Logistics of two young kids - cribs, baby gear, etc

[wicked22]

I'm right there with you, On the daycare front do it asap so they can make sure to save a spot for you. Infant spaces fill up much quicker than toddler spots.

[EatsRitz]

I can try to answer some questions based on my experience with DD and DS. They're about 25 months apart, so a slightly bigger gap than your two will be.

1. You could try moving your DD into a toddler bed before the baby is born. DD moved to a toddler bed around 23 months, but she probably would have been ready for it a couple of months earlier.
2. You probably won't need two high chairs. A booster seat should be fine for your DD.
3. Car seats - if you put one in the middle of the backseat, would that fit in your DH's car? The Diono Radian has a small frame that would fit in a middle seat. It's kind of tall though, so you might need to get an angle adjuster for it to fit.
4. Strollers - we have a sit and stand double and a double BOB. I hardly used them when the baby was first born. I wore him in a carrier (Ergo, but Moby would be better for the newborn stage) and pushed DD in the stroller. If I had my choice of strollers, I'd probably like something like the Britax B-Ready or Phil N Ted that can convert from a single to a double, so it's not massive. But those are expensive.
5. We didn't take away DD's pacifier until after the baby was born. She was over 3 years old and still using it for naps and bed. Might be flameful, but meh. It worked for us. DS never really took a pacifier so I'm not sure if it would have been harder for her to give it up if he were using one.
6. I'm not sure what you'll do differently, but as for me, I tried to relax a little more. Having a new baby is hard, but you've done it all before... you got this!
7. No experience with daycare because I SAH.

I'm just worried about having enough space for our family! It already feels a little cramped in my house; I can't imagine what having another human in here will be like. Eesh.

[spiraltheory]

Following.
I've had all these thoughts and questions, and the only solution I've come up with is to buy everyone in the house, including my husband and me, pacifiers. We're all going to need some extra soothing.

[krl52014]

I've thought of these things too! I'll be getting some kind of double stroller. We will be getting another crib because DD's converts into a toddler bed. We are getting a van in the fall so I'm not too worried about car seats. DD sucks her thumb so I knows its going to be very hard to wean her from that. I'm just hoping baby #2 doesn't cry constantly like DD did and I'm hoping I can breastfeed this time around

[kelle017]

Dd will be 28 months so a little bit bigger of a age gap but these are my thoughts.

I probably won't move dd out of the crib right away. She's never tried to climb and the baby will co-sleep with us anyway. When she does move it will be to a twin bed. The spare room which will be here room has a full but it takes up a lot of room.

I'm going to get a double stroller soon because it would be nice for work but I need to get to bru or bbb because I'm looking at the joovy tandem. It has a removable back seat with a bench which is would be nice.

The baby is going into A infant seat. With DD still rear facing and no plans to forward face her it's going to be a really tight fit and DH won't be able to sit in the passenger seat of my car since I'm going to have to move dd there.

[mrsred09]

I'm not constantly thinking of this stuff, but have definitely made a list of stuff we need to figure out.
Crib: DS crib is convertible, so we will be buying another crib for this LO. We will be buying an ikea crib and not the super expensive crib like we got for DS.

DS is still in his crib and I hope to keep it that way for a while longer. He sleeps great in his crib and I don't want to change his sleep patterns at all right now. We will probably transition his crib to toddler bed in a few months.

Stroller: we have the britax b ready and already have the car seat adapter for the 2nd seat (my BFF and I were pregnant together last time and we split the cost of the extra adapter so we could just take one stroller when we went out together, which was often). We do need to buy the 2nd seat though.

Car: I'm in the same situation and I think we decided yesterday that we are both getting bigger cars, with one probably being a van. There is no way we can have two seats in the back and drive comfortably.

[bee]

I'll see what I can help you with.

1. DS is already in a big boy bed. We skipped the toddler and went to a twin. I want to say he was around 21-22 months.

2. I already bought a sit and stand. A friend of a friend was selling hers for $40 and she maybe used it 3 times, so I took it. I'm not sure how well this will work for us, I think we will just have to see.

3. We switched DS to a booster seat at the table. It works so much better for us anyway.

4. We plan on hopefully getting a big suv or mini van.

5. As someone who has worked in centers with long wait lists I would put your name in now. Those spots can go so quickly in infant rooms!

[musicalsilver]

Our gap will be a little larger than yours (DS will be 32 months old when this LO is born), but here are my thoughts so far:

1. We transitioned LO to a floor bed (a twin mattress on the floor) at 10 months, so it's never too early! He went from a PnP in our room/a bit of bed sharing to the floor bed.

