Siblings

MarieEDDJuly

For those of you that have older children already. How are they handling the idea of a baby coming?
My daughter is 4.5 yr old. Everyday is a different answer on if she is excited or doesn't want the baby to come. One minute she is ready to share old baby stuff the next minute nope it is all hers. I keep her involved with it as much as possibly. We told her first before we told the rest of the family. And in general we talked about it even before I got pregnant on how she wanted a brother or sister. any advice would be great or just your experience so far too...

LaurenAsh23

My dd is only 2, so we talk about it a lot, but I don't think she has any clue what's about to happen! I'm trying to take her to play groups with other kids including babies. She goes to daycare, but she's just so used to those kids and I think mostly ignores the babies there haha.

ButterMyBiscuit

My son is 4.5 and he talks about it CONSTANTLY. He is always excited. Now, if we find out it's a girl..he might not be AS excited but he just wants a playmate. I don't think he understands that it'll be quite a while until this kid will be old enough to "play" with..

owens0410

My DS is 4.5 but I'm not sure how much he understands. He has a speech and language delay so he isn't able to fully express himself and ask questions. He knows there is a baby in mommy's belly and has brought it up on his own a couple times, he knows he will be a brother, but I think he's really confused about the fact that the baby will be a brother or sister, lol! He LOVES babies though. At church and daycare he is drawn to them and he is so sweet and gentle with them. I cannot wait to watch him with this little one!! 

whataboutscience

DD is 16 months so she won't get it until baby's here. She actually got a doll for Christmas though and loves wrapping it in a blanket pretending it's sleeping, kissing it, carrying it all over, etc. I was concerned when I saw her stuff the baby in the toy oven. I made her say sorry and hug the baby. Haha.

FluffleSprout

DD is 3. She will turn 4 right after the baby arrives and she is so excited. She kisses my belly and listens. "I think I hear the baby crying." She knows it will be a long time before the baby comes and she sometimes asks if it's almost summer yet. She wants a girl but we talk about how don't get to choose. I know it won't be a seamless transition but I'm glad she's excited to be a sister.

dani1124

My DD is 3.5 and she is the same. Some days she seems excited and asks lots of questions. Then others she's like I don't want the baby to come out. I'm like .... well sorry! I need some ideas for getting older kids ready for a new sibling. Maybe I need to read up on this.

PugsandKisses

Eldest is 5 and is telling every one and their mother about the baby.

2 year old does not get it. At all.

sami1784

DS is super excited to be a big brother!  He even painted a picture at school of our family.. it had me, hubby, DS, and the new baby in it.  He keeps telling everyone he's getting a baby sister - we won't find out for a few weeks at least, so I hope he's not disappointed if it does turn out to be a brother.

matryoshkadoll

This thread makes me smile

My 3yo is excited, and somewhat concerned that the baby is hurting me. Every time I cough or something she asks if it's the baby kicking me.

My 20mo DD doesn't have any idea but seems chill when we hang out with babies.

I am planning to do sibling bags to give them when they come to meet the baby. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest, but it is basically just fun stuff to make them feel special and keep them entertained.

soberkfell

@matryoshkadoll I like the idea of sibling bags!

My 21mo DS will say there's a baby in my belly, after which he points to DH and says he has a baby in his belly, and then he points to his own belly and says baby. So... I'm guessing he isn't going to understand until the baby is here.

m8881

My boys are 6 and 4, but they are May and June babies themselves, so will have just turned 7 and 5 (this baby has the same due date as the 4 yr old and I'm having a planned CS so hoping to plan it a day or two after his bday). They are both very excited. The day we told them I was pregnant will be a day I never forget. My 6 year old is not the most emotional kid, not a big hugger or crier etc. But I've never seen him so excited and happy about anything. He gave me the biggest hug and kiss and was so amazed. He said he was overjoyed (he's got a vocabulary lol), and had tears in his eyes. It was really unexpected especially because he always says his brother bugs him lol.

Nikko Blue

I hope my son gets excited. Right now he doesn't seem to fully understand/care. He's 3, so I'm not surprised. I think he will probably be more excited when the baby is actually here.

Schmooie730

I'm a first time mom so I'm not a huge help, but I am a teacher at a childcare center and I work with 2 year olds mostly. I'd suggest looking up picture books about siblings for those kiddos that aren't sure what to expect/don't get what's going on. I can't think of any off the top of my head but a quick browse on Pinterest and at your local library should be able to yield some great results! If I come across any I'll try to remember to post them here

jenkeale

I got DD a book called "I'm a big sister" that someone on this board actually recommended. She loves it so much and has us read it to her several times each day. She's only 17 months and I know she doesn't get it, but it's cute that she loves the book.

