I have to do in a day, I just start and when I'm tired I sit or lay down for a while(dozing, but still listening to the kids). Enlist your daughter to help. If your breast feeding, show her how to burp the baby, but stay close. If your bottle feeding, have her feed the baby. My middle child wouldn't take a bottle from me, because I breastfed her, but she would take it from my oldest, and he was only 14 months old and he was a big help.

The thing I found with dinner is to make something easy, like lasgna(my husband got tried of it after a couple weeks and started to help make dinner) and again, enlist your oldest to help, you don't want her to feel left out, she could start to resent the baby.

Answer 4

I have four kids, a stay at home mom, and I homeschool them all. It takes time, patience, and rest. Dont worry about the house being spotless, do what you can do. Don't make big meals right now, you need to get your house on a schedule, a sandwich and some chips or a frozen pizza wont hurt them for a couple of days. Make sure you take the time to spend time with you girl, even if it is while you are feeding the baby, she needs to know she is not left out. Watch a tv show with her, or get her to read a story to your baby while you feed him. It is challanging but it will get better promise, Don't sweat the small stuff right now, just work on making this new addition to your family and yourself healthy and give your girl a little extra attention, she will thank youfor it.

Answer 5

Ok well at least your children have alot of age diffrence my son wasnt even 2 when i had my daughter. Sometimes you just have to let things readjust it will take time i just happened to have a really good baby who slept for 5 hours the first night home well untill i woke her up to eat. My son just kinda excepted her so there wasnt to much jelousy but i would make sure like when baby is sleeping spend time with the older child so they dont feel left out. Let her help you with the baby as much as she wants. Things will fall into place its not easy but once the baby get into a better routien it will be much easier. And get used to the exhaustion it will never end. Good luck and enjoy that new baby.

Answer 6

You serious how hard could it be??? a 7yrold and a week old baby..OMG!!!

I have 4 children son (4yrs) daughter (2.5yrs) daughter (1.5yrs) daughter (one month old)

You think you have it hard...

Dont you have a hubby to help you??
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You have to get up early tend to the 7yr old get her off to school (if she goes) then when the little baby sleeps go back to bed and sleep when the baby wakes get up feed them when they go back to sleep, you clean the house, make dinner, then the baby wakes again feed and then go back for a rest before getting the 7year old from school..

Then you get the 7yr old ready for bed, homework time, dinner time once the 7year old is in bed you then spend time with hubby if you are still tired go to bed really early.. Dont worry about the rest of the jobs tomorrow is another day...

Good luck with it!!!
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Sounds like you are doing a great job though!!!!!

Answer 7

Congratulations on your new baby! Involve your daughter with helping you in caring for the baby like bringing you diapers and such, it will help her adjust to having a new brother and make her feel important. Try to schedule a nap for the three of you during the day and try not to overdo it. Involve your husband with helping out by picking up dinner (a rested cheerful wife can be good incentive), or make quick simple meals. Try this site for recipes:

http://www.mealsmatter.org/RecipesAndMeals/QuickMeals/index.aspx

Set aside a special time for just you and your daughter to read or play, perhaps in the evening when your husband can attend to the baby to curb jealousy. Later when your son gets older you can gradually make it a family time. Talk with your husband and arrange a time where you can take an hour to yourself to relax and unwind. You need to take care of yourself too! The first few months can be difficult and you need to take it easy and get as much help from family and friends as you can. It does get easier and you'll be a pro in no time! The following sites may be of help to you…good luck!

http://www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/articles/siblingtips.html

http://www.tinyprints.com/preparing-for-another-second-third-baby.htm

http://www.parenting-ed.org/handout3/Specific%20Concerns%20and%20Problems/sibling%20rivalry%20&%20baby.htm

http://mimi.essortment.com/newsibling_rzgo.htm

Answer 8

It's takes about 18 years, but it will get better. Just kidding. I know how hard it is, my girls are 3 and 1, and time management is a constant struggle. For me, I use the wee hours of the night to catch up on anything I want, like college work, or just answering questions to unwind.
Sure I only get about 5 hours of sleep on average, but I catch up on the weekends when my husbands has his days off. Wake up, work ten hours a day, come home and do dinner, bath time, play time, bed time, mommy time, sleep time, time to do it all over again.

Answer 9

i have a 10 yr old,an 8 yr old and a 4 month old.what an age diff.i know what u mean,and I'm a single mother to top it off!!!ur exhausted because ur new to it.once it becomes ur everyday routine,u dont think about it as much.u still need to put ur feet up every once in a while.ur 7 year old will be a huge help,i know my two are,they love feeding him,and keeping him occupied while i try to get some things for myself!!!lol.

Answer 10

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh
i'm not the only one with children 7 yrs a part.

they are 7 yrs and 2 days apart feb 11 99
feb 14 06

what i do is while he is at school i tend to the baby and sleep while the baby is sleeping. now that she is older and school is out i find things that he can help with. making bottles, changing clothes, helping make disicions on what she wears during the day, i just try to keep him involved.

when the baby is down for a nap i play a game with him or do something one on one. i let him hold her when he asks most of the time and let him feed her once a day. the baby is going to take a lot of your time and she is going to feel left out include her as much as possible and let her know that you still love her very much. remind her that she needs to be careful of the baby and that the baby is tender at this age. after you get them to bed for the night you need to do what you have to do and go to bed shortly after them. your daughter is also old enogh to let you rest for an hour or so...what i mean is lay down on the couch and rest not sleep unless someone is there with you. right now you feel exhusted because you are still recovering. today my baby is 4 months and we have a routine all of us.

my routine is as follows:
700 wake up
feed son feed baby
900 baby goes to sleep for hr-hr1/2
while baby is sleeping son is watching his shows i clean what i can
1100lunch for all
1200we play with baby and eachother SON AND I
100 baby goes for another nap 45 mins-hr
200 we play or watch tv
500 baby goes to sleep nap 45 mins-hr
i cook dinner
630 baby bath
700 son bath
800 bed time
805-1000 mommy time
1000 shower
1030 bed

that is my schedual and we try to stick to it. i have a little help from my hubby when he gets home at 4. he sometimes cooks dinner or plays with kids while i cook.

asking for help is not a bad thing and always accept help when offered!!!

good luck and good night