just wondering if any one can give advice or tips on how to prepare a child for a sibling. my daughter will be 20mnths when our second child is due and we need to get her ready to go into a new room a jnr bed a new carseat a new pram etc.

My DS and DD are 18mths apart and I spent a lot of time talking to DS about the new baby in mummy's tummy and how he was becoming a BIG BOY. This helped to bring in the changes as I needed them - you are a big Kid now so here is your new Big Kid bed etc anyway, transitions were very easy for that reason - although I do think the younger you can do things sometimes can be easier (like the bed - they seem to learn differently if you do it a bit sooner - of course not too soon that she could hurt herself etc, but while they are still listening to you and easier to control/discipline!) That way they are less posessive than if it all happens suddenly when baby#2 comes along and rivalry begins.

just wondering if any one can give advice or tips on how to prepare a child for a sibling. my daughter will be 20mnths when our second child is due and we need to get her ready to go into a new room a jnr bed a new carseat a new pram etc.

hi, got the same problem, expecting a baby in june, 6 weeks short of my toddlers second birthday. we have decided to buy a new cot for the baby and keep toddler in his. the one which transforms into a bed later. that way we dont have to rush anything. do it later on,when our son is ready, not us. plus it is still the same bed/cot,just without the rails , so it must feel secure and reassuring to be still in the same bed

Hello, I am in the same position as you. My daughter has just gone 2 and we are due in about 10 weeks. I only have to hold another baby and she freaks out and shouts no, no, no. I have got her some little gifts for when the baby is born which will be a special gift for her from the baby. At the moment, we spend a lot of time looking after her babies and putting them in the pram together etc., she does not understand I don't think that there is a baby in my stomach at all. We also watch the babies on tv and I continue to tell her about the baby in my stomach and that she is my no.1 little girl (we are having a boy so makes it easier for her to be our no. 1 little girl) I think we have some fun times ahead of us, good luck with your little one.

I am also in the same situation. My little boy is going to be 3 when we have our other baby. He understands that there is a baby in my stomach but he doesnt understand that it is going to come out sometime soon lol. We just include him in everything to make sure he has a better understanding of what is happening. When we buy clothes etc, we just ask Levi ( our 3 yr old) what one he thinks would look nice on baby etc. and when i had my baby shower i let him open the presents. And we also find that talking about it as often as we can helps. For example ' so when the baby comes out, how are you going to help mummy and daddy'. his reply ' im going to read him my books and help feed him'. So yeah basically just trying to include the other sibing/s in as many things as possible to make him/her feel like they are still just as important as the other one.
Good luck anyway
Bree

We have just had our second baby and we started preparing our first very early on. My advice is to try and change as much as possible before the new baby comes along. That way they are settled before the baby comes along and it doesnt seem like the changes are for the new baby.

In regards to moving to a single bed, we managed to tie it in with Christmas. We bought Elmo sheets & quilt covers for him for Christmas and so we made it about the new exciting quilt rather than the new bed. Also, we made a big deal about going and getting his new seat and how cool it was going to be. When family would come over we would make a big deal about how he had a new bed and new seat and our family members would ask him to see it.

Also, I was induced so we knew when bub 2 was coming along so we made a big deal about it the week before always saying "we get to meet the baby this week".

I think the sooner you tell them and the more you remind them, the easier it is. Lucas is now 5 weeks old and Dylan is amazing with him.

Hope this helps.

I have 16 months between my boys.

With the changes definately get them out of the way long before bub is on its way.

I spoke to ds1 about bub all the time, and we had a name early so he knew who was in my belly and then knew when his brother was born who he was! I read him lots of books too.

It didnt take long for ds1 to adjust and he loves his little brother.

good luck with the pregnancy hope all goes well

We have just had our second baby and we started preparing our first very early on. My advice is to try and change as much as possible before the new baby comes along. That way they are settled before the baby comes along and it doesnt seem like the changes are for the new baby.

In regards to moving to a single bed, we managed to tie it in with Christmas. We bought Elmo sheets & quilt covers for him for Christmas and so we made it about the new exciting quilt rather than the new bed. Also, we made a big deal about going and getting his new seat and how cool it was going to be. When family would come over we would make a big deal about how he had a new bed and new seat and our family members would ask him to see it.

Also, I was induced so we knew when bub 2 was coming along so we made a big deal about it the week before always saying "we get to meet the baby this week".

I think the sooner you tell them and the more you remind them, the easier it is. Lucas is now 5 weeks old and Dylan is amazing with him.

Hope this helps.

That's pretty much what we're doing. We talk about bubs a lot, but try not to focus too much on it either. We've bought DS a big boy bed & he's nicknamed it his "big big bed" & at the moment is just having fun playing on it!! We've coincided that with his 2nd birthday. We'll just let him play in the room for awhile, then make the move to sleep in it. Though, he's already asking to sleep in it!! LOL Hopefully that means we won't have any issues. Bub #2 isn't due until end of Jan, so we're doing it in plenty of time.

As for preparing for bub's arrival, like I said we talk about baby frequently. We're lucky that although DS is quite young, he seems to have an understanding that there's a baby in mummy's tummy. He asks to "pat the baby" & then pats my tummy (very cute!), & he'll kiss my tummy too. We're just encouraging behaviour like that, but trying to get it to be as natural as possible. We're still learning as we go along!!

Just a suggestion with the bed, if your worried about him falling out at all its well worth getting a portable safety rail for the bed, we did that for our little man and he moved into his big bed with no fuss at all at about 15 months, we also started him out in there for his daytime naps first which meant we weren't tired & cranky when we had to keep putting him back in it. We told Connor about the new bub all the way through and he used to like putting his head on my belly and "listening" to bub no 2 but once she was born it was a couple of months before he showed any actual interest in her.

I also found the first 6 months with them to be the hardest (there is only 17 months between my little darlings) but once Riley could sit up and start interacting with him things got easier, they are now 3 and 21 months and although they fight occasionally they are now best of friends and great playmates for each other. Unfortunately (just kidding lol) we are now expecting bub no 3 in Feb so we get to got through it all again. Connor alternates between telling me he doesn't want another baby and saying he wants another sister, Riley just tells me 'no' lol but has happily taken to her big girl bed and is sleeping through for the first time ever.