Older Siblings

BarrettJ89

How are everyone's older children adjusting to the pregnancy, new baby, chaos?

Anyone have some good stories?

As for this household, my 13 month old thinks his baby sister needs to man up... he insists on bringing various items to her, usually when she's crying. I was on the phone with a fireman the other day about carseat inspections when DS threw an empty 2 liter pop bottle at her (it was his favorite toy at that given moment). When I took that away, he gave her the TV remote. Luckily, no harm was done to the baby. She couldn't have cared less.

Grace213

Haha that's adorable!

Whenever DS starts fussing or crying my 23 mo old daughter will run up to him with palms up and say "it's ok baby!"

On the not so cute side- since we brought him home, she absolutely refuses to sleep in her toddler bed. We will put her to bed IN her bed but then she will grab all her blankets and make a little nest by her door and sleep there all night.

tfrangul

My daughter is 7 and has been absolutely amazing! She came home from school yesterday insisting I let her change her brothers diaper. He is 1 month today! She loves to do more and more everyday. It's way cute!

kmo8986

My son is doing much better than I expected. He is 22 months and he wants to snuggle her and kiss her and he thinks sniffing her feet is funny. However he isn't the most gentle of them all, so it is a little scary and we definitely have to keep an extra close eye on him.

Achae

Also in the camp of trying to get DD (2.5) to be gentle. She wants to romp around me and I've been basically on the couch for feeding and to rest my stitches I feel guilty I can't give her all the love and attention she wants right now. She does always say "be careful" when around baby so I know she knows, she just has to remember in the moment of excitement!

GAgirlinSDakota

The toddler (16months) is a rollercoaster of emotions. He's sweet enough with his sister: Kisses on her head, petting her, "helping" to burp her, and rocking her, but he seems to hate me, though he is indifferent with SO. I get screamed at, ignored, attempted slapping and biting, and it hurts my heart. I spend so much time with him, even sitting my 5days post C-section butt on the floor to play.
I know it will pass soon as he adjusts to the new normal. I just hate my normally loving boy acting angry.

kmo8986

GAgirlinSDakota said:

The toddler (16months) is a rollercoaster of emotions. He's sweet enough with his sister: Kisses on her head, petting her, "helping" to burp her, and rocking her, but he seems to hate me, though he is indifferent with SO. I get screamed at, ignored, attempted slapping and biting, and it hurts my heart. I spend so much time with him, even sitting my 5days post C-section butt on the floor to play.
I know it will pass soon as he adjusts to the new normal. I just hate my normally loving boy acting angry.

It is definitely hard on mine that I can't lift him, I can't wait until the weekend (midwife told me 2 weeks) to pick his adorable self up again!

BarrettJ89

My little man has been a holy terror around the house. He loves to watch the baby, but he insists on not only "sharing," but pushing her swing at warp speed, and he has a tendency to try to smack her... He's also beyond obsessed with clearing my kitchen table, opening closets (and pinching his fingers), playing with electrical cords, and stealing baby's pacifiers and bottles. He's been really clingy to me and SO, but apparently we have our own specific duties. In the mornings, he only wants daddy. When he wakes up from nap and any diaper changes, he babbles about Dada. But for food, cuddles, and bed time, he only wants Mama.

He is persistent about being in my lap every time I nurse the baby. But him being over 30 lbs, it's REALLY challenging to bend without squishing baby to pick his chunky butt up... then he's wiggly and rough.

bbrownlee1

My 5 yr old has been great! Hesitant at first but rocking out now. She loves showing him off at school to her friends and comes up to him often saying "little brother, what are you doing". Some of the more entertaining things she has said are that he should sleep in his own room and not in my so and I's room. And that he should only eat at night lol. Both of these were when she wanted something from me.

KFrob

My three year old step daughter has been way better with the jealousy than expected! She has her moments though and is acting out for attention. One of the first nights home with the baby she pretended to cry on and off all night and when we would come in her room she would pretend to be asleep. But she's very sweet and affectionate with the baby. She's always talking to the baby and asking her questions. The other day while she was holding the baby she was thoroughly inspecting the baby's toes which was pretty cute. She's full of hugs and kisses too.

BarrettJ89

My poor step daughter (8 years old) is definitely jealous. She's been through a lot recently. She's with her mom during the week, which is a rough situation. But in a year and a half, she's gone from being an only child and the center of everyone's attention, to having three siblings (2 here and her mom is due in March).

Whenever the people she's closest to hold the baby, she ends up going to her room (on her own) and staying there for quite a while. She hasn't outwardly said anything, but we can see it on her face. It's going to be an adjustment, for sure. 

Life is Exciting

My 2.5 year old son is really excited to be getting a baby sister.  He keeps pointing to his stomach and saying "baby Eva is in my belly."  Also, every time we pass the infant car seat in our basement, he points to it and says "this is my baby sister's carseat."

Achae

Ok last night our daughter said "Vincent is a part of our family!" Total gyawww moment and worth it. She did follow it up by saying baby Margaret (from the show Daniel tiger) is a part of the family too haha. 

BarrettJ89

DS has apparently been watching me closer than I thought... Baby girl was crying (as usual *eye roll*) and he cane running over, looked at her, abs lifted his shirt. I about fell over laughing.

kmo8986

@BarrettJ89 that is hilarious!!! 

leap_frog

My kids have been great. (Thank God). I was super nervous, but they all seem to be handling the transition well. They all fight over who gets to hold him Or just like to peek on him when they get home from school. My 9 year old (son) is always holding his hand when he sits by us and my 5 year old (daughter) is always "helping" (i.e. buttoning up his sleeper at diaper changes, handing me his paci). The 11 year old is actually interested in him which surprised me. 
I honestly thought there would be more jealousy. Hopefully we dodged that bullet. 

BarrettJ89

@leap_frog Lucky!

We just found out that SD's mom had an emergency c-section today (due end of March). Poor SD has to be so overwhelmed. I'm worried she's going to be completely left in the dust at her mom's house with mom being hospitalized (not sure how long they'll keep her) and the baby being in NICU for who knows how long...

Ugh such a sucky situation all around

danasphillips

4 year old DS has been amazing. I thought he would have a much harder time but it's been great. I took him just the two of us to get a toy at the book store today as a special thank you for being an awesome big brother and he ate it up.

Achae

WineBaby122 said:

4 year old DS has been amazing. I thought he would have a much harder time but it's been great. I took him just the two of us to get a toy at the book store today as a special thank you for being an awesome big brother and he ate it up.

This is such a great idea for my daughter, she LOVES books and i feel bad I haven't been able to do as much solo with her, this will be a great way to make her smile. Thanks!

Grace213

BarrettJ89 said:

DS has apparently been watching me closer than I thought... Baby girl was crying (as usual *eye roll*) and he cane running over, looked at her, abs lifted his shirt. I about fell over laughing.

That is seriously adorable! Funny how their little minds work! My DD has been watching me pump and now everytime I do it she comes over and tries to help massage my boobs.