The Second Baby Survival Guide
The Second Baby Survival Guide – How to stay calm and enjoy life with a new baby and a toddler.
When I saw this book was available for review I was about a month away from giving birth to our second baby so I shouted YES PLEASE as loud as I possibly could! I had a feeling I was going to need it with a 29 month old just settling nicely into the rhythms of the terrible twos.
Naia Edwards is a parenting author and editor of children’s books. She is a mother to four boys aged two to fourteen so she can speak from experience on the trials and tribulations of life with a new baby and older siblings.
Naia offers an arm around your shoulder when you need it, supportive words and practical solutions on life with a baby and a toddler. She begins with pregnancy and birth, then sleeping and feeding solutions for two, sibling behaviour and development and finding time for your children, your partner and yourself.
The Second Baby Survival Guide is packed with stories and tips from parents who have been there and survived!
For me the book has been a crutch when I’ve felt myself falling down, it has given me the support and advice to know that I’m doing the right thing. The first six weeks were the hardest and yet I think I’ve had it pretty easy. Little Bean has welcomed her new baby brother with open arms, she hasn’t shown any signs of jealousy and she’s as helpful as she can be – sometimes a little ‘too’ helpful!
The book also gives valuable information on how to prepare your toddler for the imminent arrival of their new sibling. We had been preparing Little Bean from early on in my pregnancy and I really think this helped her to accept him. But this section of the book helped to re-affirm what we were already doing. I liked the idea of making a special baby calendar so that they can physically see how long it will be before baby arrives. It suggests putting the seasons on the calendar and events that have meaning got them such as trips to the seaside in the summer holidays or Christmas.
The section of the book which I am finding most helpful at the moment is “And so to bed – managing sleep with two”. We decided to follow the simultaneous bedtimes strategy. We give Little Bean and Beanie Boy a bath together and then Hubby takes Little Bean and carries on her bedtime routine as usual in her bedroom, whilst I take Beanie Boy to his bedroom and give him a massage, followed by a story and then finally a feed where he generally falls asleep.
I found only one downside to this book, you need to read the book to be able to work out how to find time to actually read the book!!