What I did during my pregnancy to prepare for 2 under 2

 

Being pregnant with a toddler isn't easy- I longed for the days of my first pregnancy when I could just nap when I wanted to and I wasn't bending over as much to pick up toys or a tiny human. The thought of two under two scared me a bit and I wanted to be as prepared as possible before we became a family of four. Here are something I did that really helped us prepare and have a smooth transition from 1-2. 

1. Slowly decluttered and deep cleaned my house 

This is something I did with my first pregnancy but boy did my house need it again with my second. This time requires you to be a little more intentional-or at least for us. It was more of accomplishing little projects each week rather than just taking a few days. Typically this is because one of us had to be watching our toddler. 

At the start of my second trimester I went around my house and made a list of everything that needed to be cleaned, decluttered or repaired. Then each week I made a goal of trying to accomplish 1-2 things until everything on the list was done. Some bigger projects like carpet cleaning our upstairs we used a long weekend to accomplish because we had to go room by room. 

I used this opportunity as a great time to get rid of a lot of clutter or unnecessary items. In this new season of motherhood I am trying to be more intentional about what we bring into our house because there are so many items coming in and honestly I would rather spend more time with my kids then spend it picking up and managing clutter. 

2. Made a small registry 

We didn't expect a shower or anything this time around but we still made a small registry on Amazon of stuff that we needed to prepare for baby number 2. We did this because Amazon offers a 15% discount on everything on the registry when you are 60 days away from your due date. This was a great way for us to get everything we needed and save a little bit of money. 

3. Got a "gift" for my toddler from my baby 

This is something that I've heard from multiple people that can help with the transition. I'm not totally sure that he really understood the concept of "from his brother"- but I also thought it would be really helpful to have something new to play with right after this big change. I bought him a set of magnitiles on black friday deals and just saved it to give to him after the baby was born. I also knew that my parents would be spending a lot of time with him in the early days and magnitiles are a fun thing that they could all play together.  

4. Created a nursing area in a "yes space" for my toddler 

While I was pregnant I was really worried about being alone with two kids and nursing one of them. Especially in the early days of nursing you are really locked down and I feel like my toddler knows this and could take advantage of it. For this reason we made an effort to make a safer and more designated "yes" space. In case you don't know a "Yes" space is an area that you could leave your child in alone and they would be safe. Some people use the example of "If you got locked out of your house but you knew they were in this area they would be safe". This doesn't always mean that they can't be michevious- but they will at least be safe. We decided our yes space was our nursery and our upstairs hallway. Our nursery has a rocking chair in it perfect for nursing. To make this area more safe we installed hook and eye locks on our bedroom door, our main bathroom and our linen closet door. This way my toddler will be contained. In the nursery are plenty of toys and books for him to play with- don't get me wrong he could still make a big mess- like taking all the clothes out of the dresser or all the books off the shelf but it wouldn't be anything that would be unsafe. 

5. Asked for more help this time 

This one was huge but also hard for me. I am extremely independent and introverted and especially with my first baby I was convinced that my husband and I would just do everything ourselves. Don't get me wrong- we manage a lot just the two of us. We live very far from family and while we have a few friends in the area that are willing to watch our toddler we make a point to call on them only when we absolutely need it. 

But I knew with this baby that we would need help. Thankfully my parents are retired and have the means to come out and help us through this transition time. 

6. Meal Prepped 

We found this to be super helpful with our first baby and knew we wanted to do it again this time around. It just helped take some of the mental load off of us in those first few weeks. Most of the meals are either crockpot meals or casserole style. You just defrost them and bake. My husband purposely makes meals for us to have leftovers. This way not only do we get one dinner out of it but also lunches/dinners the next few days. This way we are only running to the grocery store for fresh items as needed and we don't have to spend time thinking about what we want to have for dinners this week. We made 12 total this time. This took a little more planning than it did with our first. With our first baby we were able to buy everything all in one trip and my husband made all the meals over the course of 1-2 days. This time around thats not super feasible with a toddler so we ended up just making 1-2 meals a week. 

7. Baby Doll for prepping 

This was pretty major for us- we got him a baby doll for christmas. At first he wouldn't even go near it but slowly he warmed up to it. It was a little strange for me- I had to hold it a lot- but it gave him the chance to get a concept of what a baby is. About a month later he started saying "baby" and would also point to my bump- which was a huge "ah-ha" moment for us- like he gets it!!! We practiced a lot of holding the baby- "gentle hands" and let him feed the baby the bottle and put the pacifier in his mouth. We usually just did a few minutes each day- nothing major- it wasn't usually planned or anything- the baby doll just kind of lived on our couch. Often times he would bring the doll to me to play with him. Especially for this age I think something to role play with and practice is HUGE. Also when we converted his old car seat back to the newborn size I put the baby doll in it for a little bit and he enjoyed rocking and playing with him in the carrier. 

8. Books for Prepping

Our toddler really loves books so we started looking at the library for some books on baby's and being a brother. This helped him with really learning the concept of a baby.

Here are some titles we found at our library 

Baby's Here- for some reason he was obsessed with this one. 

My Brother is the best 

I am a big brother 

Wonderful Babies 

Families Grow 

At the end of the day you can never be completely prepared for a new baby- but we found that taking these steps really helped us- so I thought I would share.