Mrs Grips told me that she can feel the new baby kick. This makes me rather please of course, and reminds me that we have a new baby on the way if all goes well.

The thing is, I keep forgetting about it. Lil Grips #1 is taking up so much time and attention aged 2.

If any of you had kids close together, did you find that one diverted attention from the other significantly? I’m interested to see how it plays out for us.

You will have no free time. Kiss your bike goodbye for a couple of years.

2 kids = twice the work, don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

Yes it does divert your time. My 2nd and 3rd are just over a year apart. You just can’t give either the attention they need all the time. You get used to prioritising and using delaying tactics to keep the peace. It’s much easier now my youngest (a girl) has the terrible twos and screams if I go near her when my wife is there.

I always say that one child is easy. 2 is ten times as hard and 3 is a hundred times as hard.

maybe for you, Schweiz. luckily we’re not all the same.
it will be what you make it molgrips and entirely upto you and your missus so I wouldn’t worry about others overblown nightmare stories.

We went from 1 daughter to 3 daughters in one go and had all three less than 2 years of age. #1 was marginally sidelined by the torture pleasure of twins.
The latter will be 9 this year and I’m looking forward to it getting easier in the coming years 🙂

Our children are 2 years apart. We found that kid#2 picked stuff up quicker than kid#1 because she copies him. Kid#2 is also a lot more self reliant because she didn’t get our 100% attention.

Need a double pram? I’m your man!

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-jane-power-twin-double-pram

Congrats Molgrips

Not to put a damper on things but I did find going from 1 to 2 harder than going from 0 to 1. (I know many will disagree)

It really means that both you and Mrs Grips will be tied up most of the time. That said in a year or so they will really start to entertain each other and it does get a lot easier.

With the best will in the world no.2 does not get as much attention as no.1 did. It simply is not possible. It’s not bad or wrong just how it is

I do not agree with kiss your bike goodbye sentiment. I just had to change my riding habits (very early or very late typically). I got in the habit of having my bike & kit ready for opportunitic riding when I was not expecting it. Finally I bought a road bike to make the most of those opportunistic rides. I actually got fitter. Just felt I had to make the most of the rides I had

We have 2 girls 14 months apart. Would not change it for the world 🙂

want to be able to continue life as you are now, all this free time for exercising and iDieting? simple.

only let one of them out the cage at a time.

1 is hard work because you have not had one to practice on when the second comes along it is easy you learnt by making a load of mistakes.

Thanks GW. I’m not worried all that much, Lil Grips #1 is fairly independent (although this can be trying) and by the time Lil Grips #2 starts getting up to mischief the original one should be up to the point where she can take direction better than she does now.

Unfortunately Mrs Grips has to do the lion’s share of the work early on (as she does now anyway when I am at work) so that’s going to be tough in general 🙁 However we do know a bit more than we did at first so that should help.

In no way suggesting I’m unlucky GW, nor that I’m living in an overblown nightmare. Merely passing on my current experience with a newborn and a 2 year old. Very rewarding but no time to ride my bike.

The differing requirements of a newborn and a toddler, coupled with a committment to provide equal attention to both is very time consuming. I’m pleased if you found a way to handle it differently. Well done.

Re the bike riding Mrs Grips is very understanding… and for that I am very lucky. I haven’t been on a long ride in a very long time tho but I am going for quality rather than quantity 🙂

16 months between our two boys. GW is quite right but all I can say is that all the people I know who’ve had 2 close together tell the same story.

When I first found out we were having no 2 a mate of mine laughingly told me the difference between 1 and 2 kids is greater than the difference between 0 and 1. I thought that was bollocks. I now know he was right.

You think you are organised now? no you aren’t – but you will be

2 is more than twice the work of 1 in the earlier years, but makes it easier later on (although probably not easier than just 1), as they play (and fight) together.

1 didn’t make too much difference to my riding, but 2 did – needed twice as many ‘riding brownie points’ as it is harder work for Mrs STS. Nowadays they’re a bit older so the brownie share price is back to normal.

All good though. More fun with two IMHO

edit: true, 1 -> 2 is greater work than 0 -> 1

We found that having 2 wasn’t much tougher than have having 1 TBH. But our kid#2 slept for 16 hours a day, was doing uninterrupted 12 hour night sleeps at 9 weeks and still has 3 hours kip in the afternoon at 17 months old.

at least with two you can dress them up in cardboard box robot suits and film them battling for youtube/cash.

god i’m going to be an AWESOME parent.

I always say that one child is easy. 2 is ten times as hard and 3 is a hundred times as hard.

well known for talking utter bollox are you?

19 months appart for us… basically once the baby is born you look after Lilgrips #1 and Mrsgrips looks after babygrips.

Once they are a couple of years older its brilliant then entertain each other 🙂 Hard work for now though.

Close together = entertain themselves as they get older, so it has some benefits.

Just keep an eye on things so the young one doesn’t get murdered in the process… 🙂

You think you are organised now?

I most certainly do not!

Lol@philc – haven’t even seen the vid and I’m laughing at it 🙂

I’ve got a 7 month old and a 22 month old. Maybe we’ve just been lucky, but I can’t say that 2 has been a LOT harder than 1. Number 2 is left to his own devices a bit more, mainly because we know what to expect and don’t flap as much as we did with number 1.

Definitely noticed that Jnr W2K Mk1 is developing some interesting “me,me,me” tactics though 🙂

FWIW, I still get out on the bike twice a week and my good lady does what she wants to do too, it’s just about organising your time properly I guess (and saying f*ck it to the housework!)

Good luck 🙂

and saying f*ck it to the housework!

Ahead of you there…

This might be my favoured form of resistance training for a while from August onwards:

As thanks for taking the kids for a few hours at the weekends I might request an HT frame for my Orange 5 bits.

