Putting To Bed 3YO And Newborn On Own - Heads Up Please

[fionas]

So ... one of the things that freaks me out when our next little one is born in August is that for one week out of every two, I'll have a 3yo and a newborn to put to bed on my own. DP is a shiftworker who starts mid-afternoon one week out of every two so I'll be left to do the whole dinner, bath (we already skip this most of the time and shower in the morning instead), bed.

DD sleeps great but can take ages to put to bed.

So for those of you who do it on your own - what are your tips?

[Ellibam]

i get DS to read quietly while i put dd to bed or when it was taking an hour to get her to bed i would put DS down first and have her in a rocker or on the floor in the hall way while i put DS down.

[Nai]

When I did this with DD1 who was 3 and DD2 as a newborn I would get DD1 set up with her dinner or watching playschool so she was occupied while I bathed, fed and put DD2 to bed. Then once she was down, I would get DD1 bathed, dressed and into bed.

I made sure I had all pyjamas etc laid out and ready to go so everything was fairly slick from that perspective. I think it's just a matter of working out what the 2 kids are doing routine-wise and merging them to suit you.

[feeb]

I bath and change them both and dress them.
Will dress DS2 on bathroom floor while DS1 plays in bath. Take him out let him crawl nude to bedroom put DS2 on his floor then dry and dress DS1.

Come to lounge for a while then depeding on DS2 sometimes settle him first or put him on floor to play and kick and then put DS1 to bed.

DH works a lot of long hours and does go interstate a bit also

Good luck its hard work but not too bad!

[boomba]

Shift work sucks
but you will be fine...
Heres what I do on nights that I am alone.
Make dinner while DS2 is sleeping and DS1 is occupied with outside or tv ( bless the TV )
Eat while hopefully DS2 is still sleeping
Get Ds2 up and have a little play while Ds1 is in the bath ( i am in the bathroom of course )
Bath Ds2 feed him and if he wont sleep he goes into the swing while I get Ds1 ready for bed ( clean teeth read etc)
On good nights DS1 goes to sleep...on bad nights he wtches a DVD on the couch!

You just do what you have to


But this doesnt always go to plan....DVDs are my saviour :P

Good luck hun you will be great xxx

[mbear]

When H was born last year, i was getting a 1yr old, 2 yr old and 5 yr old to bed on my own...along with a newborn. It gets easier with time......
I would concentrate on the older one first - feeding, bathing, teeth, book, bed. I know this time of night can be the worst for newborns - where they just want to be fed/suck, but i found the rocker a saviour.
Once the older one was in bed, i would then concentrate on the newborn. I didnt bath newborn at night....i always did it in the day. Plenty of time to get the routine happening later, my main goal was to get both kids into bed at a decent hour.

I would always be at the point of when putting the older ones to bed...newborn was ready too - just had to be fed. In the first few weeks, leftovers, slow cooker meals or beans on toast was all we had. Cleaning the kitchen, washing up, etc etc was left till all kids were in bed. As hard as that was for me to do, a sleeping well baby was (and had to be) more important at that early stage, than a dirty saucepan.

I found if you put everything else aside - cleaning up, phone calls (oh gawd, a phone call from a friend/family member just throws the whole routine into chaos, dont answer the phone), even your meal, all can wait till babies/toddl are in bed....

GL - i was FREAKIN out about putting 2 to bed when i had my DD#2....now, 2 nights a week i put all 4 to bed and really dont think anything of it....

[fionas]

if all else fails, can I call the police?

[mbear]

You WILL be in a routine in no time....honeslty. I remember sitting on the lounge feeding DD#2, watching my DH get ready at 4pm for work...'i cant let him go', i remember thinking, 'he's going to have to give up his job and find something else'....i was soooo irrational. But you know...i survived it....you will too....

[sneakysparkle]

I found that it wasnt too hard when DD#2 was a newborn - I could put her in the rocker, or in one arm while I tended to DD#2.
I still put DD#1 to bed first (as she's in bed at 6:30pm!) so it can be tricky - it got hard when DD#2 became mobile, but I think you just have to be organised, and have plenty of patience!
It gets harder as you get better at it too if that makes sense, so it doesn't seem as bad!
All the best darl

[MrsFabuloso]

I was putting DD to bed first and leaving DS in his porta cot to play, sometime he would be asleep too so those days were easier. We would do dinner book and bed for DD, and a bath every second day for both of them (just a good wash down for them other days). If DS started to grizzle I would leave him til he really sounded like he needed me. Most of the time he was actually ok and some days I would even come out and he'd be asleep . DD would take up to 30-45min to get into bed. As DS got older and mobile, I changed our routine to dinner, bath, book, bed for both kids, then tv for DD, booby for DS and bed, then another book for DD in bed and sleep for her. It's a long process since it takes DS up to 45mins to get to sleep. We only live in a little 2br unit though so I can hear DD where ever she goes, and generally she will stay on the couch now and watch playschool and whatever else comes after it. I usually give her a snack (fruit/ veggie sticks) and a cup of milk too.

[Laiceysmummy]

My DF had to go back to work when DD2 was only 5 days old (D***Head boss) Leaving me with a newborn and almost 4 year old to deal with every night and morning by myself.
DF worked nights, everynight, he would wake up at 8pm and be gone within 20 mins, not getting home until sometime in the morning after 9am most days.

I got into the habit of doing dinner early, like 2 or 3 in the afternoon or whenever DD2 was snoozing and i had DD1 help me with it, she didnt really do much but she was occupied and in the same room as me and not annoying her sister. If DD2 woke up and needed to be fed i would just turn everything off, feed, settle the baby and DD1 and i would get back into it. Then it would be ready and i would only have to heat it up when DD1 and i were ready to eat.
With the baths, i would run the bath for DD1, then take the baby in there with me, in either her pram or rocker or id hold her then i would chat to DD1, help her out when she was done (we have a shower bath so its very deep) she would get dressed then play for a bit and then it would be bedtime, id read her a story, occassionally id have to stop and sort DD2 out, sometimes even multitasking and feeding at the same time i was reading, then DD1 would be finished and i would only have the baby to look after.

I just made sure DD1 had plenty of my attention when i wasnt busy and that she understood that if i was busy with the baby then she would have to wait and i would help her as soon as i could.

It got so much easier when DD2 could do alot with her sister, once they could bath together that took alot of stress off,and dinner time was easier to because DD2 would sit with us in her rocker and watch us eat, as well as when it was story time, DD2 would sit while i read. now they're both in bed within a few minutes of each other and then it silence for most of the night.

I have such a good routine happening now that i get alittle irritated when DF is home on the weekends and messes it up.