It’s been almost a month since we’ve posted a blog post. We haven’t forgotten about our blog or our readers. We’ve just been busy with work, some household and other projects, and our oldest son wrapping up his first year of school (pre-k 3). Since it’s Mother’s Day I figured this type of post would be perfect. Besides, almost two years ago when we first started blogging we did a post about 10 Things No One Tells You About Becoming A Parent. It was one of my favorite posts to write and reflect on our journey of parenting. Now here we are 4.5 years into having our oldest son and 11 months of having our second son. So in celebration of Mother’s Day, I wanted to share 10 Things No One Tells You About Having A Second Child.
ONE.
You will wonder if you have enough room in your heart to love another child. And somewhere along the line whether it’s before, during, or after pregnancy… you will realize that you have more than enough love to share.
TWO.
You’ll experience all kinds of emotions at the same time when watching your oldest child meet his sibling for the first time. You’ll be happy and excited because they’re meeting one another, but you’ll be nervous and anxious that the toddler doesn’t want anything to do with the new baby. For us, it was all of the above, but our oldest son responded very well to his baby brother and even asked if he was going to come home with him now. And he had just been born 2 hours prior!
THREE.
You’ll experience the same emotions again when you realize how rough your toddler can be with the new baby. While you thought your toddler was ready for a sibling, what he was really ready for was another toddler… NOT a baby!
A parent’s definition of “gentle” and a toddler’s definition of “gentle” are 2 completely different things!
And as you try to tell him to be gentle… you’ll realize that the baby is laughing and enjoying every bit of it. What a way for them to egg each other on and team up against you already at such young ages.
FOUR.
You’ll find yourself always comparing the 2 children. Whether it’s comparing their birth weight, their deliveries, when the first tooth came in or when they started to walk. At the same time, you’ll discover that no 2 babies are alike.
FIVE.
You won’t be as uptight with the second child. Sometimes this leaves us feeling like he’s getting the short end of the stick. Or maybe he’s just getting the better end. ((shoulder shrug Lol)). Our oldest son had no sweets and only milk and water before he turned one. Can’t say the same for our second son. Lol. But he is enjoying his food and living his best life as he knows it!
SIX.
It’s hard going from 1 child to 2 children. Normally you might think that having more than 2 kids is overwhelming… Well, we can’t speak on that. But what we do know is that going from 1 child to 2 children sometimes still leave us figuring out how we’re going to do things. The good thing is that as parents we tend to think and respond quickly. So it’s working out.
SEVEN.
Going back to being sleep deprived with a newborn and the nightly nursing sessions has been one of the harder adjustments. Just as we got used to sleeping through the night for the last couple of years with our oldest… BAM! Goodbye sleep with a new baby!
EIGHT.
The second child seems to grow faster. We can’t believe he’s about to be one next month when it feels like he was just born a couple of months ago. On top of that, even at 11-months-old, he’s trying his best to keep up with his big brother. It actually started sooner than this. And for now, it means crawling around at fast speeds until he’s ready to walk!
NINE.
A lot of people said that when the new baby comes the oldest child would be jealous or act like a baby. For us, it was delayed. It wasn’t until around when the baby turned 10-months-old. Our oldest started with wanting to be carried into the house from the car because he was “sleep” or wanting to eat the baby snacks when he had his own. Maybe we should be happy that these are the only signs that we notice.
TEN.
Watching them grow together and interact with one another every single day has been so fun and entertaining to watch. Yes, sometimes one of them doesn’t want to be bothered with the other and that’s interesting to watch as well. But regardless, now having the 2 of them… We couldn’t imagine life any other way!
This honestly melted my heart! We aren’t sure if HP is an only or not. Either way, I appreciate all of the truths here!
Awww thanks, Penny. We always knew we wanted a second child, but it definitely took us some time to be ready. And now I don’t know that there is such thing as a “perfect gap” between them. I’m such there’s pros and cons no matter the age gap.
Thanks for this! Our second is coming soon and I’m super nervous already
You’re welcome, GYM! Just know that it’s perfectly fine and normal to be nervous. I was nervous too even as I sat at home in labor. And I thought I was going to have more time with our oldest but the baby came 2 weeks before his due date. But everything ended up ok and worked itself out.
I am going to experience this event soon with our second child arriving. What I’m looking for forward is to see if BwC will respond well to his new brother. I think naturally the older sibling does not take it well when another little human is in their life and everyone pays their attention to them and not the older one. We have prepared him for this and so far he feels fine with it. He even likes to touch MwC’s tummy to feel the baby kicking. We’ll see what happens when he arrives.
Being sleep deprived is one thing I have to adjust to again. Luckily I plan to take about six weeks off from work when the second one is born so I can find time to take short naps.
You’ll have to let me know how BwC ends up responding to his baby brother. Hopefully all will go well though!