1 kid takes up all your time.
2 kids take up all your time.
It’s still great/tiring fun.

On the bike front, I did have to give up a bit, but took up running instead because the training fix was quicker. Now smashing sub 4 hour marathons, it doesn’t mean the end of fitness.

I’m away from them both for 7 months now, so without wanting to sound too maudling just be grateful you’re around however tired you are.

I’ve got a 7 month old and a 22 month old. Maybe we’ve just been lucky, but I can’t say that 2 has been a LOT harder than 1. Number 2 is left to his own devices a bit more, mainly because we know what to expect and don’t flap as much as we did with number 1.

thats a good point. 2 becomes hard work when the little one finds their legs and runs in the opposite direction of the big one!

you seem very angry GW – are you tired by any chance? 🙂

my most ridden bike at the moment is a 20yr old rigid Trek with a baby seat on the back and a 2 child trailer behind.. with all that rearward weight it’s wheelie (and washout) tastic! 😀

Child #2 will have less of an impact than child #2.

You will have forgotten the small baby routines, but when you find yourself doing all of this again, it will all slip into place and as you are experienced in small baby care, it won’t be a big big shock like the first time.

I’d say the first 5 years is the most demanding time, but as soon as they are at school, life gets easier.

Start saving hard for their universtity fees and to get them set up with a deposit for their first house.

not angry at all just realistic and honest as ever.

We have 3 never felt is was any harder than having 1

it will be what you make it molgrips and entirely upto you and your missus so I wouldn’t worry about others overblown nightmare stories.

totally agree GW

yoss – I reckon when number 2 finds his legs, he’ll be running straight at number 1 to dish out some revenge for all the erm, “cuddles” he’s had to endure! 🙂

#2 is loads easier than #1, you’ve already got over the new parent “if I touch it will it break?” syndrome, you pretty much know what you’re doing now. You’ll have less time, but the time lost will be much less than going from no baby to one baby – before you had your evenings free, with first kid you don’t, and that’s not going to change with the second!

The worst bit is the lack of sleep!

2 kids = twice the work, don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

Bollocks. It’s exponential. Still great though. Enjoy!

When you’ve 3, come back and we’ll talk. Well, sob really and then fall asleep. A wise man once pointed out God only gave us two hands for a reason and I chuckled, but even the smallest task now is like trying to get 3 ADHD afflicted octopii to stay in a string bag for 5 minutes.

As for sibling rivalry, we’ve never had an issue but I put that down to them all being boys and within a couple of years of each other rather than any special nurture (they are all basically good natured though) – we’ve friends where on or the other condition wasn’t true knocking seven bells out of each other.

I’m going to show my missus this thread and convince her a dog is a better idea than mini-DBW#2.

Don’t fret. If you’re organised they’re easy. We’ve got a six year old, 14 month old and a 1 month old, I’ve ridden my bike as much as I ever do since the birth of the youngest! I’ve just unfortunately had to ride on my own more often as I’ve been doing early morning rides, isn’t as fun but….

I think the hardest bit we’ve had to deal with is the odd occasion we’ve been out at a restaurant and we’ve slightly misstimed the feeds so the young ‘un wants his feed when we’ve finished eating. Obviously one year olds get a bit bored after sitting for so long, they just need a bit of entertaining, I suggest an iPhone 😉

It’s interesting – it seems to be what you make of it, same as with one kid 🙂

The latter will be 9 this year and I’m looking forward to it getting easier in the coming years

it won’t get better,teenage years are the worst 😐

I’m in a similar position to Sharkbait, almost. No1 son is 18 months old, and twin boys due any day now (Sara’s booked in for an induction on Tuesday). Kind of resigned myself to the fact the Nicolai I just bought isn’t going to get ridden properly for a while, but hey, it’ll all be good fun. Have got four weeks off work (two unpaid) and going to be really glad to get a break from it, but realise it’s going to be a hard few weeks……

Congratulations!

We have two boys 13 months apart – number 1 is 16 months, number 2 is 3 months and actually much easier than the first. Number 1 was colicky mind you and a nightmare for the first 4 months or so, we’d mentally prepared ourselves for the same again but fortunately number 2 is the complete opposite – chilled, smiley, chatty.

The logistics make it harder, invariably they’ll both need something at exactly the same time – food, bath, sleep, etc – and it quite often goes absolutely mental in our house for about an hour at a time. If you’re both around it’s easier but MrsGrips needs to prepare for bedlam from time to time!

Agreed the hardest thing is the lack of sleep. We thought with them being close together we’d still be used to the no sleep thing – wrong! It makes it even harder as you’re up all night with the baby but still have to get up at 6/7am to sort out number 1. Again, easier if you can take it in turns, but still very tiring.

Don’t worry about making sure they get the same amount of attention, they’ll get used to whatever you can manage and it’s natural that the baby will get more to start with. If the missus is out and I’m feeding the baby I’ll sit on the floor and talk to the other one, he’s quite happy with that and will bring a book over or come and poke his brother in the eye, give him a kiss, etc. Make sure they’re both involved in everything as much as possible.

It’s lovely to see them interact, number 1 goes to nursery one day a week now. I picked him up yesterday, when we got home the first thing he did was toddle over to his brother on the playmat and give him a big kiss, number 2 was smiling and chatting. Makes me warm inside just thinking about it 🙂

Oh, and get a bigger car! We had to upgrade as the inevitable double pushchair, two travel cots, extra toys, etc made it near impossible in our old car.

double post

I’m going to show my missus this thread and convince her a dog is a better idea than mini-DBW#2.

My sentiments exactly. A cocker spaniel makes much more sense.