travel toys for 2 yr old image
lil pumpki
My sister and I grew up 4 years apart. We had our separate lives but remained very close and are now best friends(we're now 31 and 35). I've decided to wait until my now 2 yr old is older to have a second. Anyone else have children far apart who are now close. How were they growing up. Did you find it easier than if you would have had them close together? thanks.
I was thinking 4-5 years apart for my kids.
Answer
I'm almost 38yr and have a 17yr daughter, 5yr son and a 4 yr daughter with my husband of 18yrs. Both being close and far apart in age have their ups and downs and I don't find one better than the other, but I must say that my oldest is much closer and gets along better with my two little ones than my two little ones do with each other.
It was a lot easier to go from having one kid to two kids with my oldest being almost 12 years old. She was very helpful and loved to hold, feed, even change the baby. I was never one to go "Go do___" 24/7 because I understood from my childhood how I am the mother and not her. It was a little hard at times to constanly being bringing the baby, the stroller, the diaper bag etc to all my daughters soccer and lacrosse games, plays, dances etc, to have to get up in the middle of it or leave and miss my daughter because the baby wasn't comfortable. Little things like that.
There is a 15 month gap between my youngest and my middle and that was a challege. Two babies in diapers, two babies on bottles, two babies not sleeping etc all while still running around with my oldest.
Now that they're a little older, things are easier. My two little ones are into the same TV shows, activities, friends etc so it's very easy to entertain them both at the same time when we are home or go somewhere, while if I take all three of my kids somewhere it's a little hard to find something that caters to my oldest and the younger ones at the same time.
With my younger ones having a much older sister around, I noticed that theyre a little more social, mature and have better hand-eye coordination than other kids their age. My daughter does A LOT with them- teaching them to read, write, play sports, how to answer a phone, how to use the computer etc way before I thought they would be ready to do so.
We do have some issues though now and then at home. My oldest will have friends over and the other two will be pains in the neck. Our home is still "child friendly" with lots of little kid toys and games and I feel that my daughter feels kind of pushed out in a way. It's hard being a teenager in a preschool aged home.
What does bother me a little is the idea of sending my oldest daughter off to college and my youngest daughter to kindergarten next year. It seems like they are a life time apart.
You're going to read a lot of stories about kids being a year apart, 5yrs apart, 10+ yrs apart both hating each other and loving each other. In my own personal opinion, I both love and hate that big gap between my oldest and my middle. It really depends on your life style. Are you a very young mom and want to wait until you're a little older to have a 2nd child? Are you planning on having 3+ children? Will you mind having 2+ children who aren't going to be able to do things a lot of time on their own yet at the same time? Are you one of those people who go "Ok, done with the diaper stage/preschool stage etc" and can't wait for them to grow up to enjoy them, or do you not mind having one child half way through elementary school while one has yet to start kindergarten and like the toddler/pre-school stage? Are there things you want to do without your children in the future (traveling, activites etc) or are your children your main future and goal?
Think about these questions and I'm sure you'll come up with how close or far apart you want them soon. I think 3-4yrs is perfect. Either way, it'll be a good choice. Best wishes
I'm almost 38yr and have a 17yr daughter, 5yr son and a 4 yr daughter with my husband of 18yrs. Both being close and far apart in age have their ups and downs and I don't find one better than the other, but I must say that my oldest is much closer and gets along better with my two little ones than my two little ones do with each other.
It was a lot easier to go from having one kid to two kids with my oldest being almost 12 years old. She was very helpful and loved to hold, feed, even change the baby. I was never one to go "Go do___" 24/7 because I understood from my childhood how I am the mother and not her. It was a little hard at times to constanly being bringing the baby, the stroller, the diaper bag etc to all my daughters soccer and lacrosse games, plays, dances etc, to have to get up in the middle of it or leave and miss my daughter because the baby wasn't comfortable. Little things like that.
There is a 15 month gap between my youngest and my middle and that was a challege. Two babies in diapers, two babies on bottles, two babies not sleeping etc all while still running around with my oldest.
Now that they're a little older, things are easier. My two little ones are into the same TV shows, activities, friends etc so it's very easy to entertain them both at the same time when we are home or go somewhere, while if I take all three of my kids somewhere it's a little hard to find something that caters to my oldest and the younger ones at the same time.
With my younger ones having a much older sister around, I noticed that theyre a little more social, mature and have better hand-eye coordination than other kids their age. My daughter does A LOT with them- teaching them to read, write, play sports, how to answer a phone, how to use the computer etc way before I thought they would be ready to do so.
We do have some issues though now and then at home. My oldest will have friends over and the other two will be pains in the neck. Our home is still "child friendly" with lots of little kid toys and games and I feel that my daughter feels kind of pushed out in a way. It's hard being a teenager in a preschool aged home.
What does bother me a little is the idea of sending my oldest daughter off to college and my youngest daughter to kindergarten next year. It seems like they are a life time apart.
You're going to read a lot of stories about kids being a year apart, 5yrs apart, 10+ yrs apart both hating each other and loving each other. In my own personal opinion, I both love and hate that big gap between my oldest and my middle. It really depends on your life style. Are you a very young mom and want to wait until you're a little older to have a 2nd child? Are you planning on having 3+ children? Will you mind having 2+ children who aren't going to be able to do things a lot of time on their own yet at the same time? Are you one of those people who go "Ok, done with the diaper stage/preschool stage etc" and can't wait for them to grow up to enjoy them, or do you not mind having one child half way through elementary school while one has yet to start kindergarten and like the toddler/pre-school stage? Are there things you want to do without your children in the future (traveling, activites etc) or are your children your main future and goal?