2. We never extensively used a high chair (he mostly ate at a toddler sized table when he was too small for our table), but now he eats at the regular table with us in the equivalent of a booster. I wouldn't bother with another high chair, as a booster will surely be the way to go before your new LO arrives.

3. Obviously we skipped the toddler bed thing. Unless your crib converts and you want to use that, I don't see a point to toddler beds. Start with a mattress on the floor and add height/the bed frame as LO gets better about actually being able to stay in the bed.

4. What kind of car does your DH have? The facebook group CSFTL is really awesome about helping you figure out what sorts of seats in what configurations will work for your car and situation.

5. We're not doing a double stroller, but then we don't use our stroller a whole lot anyway. I plan on primarily wearing the baby, and by the time I've had enough of that, LO should be old enough to be walking. I might consider a double jogging stroller, because that's really the only situation in which I regularly use a stroller. It's really dependent on how much you use a stroller.

6. No advice on paci weaning, as LO never caught on the the pacifier thing.

7. What do you feel you need to do differently compared to what you did with DD1? That's a very personal question. I'm pretty happy with the way things went with DS, but I'll be pushing a bit more interaction with DH, since he'll definitely need to be comfortable with taking care of either/both of the kiddos much earlier than he was comfortable doing so with DS (mostly because DS was *so* mommy-centric).

8. I would tell daycare as soon as you are comfortable doing so. Wait lists are no joke, but on the other hand, sibling preference (if your center does that) will work to your favor.

[chocolate]

I've been thinking about this a lot too, but mainly just the crib/bed situation as DS is already 2 1/2. However, he still sleeps in his crib and doesn't even attempt to climb out. I don't want to rush him out it, regardless of whether it's the full crib or turned into a toddler bed.

We bought nice solid wood furniture and the crib transitions to a toddler bed and full size bed, so personally I'd like to let him keep it, move at his own pace, and not have to have his own belongings ripped from him when having a new baby will be adjustment enough. I mentioned it to H and he said we should move the furniture over and get DS a new bed. So I don't know, I'm torn. We do have a queen headboard and dresser so technically we could buy a mattress and be done, as opposed to buying a whole new crib, crib mattress, dresser, and so forth.

[alwaysnc4me]

Oh, thanks for posting this! DD will be 19 months when this one is born so hubs and I are starting to talk about this stuff and get things figured out.

[golferbee]

I'm in the same boat! Ds will be almost 23 months and I'm freaking out about logistics. Lol

[SubtleGrandeur]

DD will be about 3.5 when this baby comes, so the gap is a bit bigger... but, here are my thoughts:

1. We transitioned DD to a full sized mattress on the floor bed several months ago and it's been awesome. She was very excited about having a "big girl bed". We actually have the crib still set up in her room, but will move her into the current guest room in a queen sized bed (mattress on the floor again) on her 3rd birthday so she doesn't associate switching rooms with the baby. She doesn't know about the baby yet and I'm not sure when we'll tell her.

2. We never used an actual high chair. We used a Bumbo with a tray for DD when she was little and then went straight to THIS, which she still uses as a booster without the tray. I think we'll just get DD a booster when this one is big enough for the Fisher Price seat.

3. We skipped the toddler bed (even though ours is convertible) because we didn't want to spend the money on 2 cribs and already had a queen sized bed in the guest room. I agree with musicalsilver that, unless your crib converts and you want to use that, I don't see a point to toddler beds. We've had a lot of luck with the mattress on the floor.

4. I'm not help with the car situation as we both have fairly large vehicles.

5. I'm not sure what to do about a stroller. We still use ours with DD when we go to the zoo and places like that. So, I think it would be handy to have a sit/stand or something. I do plan on baby wearing as much as possible, so that will definitely help. We have an Ergo that I never really liked. I think DH wore it more than I did and that was only a handful of times. I've heard good things about the Moby wrap, so I might give that a shot.

6. We started weaning DD from her paci right before her 2nd birthday. But, we never let her have it during the day... only at naps and bedtime. So, it wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe it will help you to tell your LO that the pacis need to be given to the new baby?? We had a friend have a baby around DD's 2nd birthday and told DD that she needed to give up her paci so this new baby could have them. She only asked about them for a few nights after that.

7. I would tell daycare as soon as you are comfortable doing so. I haven't told ours yet, but I think I will soon. Last time, I told them a few days before I had my MC, so I'm a little paranoid about that. But, wait lists are no joke. Luckily, they give priority to current families at our daycare, so we have that going for us.

