Tips for 2 kids under 3yo

With a whopping 5 months under my belt, I can finally say that 2 under 3 isn't AS hard as I originally thought. Don't get me wrong, its crazy here most of the time, especially during the hours of 8-10a, and 6-8pm. However, over the past few months, I found ways to make life a little easier as a mom of two.  Here it goes...

1. Have a bouncy chair, swing, or playmat in every room in the house. You essentially need a safe place to put the baby while tending to the boss, I mean toddler.

2. Have a basket with diaper/feeding supplies on every level of the house.  You'll be able to keep an eye on your toddler and change a diaper at the same time.  Your house will thank you for it.

3. Pacifier clips.  Because who really wants to be searching the house for those darn things all the time.  You have enough things going on. I bought these on Amazon, and they are perfect.

4. Baby hand mittens.  What mom of 2 has the time to clip nails every night?  And those things grow like daggers overnight.  There is nothing worse than seeing a cut dragged across your child's face because you forgot to trim their nails before bedtime.

5. Babywearing.  I probably could wear Emily more often but I hate my baby carrier.  I do wear her though when Blake has his gym class allowing me to be engaged with Blake and not be bound to the sidelines.

At Blake's MyGym class

6. Diaper backpacks.  Necessary when you need both hands easily accessible, which is pretty much all of the time. Check out Twelve Little - they make adorable and lightweight bags.

7. Alternate bath days for your toddler and baby until they are old enough to bathe together.  The only downside to this is that every stinkin' day is a bath day. Signal loud moan.

8. Crib mobile. Aka. the cheapest babysitter around.  I use the mobile when I am getting myself and Blake ready in the morning as well as during his bath.  Emily loves it for about 20 minutes which is just the right amount of time I need to get everyone ready to start the day.  Check out my previous post on crib mobiles!

9. Align nap schedules.  I feed Emily right before I give Blake lunch so that she is ready for her nap when Blake goes down.  This affords me 2-2.5 hours of quiet time until the madness begins again.

10. Be flexible.  As much as I live by my routine and crave schedules, things don't always go as planned when you have a newborn and toddler.  I found just taking things day by day helped save my sanity.

11. Control what you can. Make sure your diaper bag is ready to go the night before.  It will save precious time in the morning when you are running around the house like a chicken with its head cut off.

12. Toddler dates. Plan special dates for just you and your toddler.  They will appreciate some alone time with you, and vice versa.

Bowling date with my little man

13. Amazon Prime.  20% off diapers, 2 day shipping, pretty much everything you need at the click of a button.  I used to place most orders around the 3am feedings (prior to sleep training) so that my husband wouldn't notice the text alert that something was just purchased. It works, trust me.

The biggest and MOST important piece of advice to any mom is #14: make time for yourself.  If you are cranky or stressed, it will project onto your kids.  Even the mom who looks like she has her act together all of the time needs a little downtime.

I'm confident that as the months continue that I will find new ways to juggle my 2 monkeys.  Two kids under 1 roof is hard, but its oh so worth it - every waking second of it.