I am almost 36 weeks pregnant so baby will be coming soon. I am pretty sure that my Mom won't be here when I have the baby because she is coming two days after my due date. Because of this we have to make plans for what to do with my toddler. We already know that if I go into labor during the night then we have a couple of friends somewhat close by that could just come to our house to watch him. But if it is during the day we are not positive what we will do. So the whole preparing for baby coming has brought up some questions in my head. What did you do with your other child when you had your second? (we don't have family around) Did you take the other child to someone elses house or did you have someone come to your house? Did your husband go home after you had the baby to take care of your other child or did he still stay in the hospital with you? It's difficult to know what to plan especially when we don't have family near by to help out. I am also nervous because baby number 1 came so fast I barely made it to the hospital. If this one comes to fast what if we don't have time to take my son anywhere or to wait for someone to come to our house? Do we take him to the hospital? Okay maybe I am overly paranoid but just remember I am highly emotional from being pregnant and I also have anxiety when I am not pregnant, which doesn't help!
I also have been thinking about packing a bag for my son so that it's ready if we do take him to someones house. Today I was thinking of maybe putting some suprises in the bag. Some small cheap toys or treats. Any ideas of what I could put in there for a two year old boy?
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i would save the surprises for when he gets home actually. the day he's at friends' while you're in labor, he'll have his friends' "new" toys so that will be exciting enough. When he gets home, that's when he'll need new toys to feel special and excited and attended to in the midst of the excitement. That's how it worked with our two year old. I actually bought her a big present, figuring we could give it to her if she needed it or save it for Christmas if she did okay with the things grandma brought for her.
My cousin was going to watch the baby during the night so we ended up still having her watch the baby when i was induced and she spent the day with my cousin and her baby. when i was still in labor in the evening, she just went to bed there. my hubby spent a lot of the next day runnning around-picking my mom up from the airport, taking the toddler to the park, etc. to keep her entertained because the baby and i were fine in the hospital. the toddler visited and loved it but didn't stay long. she could have though- we had a DVD player in our room and so she could have hung out with a movie for a while with us and done fine. It was easier for her to get out though. They all went home that night though and that was good for everyone!
We don't live around family either. I really thought I would go into labor on my own, so two weeks before, I had my bag packed as well as one for my toddler with a plan for her to stay at our friend's house. I put in all of the things she's used to, even some snacks and such. I also put in wrapped gifts from Target's dollar sections for her and the kids that she would be staying with.
In the end, I ended up being induced. She came with my husband and I to the hospital for part of it because my doc said that was totally okay. When it seemed like the right time, my husband brought her over to our friend's house with her backpack. Then he came back to me. I was so worried about my toddler that I wanted her not to have to be away from us long. She only ended up being away from us like four hours. Once things settled down, I asked my husband to go pick her up. As it turned out, there was little to worry about. I stayed at the hospital by myself at night. It was actually pretty nice to be alone with my new baby, plus there are always lots of people ready and willing to help you. I even let the nursery take her for a few hours at night so I could sleep (something I refused to do the first time around).
My daughter has some serious separation anxiety (although it has gotten WAY better), so having her leave us really made me so nervous but it all turned out for the best--plus I prayed about it everyday!!
P.S. I had a special gift for post labor too for my toddler. I don't think she needed it though, she loved the new baby!
My son has seperation anxiety too. Especially from Mommy. So I am way nervous!
I think packing the bag is a great idea. I don't have a #2 yet, so I am not as helpful as the others. I think if he has separation anxiety though, it would be a good idea for him to spend as much time as possible ahead of time, with the people he will be staying with. And by the way, you are right about the fact that this one could come even faster. In general, first babies take awhile, and subsequent ones are faster. So if your first one was already quick, don't waste any time!
I didn't know that my older one could come to the hospital during my induction until it was actually going on :) so I think it's great that you found that out, Linz and were able to do that. It sounds like a great option for little ones not used to being away from their parents!
I was super stressed about this same topic with #2 baby. I was going to get it all planned out ahead of time but went into labor early. The plan was to have a babysitter that we could call if I went into labor at night that would come to the house and a friend that we could take her to if it were in the day. I did buy her a princess sleeping bag that she loved and she knew she would get to sleep in it when mommy went to the hospital. Anyway, I actually had to go into the hospital in the evening so we called a friend and she ended up staying the night at her house than the next morning a friend from the ward (our daughters play together in nursery) picked her up and stayed there for a couple of hours till my husband picked her up. My husband pretty much stayed with child #1 while I was in the hospital. He would bring her everyday to see the baby, but then would take her back home and stay with her. I was so stressed about it, but she did so good and each house she went to they just kept talking about her new baby brother and it got her really excited when she did come to the hospital.
I would pack a bag for child #1 and prepare him for what is coming and he'll probably do great. I would get a couple of people in line to take him if you do go into labor seeing that baby #1 did come so soon. You'll be surprised at how people rally around you when you need their help like this.
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