There has been a steady stream of new babies in my life the past few months. I have truly loved the opportunity to hold all these squishy, sweet-smelling newborns. Talk about baby fever!! Watching friends’ families grow has made me reflect back on my own transition from one to two to three kids. Each transition came with its own set of joys and challenges.

I know I was especially nervous near the end of my second pregnancy about caring for the needs of three small children. As excited as I was to be welcoming a new family member, I was also worried about how it would feel to be outnumbered all day, every day. I expressed this concern to a friend who had recently welcome baby #3 into her life. Her reply (as usual) was spot-on.

She didn’t say impractical things like “rest when the baby rests” (which is not really an option when you have other young children) or generic affirmations sch as “you’ll be just fine”.  Without hesitation she said “Food is a big deal”.  At first I thought she meant for myself…making sure I was well fed since breastfeeding makes me crazy hungry. However she was actually referring to food for my kids. She suggested to make preparations for my other two boys (ages 2 and 4 when baby #3 arrived) to be able to access snacks on their own throughout the day. This was a very concrete suggestion that seemed easy enough to execute.

Trusting her wisdom, I went to Costco and dropped a large amount of moolah on bulk-sized quantities of some of our favorite snacks as well as a large box of snack-sized plastic baggies. Normally I am not a fan of plastic baggies (I have several Planet-Wise snack bags that get lots of lovin’) but decided to make an exception during this transitional time. I also made a large batch of trail mix and popcorn.

Near the end of my pregnancy I spent a good chunk of an afternoon scooping snack sized portions of the various snacks into baggies. I tend to save the 1lb plastic spinach containers from Costco and these were the perfect storage containers for all the snack baggies. I put three of them full of snacks on a low shelf in the pantry and viola! My kids could easily grab a snack from the pantry for themselves throughout the day.

This turned out to be one of the best postpartum preparations for us. My boys loved getting their own snacks and more importantly it freed me up to focus on nursing baby during those early weeks when breastfeeding is established. I am forever thankful for my friend’s suggestion as it helped make that special time go relatively smoothly for our family. 🙂

What helped you transition into your growing family? Would love to hear tips from readers like YOU!

-Sarah

Tags: affirmations, baby fever, costco, family member, new babies, newborns, plastic baggies, post partum preparations, second pregnancy, snack bags, three kids, transitional time, welcome baby
Posted in Birth, New Mothers, Sarah | Comments Off on When your family grows…