Expanding your family brood
You have experienced the utter joy, anxiousness, physical changes, and emotional rollercoaster with your first baby yet now you feel ready to do it all over again, several times, until you have a little brood of mini people.
Each pregnancy can of course differ between how long the labour lasts and whether you have any complications or not. At least in the physical sense you will be fully prepared for what your body will go through and all the changes that occur in yourself and emotionally. In that sense you will pretty much become an expert.
Getting to shop for more baby items
There will undoubtedly be elements which are exciting to prepare for however, such as buying new items of baby products or accessories from multiple baby stores in the build up to the birth and preparing the baby’s room.
Of course, you will have items at home that you could reuse, but when it gets to the third or fourth child, some items of baby clothing can only be worn so many times. Plus, it is refreshing to be able to buy different items of baby toys, books or activities as each child will be different and will want to pursue different interests. What worked for one child might not necessarily work for the other.
Not treating all your children as though they have the same personality
It is important not to force a certain activity that perhaps your firstborn enjoyed along with the second child as they might feel as though their sibling is competing with them and could potentially get jealous.
At the same time, you want to be able to spend as much together as a family bonding, but activities like going for park walks (something which we can still do thankfully) cosying up on the sofa to watch a film together or going out for meals as a family are more neutral than say practising a particular sport as not all the children might enjoy the same activity. Once they are past the toddler stage, you will probably have a better idea of what each child wants to pursue individually, whether they are creative, sporty, or studious.
Ask for assistance!
It will certainly be overwhelming when you have a new-born, two toddlers and the eldest child to share your love and attention across all four children. Ask your partner (if you have one) family or friends to assist you. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. They could perhaps spend some time with the older siblings while you focus on feeding and putting down the new-born for a nap, and most importantly getting some time to yourself too. Heaven knows it will be extremely difficult for you to have a moment to yourself, so you should cherish those pressure moments when you can as you will not get many after the first child!
