How do you survive the evenings with 2+ kids?!

[Anonymous]

I put the infant seat into the bathtub with the older child on the other end as soon as it was feasible. Two baths in one and the kids loved it.

Another option is to put the baby in a swing where he can see you and hear you singing/chatting, and you shower with the two year old.

Yet another idea - baths every other day, and in the morning rather than evening (or switch, one in am and one in pm).

With only one adult, you can get away with something like microwave Fresh Direct entrees for you, an easy prep toddler meal and breastfeeding. You do not need to stress about meals! My kids are great eaters now in elementary/middle - eating this way in the earliest years had no impact on what foods they enjoy now. You can transition as it gets easier and the kids get older into real meals, sit down dinners etc.

Just FYI to earlier posts - OP's a harder phase than when I had three young kids, I have to be honest. Sounds counterintuitive, I know. When my 3 and 5 year olds could play and puzzle and color together and I had the baby, it was easier than when I had the toddler and baby to myself and no one to help entertain the toddler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

What in the what? The PP was saying she makes meals that involve things like crockpots, salmon, and chicken. She was responding to a person who suggested feeding kids cheese and crackers for dinner. So, your crazy self swooped in and had to put the PP down by arguing that the cheese and crackers are the way to go bc things like dinners with salmon and chicken make kids fat bc they are full of preservatives and processed???

Are you also the person who sharpied Trump’s hurricane map?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

What in the what? The PP was saying she makes meals that involve things like crockpots, salmon, and chicken. She was responding to a person who suggested feeding kids cheese and crackers for dinner. So, your crazy self swooped in and had to put the PP down by arguing that the cheese and crackers are the way to go bc things like dinners with salmon and chicken make kids fat bc they are full of preservatives and processed???

Are you also the person who sharpied Trump’s hurricane map?

Cheese, crackers and fruit are not less healthy than farm raised salmon (gross) and chicken with hormones (ack). She probably serves it with white rice ... not better.

Just get over yourself... you were socialized to believe that is healthier but fruit, cheese and some crackers is just as health if not better.

[Anonymous]

Many parents with 2+ young kids have help (either family members or they hire someone to help with afternoon/evening routines). It makes life so much easier to have someone else helping with kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many parents with 2+ young kids have help (either family members or they hire someone to help with afternoon/evening routines). It makes life so much easier to have someone else helping with kids!

I really don't think this is the norm.

Most parents trudge through it alone, doing the best they can. Some nights are very tough. OP just needs to keep tweaking the routine until she finds what works for her.

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier at 7:36. I also wanted to add that you should consider asking your husband to prepare a meal for you or do some other prep work to make your life easier when you know that you are going to be solo for the evening with a toddler and an infant. I wish I had asked for his help more often instead of trying to be super mom. I think it would have solidified our marriage/family better.
I think I got kind of a high out of proving that I could work, take care of babies, and do all of the housework. But that attitude that it was all on me kind of turned DH into an outsider in our family. To be fair, he was happy to let me do it all at the time, but I wish I had pushed him to do more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many parents with 2+ young kids have help (either family members or they hire someone to help with afternoon/evening routines). It makes life so much easier to have someone else helping with kids!

I know exactly one family that does this. Most parents I know are on their own and do the best they can.

OP, I don’t know if you work or SAH, but it’s hard either way. Do as much dinner prep as you can earlier (either during nap if you SAH or the night before if you work). Our 3yo often gets leftovers, or something simple like pasta or a quesadilla. I usually have DH to help so we divide and conquer, but I go in to read with 3yo after baby is in bed. Baby is now 8 months and it’s actually gotten a bit easier, maybe we are just in a better routine now lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

What in the what? The PP was saying she makes meals that involve things like crockpots, salmon, and chicken. She was responding to a person who suggested feeding kids cheese and crackers for dinner. So, your crazy self swooped in and had to put the PP down by arguing that the cheese and crackers are the way to go bc things like dinners with salmon and chicken make kids fat bc they are full of preservatives and processed???

Are you also the person who sharpied Trump’s hurricane map?

Cheese, crackers and fruit are not less healthy than farm raised salmon (gross) and chicken with hormones (ack). She probably serves it with white rice ... not better.

Just get over yourself... you were socialized to believe that is healthier but fruit, cheese and some crackers is just as health if not better.

Me President please go back to fretting about the effects of Hurricane Dorian on Alabama. And take some English lessons while you’re at it.

[Anonymous]

We didn't do family dinners during the week at that age. We fed the kids leftovers, did bath and bed - and then sat down to dinner after they were sleeping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many parents with 2+ young kids have help (either family members or they hire someone to help with afternoon/evening routines). It makes life so much easier to have someone else helping with kids!

