Advice on preparing my son for birth of sibling?

Sabrina - posted on 10/07/2011

My son will be 20 months old when his brother will be born on November 15th, 2011. I did buy him a doll. I think I need to talk to my son about what it will be like with a new baby in the home, him being a big brother, and we still love him, and how he can help. He does not talk yet either. I am in the same boat. How do we prepare our children really for another sibling?

Caitlin - posted on 09/22/2011

Wow there is a lot of mom 's in the same position. I am Due on Nov 5. My son is 3.5 and he has been by himself with mommy for that long and I am worried he is going to feel left out... and wonder why this baby gets to stay at mommy's all the time and he has to go to his dad's every other week.. So This is my tricky situation any advice on separated parents who are having another baby?? but not with that person obviously.. Lol I am engaged and i share custody with my ex

Juli - posted on 09/17/2011

I have been teaching my daughter alot of helpfull things around the house like throwing away trash picking up toys bringing me things that way she feels special I have herd that letting them help with the baby helps them accept and makes them feel special since they are not left out. She also knows its "her baby" as well I have also heard that it helps if you get a present to the other kids from the baby. I was givin toys fro my Daughter and saved a teddy out (that she doesn't know about,to take to hospital and back )for this reason. I hope all this preporation helps since the baby can come in between 2and 4 weeks now!!

Nicole - posted on 09/16/2011

Hi, my son just turned 2 and i am due in 7 more weeks with the second. I let him sit on my lap and talk to 'baby' and listen to baby. I can't pick him up anymore and i tell him it's cause mom is carrying the baby already. He responds by saying 'baby, in tummy'. He understands that much. I include him in everything to do with baby, even dr. apt and i let him feel when baby is kicking. And i do the same and tell him that it's 'his' baby sibling. So far, he seems to know what's going on and we shall see how he responds when baby comes!

Crysta - posted on 09/15/2011

I have the same concerns with my son! he wil be 20 months old when my daughter is born and I am so worried about having to have a long hospital stay since I was there for 3 days with my son. He has never been around any babies so I am afraid of how he will react, along with having to give up a little bit of his personal mommy time so that the new baby can be taken care of. I'm glad I am not the only mother with these concerns, all my family and friends basically talk to me like I'm crazy.

Juli - posted on 07/13/2011

Thank you for posting this!!! I am 6 months pregnant with my 2nd baby. I have been worried about the same thing with my 19 month old daughter. she will be 22 months when her brother is born. I have been patting my tummy saying baby, she plays with dolls and even hugs and kisses my tummy. I am real worried about how she will cope with be being gone for a couple of days (since she was a C section this baby has to be one too) when She has never been without me for more than an hour or 2.

Joelle - posted on 09/20/2010

I was in the same boat not too long ago. I had my son 7 weeks ago and my daughter turned two a few days ago. She, also, isn't a very good talker. I was so worried about how she would take it, both the new baby and being with out me for more that a few hours for the first time. I'd just keep saying pretty soon mommy is gonna go to the Dr.s and get this baby out of my belly so we can play with him. And I told my mom (who was wathcing her wile I was in the hospital) to keep telling her that mommy was at the Drs getting the baby out, she'll be home tommorow so you can play with him. (2nd baby they only keep you for 24 hours if its vaginal) She coped great. And she's been great with the baby too. It's almost as if she doesn't remember what life was like being the only one. They are so young they will "mesh" and adjust quickly. It sounds like your doing everything right. I think he will cope just fine. Some suggested that I set aside one hour a day for my 2 year old where someone else takes care of the baby and we have uninterupted fun. You could try that, if you have extra hands to help.

Rikkie - posted on 09/14/2010

My youngest two sons are 10 months apart. While i was pregnant we played alot with baby dolls and i talked to him all the time about his baby brother. Derryk the 23 month old is still a mama's boy and did learn to share and take part in helping with the baby which is now 13 months old.
What helped me was making it important that derryk was apart of helping with the baby. They are now the cloest of friends and do everything together..
When my family came to the hospital after i had the baby. Their was a gift for each one of my kids, from their new baby brother. That helps, so the other kids dont feel left out...
Hope this helps

Olga - posted on 09/13/2010

our son was born when our daughter was 16m. it took her 2-3 days to react to him. she was confused by his presence. Once we showed her that he has socks and hat and u can take it off and put it on she got more comfortable. We also let her give him a pacifier. Once she realized how to interact with him she was 100% ok. she went through a strong imitation phase. she was feeding her plastic baby and changing its diapers and putting it to sleep. Now that he is 7-8m old she give him hugs and kisses and brings him toys and he is TOTALLY in love with her. i think the key here is to include the older kid in the process of caring for the little one. they will naturally turn it into a play. we strongly encouraged and praised this play.

Sarah - posted on 09/12/2010

We just had a baby about 6 weeks ago, our son turned 2 last week. Even though your child may not be hugely verbal, they understand far more than what they can say. We talked to our son often and said, "baby in momma's tummy" and pointed to the bump - we did this often. Other than that, we didn't do much to prepare him. When the baby came, we brought him to the hospital, we gave the baby a kiss and hug, then our son. We showed him a little extra tlc. He does, and has since our daughter was about 2 weeks old, comes up frequently and gives her kisses and hugs. He asks to do this. I include him in her care by asking him to put the diapers in the pail and her dirty clothes in the hamper. He now will try and bring her blankets and pacifiers if she is crying. Thankfully we haven't seen any jealousy issues yet. I know it's hard with very young children, but give them a little credit too, your son will do just fine!

Elina - posted on 09/10/2010

Hi. My baby son was born when my little girl was 20 months old. She knew something was going on as I couldnt pick her up or give her a proper cuddle. I kept saying that there was a baby asleep in mummy's tummy and that when he woke up he would come out. I also told her that the baby was HER little brother (not OUR son) and that he would be only hers and she would take care of him e.t.c.