For moms with both newborns and toddlers, help!?

Question

it is so stressful!! especially while knowing that alot of the time he's only acting out and isn't actually crying for something.

Answer 1

I have a 3 year old 17 month old and 5 month old. The things your son is doing is completely normal. The new baby has come and is taking away from his mommy time. Whereas before the new baby you could meet his every need on command he's learning how to cope with waiting his turn. He doesn't know how to express himself so he does it with tantrums and anger. Which even if there wasn't a new baby he would probably still be doing this at that age. Its also normal for older kids to regress. He wants to be the baby again. As for when it gets better? I have no idea. LOL. I suppose at about a few weeks old my middle son was used to the baby but he still hasn't figured out that sometimes the younger one ties up my hands. But I will say it does get easier when the youngest gets older as they don't tie up all of your time. Congratulations and good luck. I hope I helped even a little. Just make sure when the young one is napping or having down time you spend some special time with the older one so he dont feel left out. it might make time when the little one is up a little easier on all of you.

Answer 2

My son is now 4 1/2 months and my daughter is 3 1/2 years old.  She still has her moments where she needs extra attention but she's a lot better than she used to be so what I'm trying to say is things will get better.  When he's acting out, just let him cry as long as you know all of his other needs have been met and send him into another room to cry.  He'll quickly learn to not throw tantrums if he wants to be with you.

Answer 3

well id say make something special for him, like you feed the baby and to him it looks like your doing something only special for him, try taking a small part of each day to do something with only him, that he can only do with mommy. when you are telling him not to do something make sure that hes not doing it because you have had your attention on the baby, and he feels left out, still tell him no if its not something you want him doing, but try and direct your attention to him and see if he wants something or if he can help you with the baby. as far as the food thing and not wanting to communicate, i would try to not feed him every time, when he is hungry he will eat, try doing a couple bites and then saying, mommy is going to eat now too so you have to finish feeding yourself, and let him know that you can not get what he wants/needs if he doesn't use his words or show you what it is. i haven't had my second yet, but my daughter will be nearly 2 1/2 when the baby comes, and these are just some of the things I'm planning on trying(ive watched friends with newborns and toddlers and decided these are the things i want to try to make it easier for my daughter and myself). good luck, i hope this helps, and im sure it will get better with time