When do/did you tell LO?

ChasingTheDog · September 2017

My daughter is 5 and I haven't told her yet that her only child card is expiring. I'm not sure when to tell her- on one hand, 9 months is unfathomably long to a 5 year old and I'm super not interested in hearing "is the baby coming today?" Everyday for the next 9 month. On the other hand- I think she'll be super pumped up and she is definitely a kid who needs time to process change. Ask me about the time I tried to surprise her with Disneyland.... lol

If you have a LO did you tell them yet? What are your plans? If you're having #3+, how did you break it to your now oldest when you had #2? How'd they take it?

sparkymcgeee · September 2017

ChasingTheDog said:

My daughter is 5 and I haven't told her yet that her only child card is expiring. I'm not sure when to tell her- on one hand, 9 months is unfathomably long to a 5 year old and I'm super not interested in hearing "is the baby coming today?" Everyday for the next 9 month. On the other hand- I think she'll be super pumped up and she is definitely a kid who needs time to process change. Ask me about the time I tried to surprise her with Disneyland.... lol

If you have a LO did you tell them yet? What are your plans? If you're having #3+, how did you break it to your now oldest when you had #2? How'd they take it?

My kids were both aware of my loss in April. So they have been wanting this for at least 6 months. I didn't expect however, to have my six year old know how to read a pregnancy test. So they both found out at 4 weeks. They are very excited. They are six and four. They both know it's not going to happen for a long time. I told my daughter it wouldn't be until after her birthday so she gets that. I'm sure when I'm bigger I will hear them ask is it time yet but I'll hear that from people everywhere I go so I don't really care about that.

yesthisiskim0401 · September 2017

We told DD1 at around 10 weeks. She literally just turned 2 so she was just like "oh, ok". She did come to every appointment (out of necessity) and she developed a quick excitement to "her baby".

My girls are 3 and 6, and I know once I tell them it is essentially telling the whole world. I'm not ready for everyone and their mothers to know. We will most likely wait until after the 12 week NT scan. That way we know everything is (hopefully) ok and we will be sharing more, ourselves.

I will most likely keep my girls home from school the day of our anatomy scan. My fondest memories of pregnancy last time was DD1 in complete awe watching ultrasounds and listening to the heartbeat. I want both girls to experience that with this baby, at least once.

momo214 · September 2017

My DD is 3 and we told her after we saw the heartbeat. She has already dropped the news bomb at school and on the phone but knows now she is supposed to stay tight lipped for a few more weeks.

glitzandglitter · September 2017

We are waiting until we hear the heartbeat. DS1 can keep a secret but the other 2 can't. I'm not ready for the world to know yet.

tincupchalice · September 2017

we told them pretty close to right away. DS2 is too young to understand but DS1 gets it and he loves babies so much. He is already trying to take care of the baby in my tummy.

dinonugget · September 2017

We told DS1 at 4.5 weeks or so. He's 5 and has done an amazing job keeping it a secret. Plus it's been fun for him to be the one to tell his grandparents about the baby. With #2 we told DS1 (3 at the time) around 9 weeks, after our first ultrasound. He has a calendar he marks off each day on so we marked the due date on the calendar so he had some sort of time reference.

christycalifornia · September 2017

I found out on a trip to target with my daughter, so she learned tight away. We'd been trying for a year and a half, and I was three days late and testing negative, but I decided to try once more since there was still no period. She wanted to know why I was sad (crying) and I told her I wasn't sad, I was happy because she was going to be a sister. It felt right to tell her. I've never been good at keeping secrets in my house, and she'd been praying for a brother or sister (sometimes both) for eight months. And then she got to help me surprise her daddy. I blew telling him the first time around. I was so shocked and happy and anxious and a bundle of nerves I just blurted it out, so this time I wanted to do a reveal. She was so excited to help tell him, it's been totally worth the occasional question of "is the baby gonna pop out NOW??"

