Bunch of random, pre-coffee thoughts here... We have 3 kids that are 3 and under (twin toddlers and an infant).
I started reading a lot right before our twins were born. I wanted to make it my go to habit vs. sitting at a computer or spending too much time on my phone. That worked out well and our twins, now 3, love to read and love being read to. We read as a family and I read to them every single night and it's one of the things we all look forward to the most in our day. We now go to the library together on Saturday mornings and pick up new books for the week.
As someone else said, when they're very young get used to sleeping when they sleep.
We had a Snoo (rental /, paid by my wife's employer) for all 3 of our kids. It worked well with the twins (both girls) but our infant (a boy) wanted nothing to do with it. We do use noise machines and they work well. Hatch makes a nice one which is programmable and doubles as a light.
Speaking of light: We have completely blacked out our bedrooms since right before our twins arrived. We use small egg lights on their dimmest setting at night to navigate our bedroom, where our infants crib is and where he still sleeps.
Sleep training worked well for us with all 3 kids but it's hard. I think it's controversial but we used the "cry it out" method with all 3 and I am happy to report that it took less than a week for each kid to be able to sleep on their own and most often through the night.
Help with everything. Change diapers, do dishes, wash bottles, handle the laundry. I handled almost all of the bottle feeding for our twins (our infant exclusively nurses), only 1 of them nursed at all and she only nursed twice a day. Breastfeeding and pumping takes up a ton of moms time and energy.
I learned a handful of easy recipes and made them in batches and kept them in the fridge. Meal prep but like recipes that you can speed run. That helped a lot, otherwise I think we'd have been eating infrequently and mostly eating out.
Invest in a baby carrier (I've used the same ergobaby one for all 3 kids) and when the baby has head control you can start to carry them, it sounds obvious and ridiculous but it makes a huge difference to have both of your hands available.
edit/ Echoing another sentiment I just saw: Work on your fitness. Parenting is a very physical job. I've maintained a lifting and running routine throughout all of this madness and it's paid off tremendously.
My wife found a "recipe" online for a diaper spray that we use that is incredible. I don't have the link but it's coconut oil, baby castille soap, and water. Stuff is amazing with poops
I started reading a lot right before our twins were born. I wanted to make it my go to habit vs. sitting at a computer or spending too much time on my phone. That worked out well and our twins, now 3, love to read and love being read to. We read as a family and I read to them every single night and it's one of the things we all look forward to the most in our day. We now go to the library together on Saturday mornings and pick up new books for the week.
As someone else said, when they're very young get used to sleeping when they sleep.
We had a Snoo (rental /, paid by my wife's employer) for all 3 of our kids. It worked well with the twins (both girls) but our infant (a boy) wanted nothing to do with it. We do use noise machines and they work well. Hatch makes a nice one which is programmable and doubles as a light.
Speaking of light: We have completely blacked out our bedrooms since right before our twins arrived. We use small egg lights on their dimmest setting at night to navigate our bedroom, where our infants crib is and where he still sleeps.
Sleep training worked well for us with all 3 kids but it's hard. I think it's controversial but we used the "cry it out" method with all 3 and I am happy to report that it took less than a week for each kid to be able to sleep on their own and most often through the night.
Help with everything. Change diapers, do dishes, wash bottles, handle the laundry. I handled almost all of the bottle feeding for our twins (our infant exclusively nurses), only 1 of them nursed at all and she only nursed twice a day. Breastfeeding and pumping takes up a ton of moms time and energy.
I learned a handful of easy recipes and made them in batches and kept them in the fridge. Meal prep but like recipes that you can speed run. That helped a lot, otherwise I think we'd have been eating infrequently and mostly eating out.
Invest in a baby carrier (I've used the same ergobaby one for all 3 kids) and when the baby has head control you can start to carry them, it sounds obvious and ridiculous but it makes a huge difference to have both of your hands available.
edit/ Echoing another sentiment I just saw: Work on your fitness. Parenting is a very physical job. I've maintained a lifting and running routine throughout all of this madness and it's paid off tremendously.
My wife found a "recipe" online for a diaper spray that we use that is incredible. I don't have the link but it's coconut oil, baby castille soap, and water. Stuff is amazing with poops