A mother-of-six who is set to give birth to twins later this year has offered a look at what life is like in her busy household – and revealed how she told her growing brood the news.
Chloe Dunstan, 27, from Perth, and her husband Rohan had three children by the time she turned 22 – Evan, 8, Otto, 7, and Felix, 6 – swiftly followed by triplets Rufus, Hank and Pearl, nearly 5.
Two more babies will join Chloe’s family this November.
A mother-of-six who is set to give birth to twins later this year has offered a look at what life is like in her busy household – and revealed how she told her growing brood the news (Chloe pictured with her children)
Chloe and her husband Rohan had three children by the time she turned 22 – Evan, 8, Otto, 7, and Felix, 6 – swiftly followed by triplets Rufus, Hank and Pearl, nearly 5 (all kids pictured)
And while Chloe knows that with more babies comes more work, she said she and her family are ‘extremely excited’ to be growing their family even more.
‘After having pregnancy complications with my triplet pregnancy it is daunting to experience a multiple pregnancy again, but other than that I am really excited,’ Chloe told FEMAIL.
‘I think twins feels like perfect addition to our family and luckily the kids were delighted with the news, too.
‘They love being part of a big family and can’t wait to have more siblings.’
The new babies that will be added to the Dunstan brood (Chloe and two of the kids pictured) will arrive in November
Chloe filmed herself on YouTube telling her six children the big news.
Her children’s responses ranged from happy giggles to confusion that Chloe was having a ‘food baby’ and delight that the baby will be here in time for Christmas.
‘I want to put the baby on my lap,’ one of Chloe’s youngest, Rufus, said in the clip.
‘I want to call the baby Taco… I want him to be a sister,’ Rufus continued.
She said she approached the kids one by one so that they could have their own time to process the fact that they were going to be a big brother or sister.
Chloe filmed herself telling her six children (pictured) the big news, and her six children’s responses ranged from happy giggles to confusion that Chloe was having a ‘food baby’ and delight that the baby will be here in time for Christmas
The mum-of-six (pictured and pictured with Rohan) said they home school and run an online toy shop business from home during the week
The mum-of-six also shared with FEMAIL an insight into the Dunstans’ busy home lives.
‘We home school so there are a lot around, but we keep it really relaxed,’ Chloe said.
‘The kids do a bit of school work, and then mostly focus on doing the things they enjoy like drawing, art projects, science projects, playing and spending lots of time outside.’
The 27-year-old added that she and the kids usually spend lots of time with friends at home school activities and excursions, but this hasn’t happened recently due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions in place around the country.
A typical day sees the busy mum get up, get her kids started on some work and run her own successful online toy store business with her husband from home.
‘It’s all about teamwork in this household,’ Chloe said.
‘It can be a lot with a career, home schooling and homework, but we manage it well together and doing all of this means we can maximise family time, which is really important to us.’
She said she prioritises maximising family time so that they can all spend time together doing the things they love (pictured on a picnic)
Chloe said she begins the night-time routine at around 4.30pm so she can be organised with the kids, and she makes dinner while the children play (pictured at dinnertime)
Chloe said she begins the ‘night-time routine’ at around 4.30pm, when she starts cooking dinner and the kids have some time to do their ‘own thing’.
On this particular evening, she is making rice noodles with bok choy, tofu and sprouts.
They eat at around 6pm after doing their own activities like drawing and crafts.
After dinner, it’s a hectic bath and shower time for the Dunstan kids, before they get into their pyjamas, have a small bit of playtime and finish with a group story read by their mum along with some milk.
All of the children are in bed by around 8pm.
After dinner, it’s a hectic bath time for the Dunstan kids, before they get into their pyjamas, have a bit of playtime and finish with a group story read by mum (Chloe and the kids pictured)
The children enjoy a story read by one of their parents before they get into bed (pictured at storytime)
‘It’s definitely gotten easier over the years with the night-time routine as they can all now dress themselves,’ Chloe said.
‘With the triplets there for a bit when they were young, it was a lot of work. But I think with big families you have to do whatever works for you.
‘The most important thing for us is prioritising connections and happiness. Everything stems from that.’
To follow Chloe Dunstan and her family on Instagram, please click here. You can also follow them on YouTube here.