I also bought a doll set that has a stroller, crib and car seat and she has spent many hours taking care of her "baby."

whataboutscience

@jenkeale We like that book too!

chels0120

My son is 6 1/2 and he is beyond excited. I'm an ultrasound tech so every week or so I'll scan myself and take a little video. He asks daily when I pick him up from school if he can see his baby I cannot wait. I feel like I hit the jackpot for helpful big brothers lol

PhoebeJune1984

Mine turned four in the fall. She is totally excited. But she begged for two years for a sibling. Every time I say something, she answers that it is because I have a baby in my belly. She will do anything to talk about the baby, and when we went to a baby store she wanted to pick out a Jelly Cat stuffed animal to bring to the baby in the hospital.

nopegoat

I have three boys ages 5,3, and 1. My 5yr old is stoked. He had told everyone at school and makes the cutest random comments. Love it. My 3yr old knows but doesn't care. My 1yr old is oblivious.

We did a lot of talking about big boy responsibilities and ways they could help with my oldest two. I don't think anything actually sunk in till the baby was born and home.

givemepenguinss

I got my 2 year old daughter this book. It's really cute and it has seemed to help her connect the dots. It has little flaps that hide the baby and show Mama's belly getting bigger every page! She loves to read it.



Now, how to tell my dog?

kim1989

DD is 4 and is obsessed about the baby being a girl. I'm a bit scared how she'll react if we find out it's a boy because she's really upset when we tell her we don't know yet.

DS is 2 and has no idea

MrsRo731

givemepenguinss said:

I got my 2 year old daughter this book. It's really cute and it has seemed to help her connect the dots. It has little flaps that hide the baby and show Mama's belly getting bigger every page! She loves to read it.



Now, how to tell my dog?

We love this book! Our friends got this for DD and it's the cutest! We also have 'My New Baby' which is great, too; it specifically shows the mom BF which I love. DD has been pointing at my boobs saying 'baby's milk' recently because of it.  

m8881

Wish they had that book for boys / brothers

PhoebeJune1984

@kim1989 My 4 year old really wanted a sister as well. In fact, for the first 18 months of begging for a sibling, and begged for a sister, and would cry when we told her that we don't get to pick what it is. Then for 6 months, she opened up to having a brother, and would talk about the things that she could do with either sex. Then I got pregnant, and now she doesn't really mention which she prefers. When you ask her what you think it is, she will say she thinks that it is a girl. But then when you talk about the baby, she will say "a boy or a girl!" and remind us that it could be a boy in there....or tell other people that we don't know if it is a boy or girl. 

We are Team Green, so I think that is going to help a lot when it comes to telling her the sex. I know a couple of people that couldn't get their daughters past the idea that it could be a boy, the whole pregnancy, and then ended up having a boy (they were all Team Green). I asked them all how their daughters reacted to it not being a sister, and they have all said that once daughter was in the hospital room meeting the baby, they were so excited to see the baby and hold him, that they didn't have any reaction to the fact that they got a brother and not a sister...they were just so excited. 

MDmomma1217

My daughter is 6, so she understands what is going on. She really is convinced it's a boy, so I'm just prepping her that we don't know, it could be a girl. We found the book "Olive Marshmallow" at the library, it's a really cute book about dealing with the birth of a new sibling.

MDmomma1217

@m881 I found the book "Olive Marshmallow" at the library. The main character is a boy, and he gets a baby sister and how he deals with that. It's super cute.

MrsRo731

@m8881 - Look on Amazon. There are a ton of 'Big Brother' books. 

quartz02

DD (3) is super excited. I've mentioned she can't jump on my belly, etc. I always have her sit on my lap after bath so I can comb her hair. One night I plopped her on my lap and she said, "no, mama! I'm going to squish Banana Ferrico!" (her pet name for baby) She's made other similar remarks when I carry her etc. It's really cute.

My only concern is she's adamant that the baby be named Maya (after Maya the Bee- Netflix show) if it's a girl. Yeah... we'll see about that.

Cosmic+Love

DS is 2, will turn 3 a couple weeks after the baby is due. He is so excited to be a big brother. He is constantly asking if the baby has come out of my tummy yet. He loves the babies at daycare, so I think that bodes well. I know there will be a big transition period, but we'll just try and assure him how special he is to us.
Weird story: DS got a new stuffed bear in November and immediately began to call it "baby sister". A week later, I found out I was (surprise) pregnant. I'm interested to see if his prediction is right.

PhoebeJune1984

@Cosmic+Love One of my old nanny kids turned two and then a week later randomly said "You and YH are going to have a baby. Its going to be a girl, and her name is going to be Patches." Two weeks later, I got pregnant (but found out several weeks after that), I was due during pumpkin patch season, and he was the ONLY one that predicted girl (everyone else thought it was going to be a boy and we were Team Green), and he never wavered on the sex. It was a girl. The whole thing was just odd! 

Cosmic+Love

@PhoebeJune1984 Crazy little psychics. If DS is right, I'll have him start doing tarot readings for extra cash.