smzapp · September 2017

My oldest is 3 now he was only 18 months when I got pregnant with my 2nd so I don't think he understood anything until he saw my belly get bigger then he would kiss my tummy and decorate it with stickers. I'm pregnant again with my 3rd and my second is only a year old so I am not sure she will know what's going on but she will be thrilled to have a live baby in the house since she loves her dolls! I told my three-year-old right away that "we are having a new baby" and he was very excited and took it really well. Since he understands, it's fun to let him be the one to tell everyone the good news with a loud "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!"

sparkymcgeee · September 2017

smzapp said:

My oldest is 3 now he was only 18 months when I got pregnant with my 2nd so I don't think he understood anything until he saw my belly get bigger then he would kiss my tummy and decorate it with stickers. I'm pregnant again with my 3rd and my second is only a year old so I am not sure she will know what's going on but she will be thrilled to have a live baby in the house since she loves her dolls! I told my three-year-old right away that "we are having a new baby" and he was very excited and took it really well. Since he understands, it's fun to let him be the one to tell everyone the good news with a loud "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!"

That's how my four year old told the sitter. Lol. "Well my mom has a baby in her belly so..."
Needless to say she was shocked and since she was driving at the time it was probably not a great time to tell her.

Cerisrichard · September 2017

Mine are 3.5 and almost 2. DS1 would understand because it's happened before, but would tell everyone. And it's not a good time for us to share.

DS2 will be better with a visual aid, so I will wait till my bump is showing. Then we will talk about there being a baby in mummies tummy and him having a baby sibling... I have already started pointing out babies to him though as it will help later.

we got really lucky last time around. DS1 was only 19 months when DS2 was born and even though I'd been telling him there was a baby in my tummy he didn't really get it. But when I was about 35 weeks pregnant we went on a family holiday and my brother and sister in law had their 7 week old baby. So he really got it just before DS2 was born!

lincbeesmom · September 2017

DS is 3.5 and we’ll probably tell him after our first ultrasound so I have a picture I can show him. I think he’ll probably forget about it until I can show him another picture.

sparklingdiamond · September 2017

I think we will tell him after we get the genetic testing done. I don't know how he will take it. I don't know if he will get it even though he is 3. We have't talked much about siblings since #2 took so long to happen.

jessnoel89 · September 2017

My son is only 19 months so he doesn't understand really but we have explained it to him. He plays right so we wanted him to be aware of where baby is so he would be more gentle.

Pearlvirus · September 2017

I just told my 3.5, she had all kinds of questions, it was adorable!! Does baby get hot in there? Is it hungry? That was 2 days ago and she hasn't mentioned it since, lol.

nanifrog · September 2017

DD1 is 6. DD2 is almost 4.
We plan to tell them after generic testing and when we're ready for everyone to know. I think DD1 can keep the secret, not sure about DD2. I also don't think they have the patience to wait so long.

Last time, I got pregnant when DD1 had just turned 2 (took the test while she was opening hey bday presents!) I don't really remember when we told her.

ladystinson · September 2017

DS is 6, DSS is 8. DS was sitting in the back of the car on the way home from vacation and says out of the blue 'I hope we get a sister some day' never even looked up from what he was doing lol He loooooooves babies and younger kids so I know he'll be super excited. I don't know what DSS is going to think about it. But, as of now, we aren't telling them until we have to for showing-sake. With DS I didn't start showing until 5 months so who knows at this point. We just want to make sure that everything is good first because of my history. That way we don't break their little hearts

loko08 · September 2017

DD is 10 months. She's not going to understand it. We just plan on focusing on being gentle, and when I have a bump I'll point to it and say baby.

We'll also get her a baby doll sooner than later. I have hopes she'll be excited, a friend's 1.5 year old saw her this weekend and called her "baby" and tried to give her hugs. DD will be that age when the baby comes so.... maybe? Any tips?

mommabmb · September 2017

My 5 and 4 yo boys both just picked up on us talking about it and have a lot of questions. We are going to go ahead and tell our parents since we think the boys might.

mileswithmyles · September 2017

We just told DS and he said "I don't want a baby. They cry. Throw it in the trash." So... that obviously went well.

zaclina · September 2017

Probably will wait until 2nd trimester, maybe when I bump out and definitely before anatomy scan. I wasn't sure if we should bring her but after reading some of these I'm excited to have DD there.