Think about these questions and I'm sure you'll come up with how close or far apart you want them soon. I think 3-4yrs is perfect. Either way, it'll be a good choice. Best wishes
Where to have baby sleep on a cruise?
c s
We're going on a cruise in january and our son will be 9 months old. where can he sleep.
we've cruised before so we know how small the cabins are and we've seen a ton of babies on the ships? no room for a portable crib? ideas?
Answer
I took my 8 month old son on a weeklong cruise last year - we had a wonderful time! We went on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody.
It is THE way to travel with a baby. Here's a few tips:
The ship provides a pack & play for the baby to sleep in - they will wedge it into your room. You can make your room more comfortable by asking the staff to remove your coffee table, or put it out on your balcony if you have one. If you can't do either, you're gonna be like sardines. but who really cares - you're not gonna have much fun in your cabin anyway. It's just a place to sleep.
Remember that even the smallest interior cabins are capable of sleeping FOUR ADULTS (via a hideaway bed or pullman beds) so one little baby isn't really too difficult to accommodate.
It's not a problem to give your baby a bath in the shower, especially if they can already sit up. The shower head is one of the moveable ones.
You can't take your baby into the pool. Even with a swimming diaper. Only fully potty trained kids. If you want to take your baby for a swim, you'll have to do so in the ocean when you're in port.
My son woke up earlier than usual while we were cruising. No matter how tightly we drew the curtains, he was always up at 5 or 6am. My husband and I took turns sleeping in. One of us would take him to the buffet breakfast. It wasn't too hard to find stuff he could eat. They had apple juice, oatmeal, grits, and scrambled eggs. I did bring a couple cans of powdered formula, but I didn;t need very much baby food.
Apple juice was only available at breakfast though - the rest of the time it was a paid item like soft drinks.
They have a baby play time almost every day, with Fisher Price toys. The staff wipes each toy down with disinfectant after playtime.
Bring a small, lightweight, umbrella-style stroller. You can easily tuck it inside your cabin closet. The larger ones will only get in your way. The corridors are quite narrow.
Open space to crawl around without being underfoot is available if you look for it. I took my son to the Viking lounge (that serves as a nightclub in the evenings) every morning and made a corral out of chairs. He could scoot around, pull himself up on chairs, and look out the windows to his heart's content, while I was admiring the ocean view, reading a book, or *cough* taking a nap on one of the little sofas.
This year I'm taking a cruise with TWO babies. Wish me luck!
edit - I forgot to mention the childcare options - on Royal Caribbean, the child must be 1 yr old for in-room babysitting ($10/hr). Must be 3 and fully potty trained for the "day care"-like kid's club.
On Carnival, in-room babysitting is $6/hr ($10/hr for 2 kids) no age limit but only available for late night, from 10:30p til 2am.
I took my 8 month old son on a weeklong cruise last year - we had a wonderful time! We went on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody.
It is THE way to travel with a baby. Here's a few tips:
The ship provides a pack & play for the baby to sleep in - they will wedge it into your room. You can make your room more comfortable by asking the staff to remove your coffee table, or put it out on your balcony if you have one. If you can't do either, you're gonna be like sardines. but who really cares - you're not gonna have much fun in your cabin anyway. It's just a place to sleep.
Remember that even the smallest interior cabins are capable of sleeping FOUR ADULTS (via a hideaway bed or pullman beds) so one little baby isn't really too difficult to accommodate.
It's not a problem to give your baby a bath in the shower, especially if they can already sit up. The shower head is one of the moveable ones.
You can't take your baby into the pool. Even with a swimming diaper. Only fully potty trained kids. If you want to take your baby for a swim, you'll have to do so in the ocean when you're in port.
My son woke up earlier than usual while we were cruising. No matter how tightly we drew the curtains, he was always up at 5 or 6am. My husband and I took turns sleeping in. One of us would take him to the buffet breakfast. It wasn't too hard to find stuff he could eat. They had apple juice, oatmeal, grits, and scrambled eggs. I did bring a couple cans of powdered formula, but I didn;t need very much baby food.
Apple juice was only available at breakfast though - the rest of the time it was a paid item like soft drinks.
They have a baby play time almost every day, with Fisher Price toys. The staff wipes each toy down with disinfectant after playtime.
Bring a small, lightweight, umbrella-style stroller. You can easily tuck it inside your cabin closet. The larger ones will only get in your way. The corridors are quite narrow.
Open space to crawl around without being underfoot is available if you look for it. I took my son to the Viking lounge (that serves as a nightclub in the evenings) every morning and made a corral out of chairs. He could scoot around, pull himself up on chairs, and look out the windows to his heart's content, while I was admiring the ocean view, reading a book, or *cough* taking a nap on one of the little sofas.
This year I'm taking a cruise with TWO babies. Wish me luck!
edit - I forgot to mention the childcare options - on Royal Caribbean, the child must be 1 yr old for in-room babysitting ($10/hr). Must be 3 and fully potty trained for the "day care"-like kid's club.
On Carnival, in-room babysitting is $6/hr ($10/hr for 2 kids) no age limit but only available for late night, from 10:30p til 2am.
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