10 Surprising Ways Parenting Changes With Child

If you’ve had a second baby you will know that there are some serious parenting changes with child number two. There are all sorts of mental, emotional and physical changes that happen to you that then change the way you approach baby number two. In amongst all of that there are some really funny things that happen too, here is a humorous guest post on 10 Surprising Ways Parenting Changes With Child. 

This post comes from Neve at Wetheparents.org, a gorgeous mom of two who has retained her sense of humour in the craziness. 

This post had me laughing out loud because it is so true and I’m so relieved I’m not the only one this happened with. 

 

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did! 

10 Surprising Ways Parenting Changes With

Child Number Two

The experience of raising a second child is completely different from the first. Here are 10 surprising ways in which this was true for me.

 

1. Birth

First: The birth of my first child somehow became a tourist attraction. Family members queued up to take snaps of me and my newborn. Though, after an all night labour, it was hard to tell us apart; both bruised, wrinkly and vulnerable.

Second: Sorry, the petting zoo is closed for at least three days. No admission (even for mums and dads)!

 

2. Bonding

First: When I first held my daughter in my arms, I wasn’t awash with motherly love. Damn! What was wrong with me? Instead, I experienced a mixture of uncomfortable emotions as I tried to process my new reality: “This tiny person is (apparently) my child, and I am responsible for keeping them alive.” Eeek.

Second: Love at first sight! Hooray (and phew), I wasn’t a pathologically bad mum afterall. Being now familiar with my role as Mum, I received my second child with instant affection and exuberance.

 

3. Shock factor

First: It’s true, parenthood turns your life upside down and inside out. There is nothing that will prepare you for baby Number One. Everything changes forever. It’s a shock to the system but deal with it we must.

Second: Having now adjusted to family life, Number Two just cranks up the intensity. It’s familiar territory, just more of it. Keep calm and carry on.

 

4. Milestones

First: With our first, we were hyper-tuned to her developmental stages. For example: “Hmmm… she’s two weeks late to roll over” or “Hooray, she’s five days early with crawling!” We read up and knew exactly what she was “supposed” to be doing and when.

Second: What milestones? Things were much more chilled when it came to our son. He could take his sweet time with crawling, walking, talking… we really didn’t care. We trusted that nature would get him to where he needed to be, all in his own time.

5. Photos

First: During the first two years of my daughter’s life, never was there a time that we didn’t have a camera pointed at her. I’m sure if we print out all the photos we can make a continuous flick-book of her early years.

Second: “Honey, did you take a photo of him blowing out his first birthday candle?”

“Erm, no dear, I thought you were taking photos today.”

 

6. Diet

First: Once she was on solids, we bought a baby food processor which was almost never switched off. I became a deranged vegetable alchemist, squeezing 10 different ingredients and 2400% of her recommended daily vitamin intake into every pureed meal.

Second: No time for fuss. He pretty much ate what we ate (minus chilli and salt). Simple.

 

(Shameless plug alert! If you are interested, I recently wrote a whole guide on baby food makers.)

 

7. Hypochondria

First: If my first born so much as burped funny, then I jumped straight onto Google and sifted through the symptoms of deadly diseases in the hope that she didn’t have one.

Second: “Pah, he’ll be fine!” With our hard earned parental confidence, we had come to trust that our little one would survive a minor bout of the sniffles.

 

8. Handling with baby gloves

First: We treated our first born like she was a china doll, afraid that the slightest knock might break her.

Second: Soon after birth, his older sister began daily mixed martial arts training. This included things like carrying (and dropping), rugby tackling and rolling on top of him. We soon realised that babies are much more resilient than we had thought. That meant we didn’t flinch during his many learning-to-crawl-face-plants.

 

9. Getting stuff done

First: “Aaargh! It’s impossible to get anything done around here.” It’s tough as a new parent but soon you adjust and get on with the task of day-to-day living.

Second: “Aaargh, not again!” This time you are quicker to bounce back. Then you stop and think, “Hang on, what on earth was I whining about when I only had one child!?” Now you have two, the thought of one sounds like a relaxing holiday.

 

10. Joy

First: Stress, sleepless nights and chaos? Yup, that’s just par for the course when it comes to parenting. Luckily (for the continuation of humankind), this is balanced by the deep love we experience when the little person you grew in your tummy looks up at you and smiles.

Second: Now there are two tiny people with the power to melt your heart. And that gooey feeling you get while receiving a double cuddle? Well, folks, that is the reason we all do it.

 

♦

 

About the Writer

If you loved this post like I did, you can find more from Neve at her site: WeTheParents.org.

Neve blogs alongside husband, Keane, at WeTheParents.org. There she advocates natural birth and breastfeeding, while he gets geeky reviewing humidifiers and other gear that mums and dads (apparently) need.