Handree · September 2017

My son is 2 so we have been watching season 5 of Daniel Tiger which is where Daniel gets a baby sister. It’s on amazon prime. He loves this show and although he can’t fully understand I’m hoping he will have a little better understanding of baby sister/brother.

mommabmb · September 2017

ETA: Fat fingered. Didn't mean to post.

zizzabell523 · September 2017

We have casually mentioned it to our DD who's almost 3. We've asked her a couple times if she wants a baby brother or a brother sister and it's been "stister" both times (we're crossing fingers for boy). There may be a tantrum if this one is a boy lol. DH also told her that there's a baby in mommy's tummy. She proceeded to lift up my shirt and gave it a kiss after the suggestion. Then, she lifted up DH's shirt, gave it a kiss and said baby in daddy's tummy too! We both already have bellies to begin with, so it was laughable lol. Will probably wait a little bit longer to fully explain to her what's going on once we want the whole world to know. She can't keep her mouth shut about anything lol!

sandbar517 · September 2017

@mileswithmyles I can't help but laugh at your comment, I'm sorry. My girls are the same age, and I think they just have a hard time understanding what's really going on. I told them the other day, and they both wanted to see it. I told them they can't see it, it's up above my vagina, so then one of them told me to open my vagina so she could see it!! I can't wait until they can feel it kick and move, I think it will make it much more real to them.

mileswithmyles · September 2017

@sandbar517 don't worry! DH and I were laughing so hard we were crying when he said it.

cups4 · September 2017

I had a second US yesterday with the MFMs at 8 weeks 5 days and we told DS and showed a picture. He asked this morning to see the baby again. Sweet boy!

nanifrog · September 2017

The best thing we did with DD1 was to tell her that babies say I love you by holding hands. She felt so special when dd2 would hold her fingers. It was a really good start to their relationship and even when dd2 is super threenagery, dd1 still seems to remember that deep down she loves her.

Also, prepare them for babies only drinking milk. Otherwise, never ever leave the room. My nephew gave his 1 month old brother bread when my sis went to the bathroom.

emilybmomtobeof4 · September 2017

We are working on my third at the moment. For my second, my son was about 2.5 when we got pregnant. He found out when we took him with us to the first ultrasound. We explained that we were going to find out what's in mommy' belly and when we got there we found out it's a baby.

This time I had my first appt. Monday which confirmed pregnancy. I told my son I was going for a check up. Then yesterday I scheduled the first ultrasound for next Tuesday. I told my son I had to go to the doctor again next week. He asked what for? So I said to take a picture of my belly. He responded "To see if there's a baby inside?" So I said yes. He said he hoped there was cause he wants a brother. So that's where we are this time. My daughter is only 16 months, so she is happily oblivious for now...

sparkymcgeee · September 2017

DD saw the US pictures and wants to frame them.

maplemom18 · September 2017

Just told my 2.5 y/o daughter this morning. She was unimpressed and a little upset (said "No"), but also said she wants a pink sister. Anyways, we told her at 7ish weeks only because we want to tell our parents as we'll be seeing both in person this weekend and then not again for a little while. And we thought the little one should know first. I also went to the doc yesterday and saw the heartbeat and everything; I didn't want to tell her before that confirmation.

sourapple1784 · September 2017

When we became pregnant with our second child, our oldest was just 2. So telling him was something we just did. At that age, he didn’t really care too much. He was much more interested when his sister got here. Lol. We’re now expecting number 4 and haven’t told the kids yet. They’re now 14, 11, and 7 so it’s definitely going to have to be a real sit down with them about it. Lol. I’m 9 weeks 3 days along and am thinking about waiting until 12 weeks to tell them

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