16 People Are Fully Honest About How More Relaxed They Are After Raising Their First Child

Getting to have a second child means that you have probably enjoyed having children and you feel comfortable that you can keep another one alive. You are now more experienced and you know what you need to do to cater to your baby’s needs. You don’t worry that much anymore and, therefore, you can enjoy parenthood a lot more.

• 2 girls, 3 years apart. First kid lived in cute outfits, matching socks, bows, etc etc. I’m pretty sure my 2nd baby lived in a diaper or the same onesie for days in a row. RimleRie / Reddit
• When you have your first kid you are paranoid about everything. By the time you have the second you realize you were over-reacting before and that most kids are made out of nerf and are pretty much indestructible. CRM2018 / Reddit
• I find having two easier since they spend all their time playing with each other. They’re 7 and 10 and some weekends they disappear to play in the garden for hours on end. cardboardshrimp / Reddit

• I’ll second this! With my first, I handmade all of his first solid foods. Every week I’d buy a new, organic fresh food and cook and purée it. I had him on a super strict schedule of only one new food per week. With my second, all of his first foods were store-bought jarred food. I just bought him whatever he liked and whatever was on sale. My first was also super picky and my second is pretty chill about eating. What_the_smeg / Reddit
• No screens for the first one till 2.5 years old, second was looking at my phone/TV much earlier. Both kids love reading books, so I’m glad I waited to introduce TV, screens to my first one as the second one follows the lead and likes to read books in his spare time as well. algebragoddess / Reddit

• First kid gets rushed to the ER when the thermometer reads 99. Second kid gets yelled at for bleeding on the carpet. I can’t imagine how the third even survives; he’s probably eating dirt because you forgot to feed him again. groundhogcakeday / Reddit
• You’re more proactive with kid #1 and take more preventative measures. You buy different laundry soap to prevent rashes. Organic and dairy free food to prevent allergies. Kid #2 is corrective maintenance. You only change things if there’s a problem. You toss their clothes in with yours and will only change detergent if they break out. You buy regular ole grocery store food and don’t even try to dilute anything. dedicednu / Reddit
• We had 10,000 the first year for our oldest, maybe 2000 for our second and 100? for our third. Kinda feel bad but things just move too fast and I want to experience them instead of documenting them now. viceversa4 / Reddit

• One thing I was worried about was dividing attention between my 2 and a half year old and a newborn, that my first would get jealous or resentful. It hasn’t been like that at all. I’d say my relationship with my first is better because the second is here. I tried to involve both of them when I was playing with my daughter and now she loves having a little brother. tbcwpg / Reddit
• You’ll never know who stole the cookie from the cookie jar because now they can blame it on each other. PolyDudeNYC / Reddit
• Caring about milestones. I was so hyper focused on when my first would learn to smile, sit, crawl, walk, be potty trained etc. looking back I have no idea why. Looking at a group of 5 year olds, no one cares who the first one was to walk. purple—pig / Reddit

• [First kid] Kid: Mom, why are they called dandelions? Me: That’s a great question! *Googles word etymology, gives in-depth explanation, discusses other flower names* [Second kid] Kid: Mom, why are they called dandelions? Me: I have no idea, get in the car. copymama / Twitter
• The thing they don’t tell you about adding a second kid is how good showers feel when you manage to get them. I never had this great a shower in my 20’s. sydneemcelroy / Twitter
• Me: “Did baby bro eat his banana?” 4yo: “No, but he did just eat a crayon.” Me: “Ok, thank you.” This is what having a second kid will do to your parenting. stayathomies / Twitter

• I followed the pediatrician guidelines with food introduction to the day- yes I seriously kept a calendar to track baby food for my first child. My second child ate from the table with no real plan. My third child ate pizza from the takeout box way earlier than I care to admit. I once put Mountain Dew in his bottle when stuck in road construction. chicaberry / Reddit
• First kid drops their pacifier, they got a totally new one and the dropped one gets sterilized. Second kid drops their pacifier, it gets rinsed off and handed back. Third kid drops their pacifier, I pick it up stick it in my own mouth to clean it off, hand it back. Fourth kid drops their pacifier, picks it back up and puts it in their own mouth. Also finds some old french fries while they’re down there. Good, I don’t have to make a snack. _Internet_Hugs_ / Reddit

If you have more than one child, how different was your mindset while they were growing up? Were you overprotective towards them or were you more relaxed?