[kh59]

+1 for the floor bed. LO is 24 months right now and quite happy on a twin mattress on the floor that we will ultimately move up onto a box spring and then a frame once she's not falling out anymore. With the age gap you're looking at, I really don't think a second crib will be necessary. Even if your older child isn't quite ready to be done with the crib before the new baby comes, you could always put your newborn in a PnP/RnP/cosleeper/bassinet/whatever for the first few months to buy yourself some time.

Also another vote for babywearing the newborn and sticking with a single stroller at least to start. If you find it's not working for you, you can always get a double stroller later.

On the high chair, I agree with previous posters that you'll probably find your DD ready for a booster soon. Another inexpensive option is one of the high chairs that straps onto a regular kitchen chair--they can either have a tray or function as a booster, and they're much cheaper than a full high chair.

Sidenote: musicalsilver and I are living parallel lives. And another thing to not buy before your baby comes is a PhD. ;-)

[musicalsilver]

Jun 17, 2015 8:21:09 GMT -5 kh59 said:

+1 for the floor bed. LO is 24 months right now and quite happy on a twin mattress on the floor that we will ultimately move up onto a box spring and then a frame once she's not falling out anymore. With the age gap you're looking at, I really don't think a second crib will be necessary. Even if your older child isn't quite ready to be done with the crib before the new baby comes, you could always put your newborn in a PnP/RnP/cosleeper/bassinet/whatever for the first few months to buy yourself some time.

Also another vote for babywearing the newborn and sticking with a single stroller at least to start. If you find it's not working for you, you can always get a double stroller later.

On the high chair, I agree with previous posters that you'll probably find your DD ready for a booster soon. Another inexpensive option is one of the high chairs that straps onto a regular kitchen chair--they can either have a tray or function as a booster, and they're much cheaper than a full high chair.

Sidenote: musicalsilver and I are living parallel lives. And another thing to not buy before your baby comes is a PhD. ;-)

Are you getting/did you get a PhD?  I mean, I know it definitely didn't work out for me (yet, hopefully), but I didn't know you were/are?!

[kh59]

Jun 17, 2015 11:17:31 GMT -5 musicalsilver said:

Jun 17, 2015 8:21:09 GMT -5 kh59 said:

+1 for the floor bed. LO is 24 months right now and quite happy on a twin mattress on the floor that we will ultimately move up onto a box spring and then a frame once she's not falling out anymore. With the age gap you're looking at, I really don't think a second crib will be necessary. Even if your older child isn't quite ready to be done with the crib before the new baby comes, you could always put your newborn in a PnP/RnP/cosleeper/bassinet/whatever for the first few months to buy yourself some time.

Also another vote for babywearing the newborn and sticking with a single stroller at least to start. If you find it's not working for you, you can always get a double stroller later.

On the high chair, I agree with previous posters that you'll probably find your DD ready for a booster soon. Another inexpensive option is one of the high chairs that straps onto a regular kitchen chair--they can either have a tray or function as a booster, and they're much cheaper than a full high chair.

Sidenote: musicalsilver and I are living parallel lives. And another thing to not buy before your baby comes is a PhD. ;-)

Are you getting/did you get a PhD?  I mean, I know it definitely didn't work out for me (yet, hopefully), but I didn't know you were/are?!

I finished mine a few months before my first pregnancy. 50+ tenure-track jobs apps later, I've adjuncted, taught as a temporary full-time sabbatical replacement, and now have a fairly soulless higher ed administration job, but I've never even had an interview for the TT teaching job I always thought I was headed for...livin' the dream, right? My degree is in the humanities, though, so I hold out much more hope for your job search!

[musicalsilver]

Jun 17, 2015 13:02:39 GMT -5 kh59 said:

Jun 17, 2015 11:17:31 GMT -5 musicalsilver said:

Are you getting/did you get a PhD?  I mean, I know it definitely didn't work out for me (yet, hopefully), but I didn't know you were/are?!

I finished mine a few months before my first pregnancy. 50+ tenure-track jobs apps later, I've adjuncted, taught as a temporary full-time sabbatical replacement, and now have a fairly soulless higher ed administration job, but I've never even had an interview for the TT teaching job I always thought I was headed for...livin' the dream, right? My degree is in the humanities, though, so I hold out much more hope for your job search!

I'm only about 45 applications in the hole (and some of those were stretches).  Still no interviews for my desired jobs.

PhDs are apparently really overrated.  ;-)