Wanted to see what other people are doing...

once the baby comes what are your plans in terms of cooking, cleaning, household chores? Do you plan on getting a cleaning lady? family helping?

My DD will be 20 months when baby #2 comes and I am wondering how I am going to do it. Having family come to stay with me is not an option. Looks like I am on my own in terms of cooking. For cleaning, I think I am getting a cleaning lady.

I am getting anxiety over this and my DH is a neat freak too...I don't know how I am going to handle a newborn and toddler.

What are your plans?

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I'm hoping my mom comes and helps out every day. If it's cleaning or watching the baby while I clean, shower, cook, nap/anything.

Everyone keeps telling me to freeze meals for when the baby is born I can just reheat.

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I have an older one in school, youngest DS will be 18-19 months when baby comes and i have no idea how i will manage. DS isnt sleeping thru the night and is so attached to me I know its going to be very hard. My plans are to stock up on some homemade frozen food and pray for the best. im going to start making certain things that freeze well and go from there.

Message edited 11/8/2011 9:56:37 AM.

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I thought it was easiest when they were a NB--they nap more often, so I didn't have a problem cooking or cleaning. Once he got older, and slept less, it was much harder.

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I will have 3 under 2. DH does all of the cooking. I do all of the cleaning (and am a FTWM). We do not have any family nearby. If I could afford a cleaning lady, I would absolutely get one!

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DH and I will be doing everything ourselves. While it might be tough for awhile I feel like since it is our child we have the responsibility of taking care of our house and family.

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Haven't really thought about it. lol. DD will be about 2 when the new baby comes but she's a pretty chill kid (most of the time) and can play by herself and be easily entertained. DH is a neat freak and I don't see that changing as he will not be the one BFing all night long. He also has been doing the majority of the cooking since DD was born so yeah...I'm hoping all of that stays the same!

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My house is already a mess with a toddler and a dog...I don't know WTH I'm going to do when we add an infant to the mix!

It won't be so bad while I'm on maternity leave, but when I go back to work I can't imaginethe house will be in tip top shape.

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I know my mom and she will be over as soon as the baby is born with meals for a week AT LEAST. She will probably help tidy up too and will probably come the following week, again with more food. She's the best and I only wish she lived closer and was retired!


MIL only lives 15 mins away though and she and FIL are retired and I know she will be a big help.

For the most part though, I want to do as much as I can with DH. I also think I will be okay during maternity leave but it's after I go back to work that I worry about. We hardly have time to clean as it is, just on weekends.

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I will have a 2 year old and an infant and I'm not sure how I'll do it. When DS was born, I had literally NO help at all. We have family nearby, but no one came to help (and to think, when I was pregnant, I was thinking how annoyed I would be at having them over so often to help ). So I anticipate no help when baby #2 comes.

The difference is, my MIL does currently watch my DS 3x a week (I work FT and so does DH, but we have alternating schedules so we only need her 3x week). So I told DH that when I'm home on maternity leave, I would continue to have her watch him 3x a week so that I can adjust to the new baby, try to get on a schedule, etc. I'm HOPING that will be enough so that I don't go completely crazy

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I plan on doing as much or as little as I can each day when it comes to cleaning and laundry.

I have some meals I am going to freeze, but not worried about making a ton. If we have to have soup and sandwhiches once a week- so be it.

If my house isn't percfect when people visit, they will understand.

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My sister takes care of DD in my home now, so I am going to continue with that arrangement when the baby comes. I can use the help and she can use the money!

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DH and I are fortunate to have a great support system as both our families lives relatively close by and are always willing to lend a hand.

I have a cleaning lady now that comes once every three weeks- I hope to bump that up to once every two weeks and hope that is sufficient for the "major" stuff.

As far as cooking-- Im not a big cooker bc of the long hours that I work - but my MIL is amazing and even now - especially since I got pregnant- sends us food a couple of times a week which is great- so I hope she continues to do that after the baby is home. Then there is always delivery!!

My mom is great too- she would be willing to help with laundry, folding and any other chores that are needed. She'll be over every day. My dad even offered to watch the baby so that I could go to the gym since I was feeling down about all the weight Ive gained!

Im hoping that with all of the external help, DH and I will be able to focus on the baby and enjoy the time we have with

Message edited 11/8/2011 10:41:51 AM.

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I will be doing everything myself. In the beginning it was hard when I had DS. DD was 2.5 at the time. But it worked itself out. DH pitched in more. We are neat freaks too. But I've learned with 2 kids, that sometimes goes out the window. As long as the house is clean, I am ok. Sometimes the toys gets crazy. And the laundry gets behind. But it's ok.

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Luckily DH cooks so we can share responsibilities.
We live with FIL and he likes to buy takeout once a week.
As far as cleaning, that may be on me. I wish we could hire a cleaning lady but I will be out of work for a while and will have to be frugal.

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I have a cleaning girl, and she will come once a week to help out, my DH is also off for 3 weeks to help me with the kids, but it wont be to bad cause there both in school full time.
I'm having my 3rd C, so I really have to take it easy!

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This is our first so I'm sure it's going to be some experience!! I was thinking about hiring a cleaning lady for a one time cleaning right before the baby comes just so the house is in order and not a disaster before it becomes more of a disaster. But def not going to keep a cleaning lady on after that. As far as cooking goes - I'll probably make a few meals and freeze them beforehand. DH is a great cook and an amazing hubby so I know that he won't have a problem cooking for a while as well. He is also planning on taking 2-3 weeks off after the baby is born anyway. I'm sure my mom will be over a good amount, but I'm not sure how much she'll really take on. My MIL works full time so she's limited. To be honest, I don't want either of them taking much on anyway. I feel like the baby, house, and everything else is our responsibility anyway so we'll figure out a way.

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Luckily DH is not a neat freak so I'm not going to go crazy. DD is currently in DC 1/wk so I'll keep sending her while I'm out and try and get stuff done then. I'll probably have a bunch of meals ready in the freezer and I'm sure DH will help with the cooking on his early nights. I'm sure pea pod will be put to use too. We really dont have a large house and my washer and dryer are in a nice convenient spot so I'm not too worried. I'm sure I'll be drinking some extra coffee and hoping DD1 is still napping.

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When baby #3 arrives, I'll have a 4yo DS and a 2yo DS plus a WAH business -- I'm quite nervous I won't be able to take care of everyone/everything so we've already arranged for our PT nanny (she usually just comes when I have work to do for my WAH business/meetings) to come 1-2 days more per week and as long as my business can help me afford it, we'll then get a cleaning person 2-3x/mo and I plan on doing PeaPod or ShopRite at Home for groceries.
DH is also planning on taking 1 day off per week for 6 or 8 weeks to help keep the older boys occupied/stimulated/tended to -- he'll take them to a park, museum, library.

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We will be doing everything ourselves also, as we wont have much family available to help out. We'll make it work.

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I think my mother will come to stay with me at least the first week (maybe not stay with me but come over every day)...I was also thinking about freezing a few meals so that is one less thing that I have to worry about. Our DD will be 4 when the new baby comes and is pretty independent so I am not to worried about that but the cleaning and everything else is a concern. So im getting my recipes ready now and will have a full day of cooking prior to going in to have this baby

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