Learning from the first baby

The age gap between our two kids is 20 months. We know first hand, and have always been reminded, every child is different from each other. We realize that their age gap means they're very closely aged to each other, and yes, it's been hard for now. A toddler and a small infant both require so much attention, which has been the hardest part for mama. Our toddler doesn't quite understand why mommy's attention has shifted more to another baby. However, as they get older, we know this age gap will be very handy. And also, because our toddler was a baby only a few months ago, the things we did with him are still fresh in our minds and have we learned a lot!!

First, breastfeeding. Unfortunately, I don't think our toddler got the best benefit from this. It was very hard in the beginning, but I really tried to go exclusive between the 2nd and 3rd months of his life, just before I went back to work. But the first month was hard -- it didn't help that I couldn't get him to latch. But with our new baby, all we needed was the most basic advice from the lactation consultant: don't force feed. That was something I did with my toddler -- I thought I was supposed to feed him by a certain time, but it turns out he was more sleepy than hungry. This time around, new baby has probably consumed more breastmilk than her brother did. Yes, I feel guilty. But on the bright side, our toddler is on track with all his developments.

Second, now that we know what to expect with teething, I am more prepared. Our toddler developed finger sucking to sooth his teeth and hunger at times, but now it's hard to get him off it. I do think, all the finger sucking has affected his teeth. They are on the crooked side. So with our new baby, we're going to try to guide her not to suck fingers. And if she grows crooked teeth despite this, it would mean she got it from me :(

Third, solid feeding is the one phase I'm looking forward to. With our toddler, his pediatrician didn't advise solid food until 6 months, but we jumped and did it at 5 and a half months. We will probably stick to the same schedule. And when time comes for me to make baby food, I'll know how to better prepare them. Before, I would always put the wax paper over the freshly pureed food and when frozen, they got stuck to the food. So I won't do that next time ;-) It always took me one Sunday a month to prepare a month's worth of food. Our toddler never liked the commercialized baby food, so we stuck to home-cooked meals.

And lastly, our toddler's favorite word is "no." I'm afraid our new baby will pick it up as her first word, as she hears it so often. I don't know how to prevent it. Any ideas? ;-)