3 under 3--tips? Toys?

[Astrea]

Next month I'm going to have 3 girls under 3 (12mo, 15mo, 2.5yo) with me 5 days a week from 9-6 (doing childcare for my next door neighbor's 2 kids, + my DD). It's pretty hard to imagine what it's actually going to be like :. Does anyone have advice or suggestions for me of what to expect, how to structure the day, what to do with them so they don't go crazy and/or kill each other, etc.? The 2.5yo will be at preschool half the day but the babies will be with me all day. Hit me with whatever you've got.

My DD is the 15mo so we don't really have any older toddler toys. I'd like to invest in a few things the 2.5yo will enjoy. Would love suggestions on that too (for a very small space). I'm planning to buy a Learning Tower but that's all that's on my list so far.

TIA!

[just_lily]

My biggest piece of advice is to figure out a way to get everyone outside. Even just going for a walk breaks up the day and is refreshing for everyone. Do you have a combination of stroller/wagon/carrier/etc. that you can get everyone out on?

2.5yo can be a bit of a wide ranging age. My DD is just turned two and very into pretend play - dolls, play kitchen, animals, little people, etc. but I have had other kids older than her that still don't 'get' pretend yet and prefer manipulatives like blocks and trains. Hit up thrift stores and garage sales to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to toys.

I'm not sure I would focus on buying a Learning Tower necessarily. Only the oldest would get any use out of it, and what would the littles be doing during that time?

I would also make yourself a play space, and really, really baby proof it. Not so much for safety as for your own sanity. Take anything you don't want little hands on and either put it up high or in another room. With one you can easily distract and redirect, but with three they will continually get into things you don't want them to. You will also need a safe place to have the kids play while you do things like diaper one of them, or prepare a snack or something.

I won't lie to you - it will probably be crazy and hard, and you will question why you agreed to do this 45 minutes in. But you will adjust, figure out a routine, and it will get easier.

[physmom]

Could you talk to the parents of the 2.5 year in advance to see what kind of toys she likes? It also wouldn't hurt to always have some longer books from the library around. I was around my best friend's son when he was 2.5 and he seemd to like basically all the same things DD did but just had way better skills to play with them. But he was perfectly happy with blocks, trucks, books, balls, etc.

I think having a few dolls around couldn't hurt and lots of craft supplies available too. Do you have a double stroller at least so you could put two girls in the stroller and wear the third? Then you'd at least be able to go for walks...

[Astrea]

just_lily, looks like from your sig that you've been there and done that (or are doing that) so I really appreciate your input--feel free to spam me on the thread or via PM with ANY wisdom about running a home daycare! I'm totally scared but also excited.

My downstairs and DD's bedroom are already babyproofed to the extent you mentioned, but I'm thinking of trying to install baby gates on the living room again so I can contain the toddlers when I need to go upstairs to the bathroom or something. I leave DD downstairs alone with no worries when I go upstairs for 5 minutes or less but I'm not sure if that will work when there are 3 kids here.

I was thinking the two little ones could stand in the Learning Tower with me in the kitchen to watch me cook and/or play with things like wooden spoons. Does that sound like it wouldn't work?

I'm definitely going to hit up the local garage sales and consignment stores over the next few weeks. Open-ended toys are really important to me, and I'd like to get some arts and crafts stuff that the 2.5yo can work with (I'm thinking at the kitchen table, on a vinyl tablecloth, while the toddlers are napping and/or playing in the living room which is connected). A doll or two is a great idea. I was also thinking dress-up clothes, playsilks (I have a few already), and maybe a few small musical instruments (we already have shakers, a bongo drum, and a xylophone). I would love to find a small playkitchen but they seem to be really $$$$? I'll definitely ask the 2.5yo's mom if she has any specific favourites. She can bring some things over with her from next door, but I'd like to have some special things for her here as well (and DD will grow into them soon enough anyway!).

I will have access to a double stroller that belongs to my neighbor, and we have a fantastic wagon as well as a BOB revolution single stroller (would it be worth it to get a buggy board for this?) and, ahem, more than a few carriers, so we're covered on that front. The one annoying thing is that the double stroller's too big for the bus and we don't have a car. The 2.5yo has to get to pre-school at 1:30 every day, though, so honestly there won't be much time for serious outings when you also add in the need for meals and naps. We'll probably stay within walking distance of home most days. Luckily we have a LOT of stuff within walking distance (huge forest, multiple playgrounds, coffee shops and grocery store, tons of friends, etc.) The library and the beach are a 5-minute bus ride away, so that would be do-able with one kid in the single stroller that fits on the bus and the other in a carrier, in the afternoons when the 2.5yo is in preschool. Again, though, naps will prevent much of that from happening.

We don't have a TV but we do have a laptop. Do you think it's reasonable to expect to make it through the days without any of the kids ever watching a video? DD has never seen TV.

[childsplay]

I usually have between 4 and 6 under 3's. Today I hade 6, - two 2 1/2 y/o's , one almost 3, two 18ish months and a 9 month old.
The secret to my sanity is to minamalize.

Today we had for our entertainment,

one large deck with no off-deck exit points.
an assortment of metal trikes, a few little tikes small ride-ons / push cars /slide
a spring horse
a basic water table with loads of sponges and plastic containers
a basket of dinkeys
basket of wooden/plastic mix animals and dinos
2 dolls, doll clothes and wooden doll crade
fifteen thousand books in varying states of disrepair
a pop up tent and tunnel
basket of crayons and a stack of discarded architechtural drawings compliments of DH
toy piano
one easy access cupboard stuffed with plastic, wooden and tin dishes and cups
a large basket of balls
paper bags and potatoes ( for filling, dumping, and eventually eating for lunch)

I bought one of those superyards/baby jails and divied up the peices to form barricades in the two entry points to my living room ( I don't want my floor scratched anymore, plus it saves me from gating the stairs)
So the kids have the deck, the kitchen - which is giant, and a large playroom (technically should be den or something) off the kitchen.
They are not allowed upstairs unless I take them up for sleeping, and where they are, they have loads of space, plus I can see/hear them - oh boy can I hear them !

I did at one point have a ton of toys upstairs but found the kids just dumped and ran so I put most of them downstairs and there's been far less mess, confusion and frusteration. On rainy gross days we'll head down to the basement to the 'toy surplus' and they just go nuts, but only once in a while like a last resort option .
Oh, and since they're not allowed in my living room there's no tv to speak of (we have a small 13 in. mounted to the kitchen wall for morning news but it's never on for the kids) and they don't seem to miss it.
I usually just sit on the deck with them and read a book while they toddle/run around.
I wear the baby in the mei tai a lot but I also keep a pram in the kitchen that he can snooze or just hang out in out of the path of the others.

One thing though - have lunch at least prepped, if not made, it makes a world of difference.

Best luck : )