Hi Everyone,
I’m expecting a baby girl in August. My son will be 25 m/o at that time. What are you all doing to prepare your toddler for the arrival of #2?
Here’s what we did:
- Bring him along to see the OBGYN. My son loved seeing his baby sister on the little “TV” and listening to her heartbeat.
- Tell stories about him, when I was pregnant with him, when he was born, when he was really little… He’s excited to have a baby sister but didn’t expect her to be playing with him right away (because little babies cry and sleep a lot).
- We bought a really nice present (from baby to big brother) and brought it to the hospital and gave it to him when he came to visit.
- Talk to the baby inside mommy’s womb. My son loved to update the baby on whatever he was doing.
- Never use baby as an excuse or reason you can’t accommodate his requests. If you can’t carry him, it’s because you are tired, don’t tell him it’s the pregnancy.
- My son proudly tells people it’s “his” baby. At first my husband was uncomfortable with that, but it’s ok, let him claim ownership.
Now my little one is one. My son has been so loving and tender toward her from birth.
Oh and one more thing. I made it a big deal about how he should treat boys and girls (it helps since I was having a girl). He can be as rough as he wants with daddy (and they do lots of rough play), but he must be gentle with mommy because mommy is a girl. This really helped when the baby was born, I didn’t have to repeatedly tell my son to be gentle. In fact, he was gentle with all the babies.
I’m not sure if a younger child would be able to understand those things. My kids are exactly 3 years apart. I see siblings who are two years apart tend to have a lot of jealousy issues.
Thank you so much for your insight and ideas! It’s amazing how just a year between 2 & 3 can mean such a difference in understanding and maturity.