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Preparing the older child for baby

3/5/2012

One of the best ways to help your older child transition to the older sibling role is to prepare them ahead of time for the baby's arrival, whether they are 18 months old or 18 years old.

Talk to the child about the baby from your child's perspective: "you are going to be a big brother", "she is your baby sister", "this is our baby".

Look at baby pictures of your older child so that she can understand she was once a baby too.

Read him books that help prepare him. Some of my favorites (and my son's) are:
Mommy's Lap by Ruth Horowitz
Cornelius P. Mud, Are you Ready for Baby? by Barney Saltzberg
I'm a Big Brother by Joanna Cole

Talk about ways that the older child can help care for the
baby. She will be happy to have an important role in the family.

Encourage your child to participate in activities to prepare for the baby, such as putting the baby clothes away or decorating the baby's room.

Avoid any additional major changes right before or after the baby is born.

Plan for your older child to stay with someone who she is familiar
with while you are in the hospital.

Please share your experiences and tips of helping your older child prepare for the new baby.

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Waiting for baby number two

3/2/2012

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Hospital bag, check!
Carseat in the car, check!
Cradle set up and ready to go, check!
Clothes washed and folded, check!

Ok, so, maybe one out of four of those things on the
to-do list is complete. By this time (38 weeks) with my first child, I had packed and repacked my bags several times, reorganized the changing table drawers more than once and gone over my to-do list several times to make sure I was ready.

I was done with work, resting, enjoying time with friends and tackling some long overdue projects (such as finishing my
wedding album from 4 years before). This time around, I am not
quite that organized, but I am not quite as anxious either. I am also a little more realistic. I know that no matter how organized the dresser drawers are now (which they aren't), they won't stay that way for long. Keeping things organized becomes a pretty low priority when you are up half the night with a newborn. Add to the mix, a toddler, who is in for a huge change, and I am guessing I will be lucky if I am able to keep up with the laundry!

In some ways taking care of an infant the second time around will
be easier, because we know what we are doing (if we remember, that is). The tough part will be juggling a toddler with even less
sleep than we get right now. But, I know that we, as so many parents have before us, will make it through, with support, patience and take out!

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Preparing the older child for baby

Waiting for baby number two

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