I really don't think this is the norm.

Most parents trudge through it alone, doing the best they can. Some nights are very tough. OP just needs to keep tweaking the routine until she finds what works for her.

Yup, this. I have 3, each about 2 years apart. For the initial stages DH helped, but once we could consistently lay the baby down and expect baby to sleep (rather than having to soothe to sleep), he often was doing projects around the house in the evenings because it was his only time to do them if we wanted them done. That left me doing bedtime. My only survival tactic was to always put baby to bed first and to cultivate as much independence in my older kids as was reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with 2244.
We dont do screen time that close to bedtime and theres no need why you can't have regular fully cooked meals for dinner.

I solo parent an baby, 2, and 4 yr old. We play outside starting around 445/5. Around 620ish we come in, the girls play barbie, puzzles, color, help with dinner, whatever.
For dinner, 95% of prep is done already. I do it during nap/quiet time/night before, etc So much easier using a crock pot, or cedar plank salmon on the grill, or a chicken bake....all examples to streamline dinner.
Sometimes we'll play again outside after dinner or just stay inside and play. Baby gets fussy about this time so I ditch cleaning up the kitchen (it usually isn't too messy anyway) and leave it for after everyone is in bed so I can focus on bedtime transition. Sometimes all 3 are in the bath tub at the same time, sometimes it is a quick in/out bath or shower. I'll tell a story, read, talk before lights out.

it depends... full cooked meals often are full of preservatives, salt, fat and processed food.

If you eat less processed foods it's better fro children. Besides, they 4 month old is not eating a full cooked meal. The 2 year old does not need a full cooked meal... hello obesity.

What in the what? The PP was saying she makes meals that involve things like crockpots, salmon, and chicken. She was responding to a person who suggested feeding kids cheese and crackers for dinner. So, your crazy self swooped in and had to put the PP down by arguing that the cheese and crackers are the way to go bc things like dinners with salmon and chicken make kids fat bc they are full of preservatives and processed???

Are you also the person who sharpied Trump’s hurricane map?

Cheese, crackers and fruit are not less healthy than farm raised salmon (gross) and chicken with hormones (ack). She probably serves it with white rice ... not better.

Just get over yourself... you were socialized to believe that is healthier but fruit, cheese and some crackers is just as health if not better.

Me President please go back to fretting about the effects of Hurricane Dorian on Alabama. And take some English lessons while you’re at it.

Listen Kellyanne... there is not way to spin this... cheese and fruit is better for you than the fat/carb laden crap you are trying to sell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does get easier. Focus on making sure the bedtime routine for the baby is regular and that he/ she goes down pretty easy and that gives you more flexibility.

Observe what parts of the evening work for you and what parts don't. I remember once the baby could sit up, I had one of those seats in the bathtub and would bathe both at the same time. They loved it so I sat by the bathtub reading a book while they splashed and had fun. It was super relaxing for me and a bit of a rejuvenating boost. I wasn't more than an arm's reach away but it made the evenings better for all of us.

I also told my husband that if he wasn't home by 5 or 5:30, we weren't waiting on him for dinner. If I pushed out dinner time, things just went south fast and it wasn't worth it for a while.

And be careful about always putting the baby's needs first. If you put the baby down and you are in the middle of reading a book to your toddler and the baby fusses, maybe you just finish the book and let the baby fuss for a few minutes. I found my toddler had a harder time going down if I couldn't focus on her, too.

But seriously, this all gets WAY easier!! We had four under five and it was crazy at times but even we got all four in a good rhythm eventually.

This is good advice. I have 3 kids now and the absolute hardest period was when I only had 2 and the oldest was a new three and I had a baby. I was usually solo and it was tough. It's not the time to have a Norman Rockwell evening at home. My babies have always been wiped by 6 or 6:30, sometimes not even able to make it through dinner, so I would wind up taking baby upstairs and doing an accelerated bedtime while the older kid (later, kids) finished eating. Many times there were tears, there's no great way to avoid them. I found it got easier once baby hit 12-16 months and was not so exhausted by the end of every day. The overarching goal has to be to get the kids fed and to bed, together if possible but separately if needed. This too shall pass!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many parents with 2+ young kids have help (either family members or they hire someone to help with afternoon/evening routines). It makes life so much easier to have someone else helping with kids!

I really don't think this is the norm.

Most parents trudge through it alone, doing the best they can. Some nights are very tough. OP just needs to keep tweaking the routine until she finds what works for her.

Seriously...in what world do you live?