Ideas for older sibling

My little guy is 4 and very active. Since being on bedrest & the birth of our DDs, my sons outings/activities have become much more limited. Thank goodness for pre-k - it is 3 half days a week and he very much enjoys it. Unfortunately it ends very soon!!! I was wondering if any of you are in or have been in the same boat & might have some ideas on keeping his summer fun rather than cooped up in the house w/ mom & babies!!! I'm hoping my girls will soon extend their wake time and we can have more outings! Its just so hot here (Gulf Coast region) that my LOs would get too hot at the playground/park I think.

 

I am in the same boat and have just decided the babes are going to have to be flexible and "go along for the ride." While I am working on getting them to nap in their cribs more, I am not super strict about it, trying to keep them flexible so we don't always have to be home. My older daughter will be going to ballet class (once a week for an hour) this summer, and various days of summer camp (3 hours a day). We also have a weekly playgroup in the morning. It's just going to be another juggling act....getting the babies the rountine/structure/naps they need while also allowing my older child to continue her life. I think things like playing in the yard are going to be difficult, though. The babies do good on walks, but I don't seem them being content to sit around while big sis' draws on the driveway with chalk, plays on her swingset, plays catch, etc. That's going to be a tricky one for me.

 

QUOTE(Adrianna @ May 6 2009, 07:59 PM) [snapback]1303585[/snapback]
I think things like playing in the yard are going to be difficult, though. The babies do good on walks, but I don't seem them being content to sit around while big sis' draws on the driveway with chalk, plays on her swingset, plays catch, etc. That's going to be a tricky one for me.


Same here, my son loves to be outside...he would spend every waking moment there if he could...and I wish he could too! breaks my heart!

 

QUOTE(Adrianna @ May 6 2009, 08:59 PM) [snapback]1303585[/snapback]
getting the babies the rountine/structure/naps they need while also allowing my older child to continue her life.


While I know where you are coming from, I think that for us my daughter got to do some stuff and we had the boys be flexible but also I was home for naps ALOT. I figured it was more important to have well-rested babies then to drag them all over and have them be cranky and make everyone miserable. Just to give you another perspective, I think that for me, my older DD had to learn what being part of a family was and that sometimes we all make sacrifices. So, if she couldnt get to her playgroup or to the park once in awhile that was okay too. I kinda took the pressure off myself with that respect.

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ May 6 2009, 09:55 PM) [snapback]1303671[/snapback]
While I know where you are coming from, I think that for us my daughter got to do some stuff and we had the boys be flexible but also I was home for naps ALOT. I figured it was more important to have well-rested babies then to drag them all over and have them be cranky and make everyone miserable. Just to give you another perspective, I think that for me, my older DD had to learn what being part of a family was and that sometimes we all make sacrifices. So, if she couldnt get to her playgroup or to the park once in awhile that was okay too. I kinda took the pressure off myself with that respect.


Yes, I think that's a very important lesson for our older children, and I do find myself telling her, quite often, "when you were a baby mommy used to....spend lots of time holding you/feed you all the time/cuddle with you when you cried, etc." She is excellent about the babies, but it does break my heart that I often have to tell her to "wait" or that I can't play with her right now. I'm hoping getting her out of the house a few times a week (for a couple of hours) is good for everyone, but I hear you on having rested babies and not dragging them around all kindgom come all day long!

 

QUOTE(carlaj23 @ May 6 2009, 08:52 PM) [snapback]1303574[/snapback]
My little guy is 4 and very active. Since being on bedrest & the birth of our DDs, my sons outings/activities have become much more limited. Thank goodness for pre-k - it is 3 half days a week and he very much enjoys it. Unfortunately it ends very soon!!! I was wondering if any of you are in or have been in the same boat & might have some ideas on keeping his summer fun rather than cooped up in the house w/ mom & babies!!! I'm hoping my girls will soon extend their wake time and we can have more outings! Its just so hot here (Gulf Coast region) that my LOs would get too hot at the playground/park I think.



Grats on the new ones! Please contact me for ideas...

 

QUOTE(carlaj23 @ May 6 2009, 08:52 PM) [snapback]1303574[/snapback]
My little guy is 4 and very active. Since being on bedrest & the birth of our DDs, my sons outings/activities have become much more limited. Thank goodness for pre-k - it is 3 half days a week and he very much enjoys it. Unfortunately it ends very soon!!! I was wondering if any of you are in or have been in the same boat & might have some ideas on keeping his summer fun rather than cooped up in the house w/ mom & babies!!! I'm hoping my girls will soon extend their wake time and we can have more outings! Its just so hot here (Gulf Coast region) that my LOs would get too hot at the playground/park I think.


When it's really hot here in the summer I make a concerted effort to get us up and outside EARLY--even taking breakfast to the park if we can! At that age my babies often took their morning nap very happily in the stroller, so that's what they would do while I took the big kids to the park in the early morning; then we'd come inside and take it easy for the rest of the day. I also am comfortable letting my four and three year old play in the backyard while I work in the kitchen, so they often do that while the babies are napping, but that of course doesn't work in every situation. (At ten months, I doubt my twins would nap in the stroller anymore--too much going on. However, they have more awake time now.)

When I do have the babies outside while it's hot I keep rubbing them down with a cool, wet washcloth. (And me too!) It really seems to help. People must have survived somehow before A/C. (I don't think I would have, though!) We used to put a blanket down and let the babies have their tummy time outside while the big kids played. Now, of course, they just roll around in the dirt, climb the porch stairs, and generally wreak havoc. . . but they have a great time and so do the big kids. I have a large play yard set up on the back patio so I have somewhere safe to put them if I need to bring the food out, carry the other baby, whatever.