re: OT Parents: How big of a jump is it going from 1 to 2 kids?

I'll let you know sometime in the next 2 weeks when our second one arrives.

I didn't find it to be that big of a jump as far as parenting. I find that it made it easier because I was already seasoned from the first one. I sorta knew what I was doing by the time #2 came around. Didn't get worked up as much as I did the first time.

The only big difference I underestimated was the amount of money leaving the bank now. I have one in private school and the other going to an in home sitter. That $400 a month is a big deal in a house of 4 people.

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I'd clean bottles like everyone recommended for the first baby. Second kid's bottles would get the ole college rinse and shake.

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Thanks for this. I thought I was the only one...

Odds are very good they will be total opposites in personality, manner, disposition, etc.

If you like your first child then you might be challenged with the second.

If you dislike your first child then you will likely enjoy the second

It's another personality in the mix. The second tends to be the daredevil.
Have fun(:

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How is it? That will be my life soon (2 yr old with twins on the way).

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It was tough at first since we both had to wake up for every feeding, but once that stage ends it gets a lot better. My advice would be to do anything you can to keep them on the same schedule.

positives are you're already tired bc of the first one, so the second one is just blue on black in that regard. You already know about having an infant, and you're less worried that if you stop looking at the baby for 5 seconds then he'll die.

negatives are you have less patience with the first one which adds a lot of guilt. It's more stressful going out in public bc of a variety of things. Also, as they get older, I swear one kid is super damn jazzed and having the best time. The second kid hates life and is making everything miserable.

Overall it's not so bad. I have a boy and a girl 3 years apart. It's a lot of fun

Nothing compared to going from 0 to 1

Is there a big age difference? There was only a two year difference between my first two, so it was no big shock. Kid number 2 was just a continuation of kid number 1 when it came to baby stuff like changing shitty diapers, formula, etc.

If there is a big age difference and it would be like starting all over again, then there will be some chaos but still not as bad as having kid number 1.

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imagine yourself drowning and someone hands you a baby.

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That joke was about having a fourth kid, which probably isn't the same.

To the OP, 1 to 2 depends on the age/sex of the oldest. Our oldest was about 2 1/2 when his sister was born, but is totally immature and hard-headed, so he was no help. But the baby was super easy and awesome like her dad, so that made up for the not helpful son. I've got friends that have two girls 3 years apart, and they said that was no problem. I have other friends that have two girls 18 months apart, and they said that was more problematic. It all depends on age and sex.

I'm about to go from 2 to 3. Some guy at church told me a saying he'd heard when he'd gone from 2 to 3 that was kind of along the Gaffigan line that has me super-sarcastically enthused. He said, "You can travel the world with 2, but you can't cross the street with 3."