Meet up with Malou 2026
7 months ago
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I need Ideas. . .
So, does anyone have any great ideas that helped transition the first child to the addition of the second??? Everyone has said get her a baby doll but she already has one and she LOVES it and i think getting a new one would be confusing. Anything special I should pack in her away bag while we are in the hospital???
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6 comments:
one thing that i heard, is instead of saying mommy's having a baby or this is mom's new baby, tell her that it is her new sister. tell her it is her baby. maybe that will help:)
We showed Emma pictures of herself as a baby, and told her about newborns. We also made sure we had a gift for Emma when she came to see Elizabeth for the first time. The gift was "from her new baby sister." Presents seem to go a long ways, especially Dora movies to watch while mom nurses the new baby. Someone also gave me a book called, "I'm A Big Sister Now" which tells about all the cool things that big sisters can do and that moms and dads can love their big kids and their babies. You can also have your hubby take Abi on a daddy daughter date after you bring the new baby home. Just some things we've tried.
I think that the key is to try to make sure that they are doing something fun while you are taking care of the new baby. So maybe put together a bag of special things for only while you are nursing, in the bag you can have lots of things to choose from, like a movie, play dough, silly putty, a new book, some building blocks, a brush and mirror to comb your hair while nursing ect. Make a place for her next to you while you care for the baby that way she still knows she can be around you and included, have her feed her baby while you feed/take care of her sister.
One of my favorite ideas was "readin' and feedin'" it gets more complicated with additional siblings, but when you just have two it works like a charm. Just keep a pile of stories close by while you nurse and then you can kill two birds with one stone.
I try not to make too big a deal out of it. Make sure that when you're in the hospital, Abi is somewhere that she feels special. When you go home, just include her with the new baby schedule like changing and feeding. Let her get things for you, read to the baby, that kind of thing.
You have some awesome ideas here.
I have had a gift from the new baby to the older sibling to give them at the hospital (as mentioned) and that went well. I also take time to really talk to them - not all at once but a little at a time. I use other families as examples. I ask them, "you know so-&-so has a little sister and is a great helper to her mommy" or "there are 2 or 3 kids in that family - they have so much fun with more kids at their house" and explain in little kid terms that our family is going to grow like the example families. This usually gets them excited.
Along with the Daddy/daughter date idea you should take some time to go somewhere just you and Abby after the baby comes home. David felt a little left out of Mommy's life even though I was including him with baby things - he just needed a little one-on-one time. You could do ice cream or a trip to the park or whatever she enjoys most.
You will do great! The reality is that there is an adjustment time for the whole family and sometimes it takes the older sibling the most time to adjust. Pray with her to love her sister - that always helps. Some parts of the transition may be really slow and hard but soon things will be easier.
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