Mommy SOS | Preparing for Baby #2
Mar 8, 2011
Now I'm joking a bit in saying that Nora is the center of the universe - but to some extent it does illustrate the changes that will surely happen to our family when baby girl #2 enters the world.
A couple months back I posed the question - "How did you prepare for baby #2?" on Facebook and had some great feedback. Now it's time to hear from our Flies Blend readers too!
Here are some questions I have in preparing for the arrival of baby #2:
- How did you prepare child #1 for the arrival of baby #2 (remember: Nora will be 22 months old)?
- Are there any resources you read/consulted for this transition time?
- Is there any advice you were given that you'd like to share?
- Any other suggestions are welcome.
I fully realize that every family is different so as we work to prepare for the arrival of baby #2 there is no "checklist" per-say to making it a smooth transition. I'm just eager to hear all of YOUR experiences.
Comment below please :)
5 comments:
We did many things way before Caleb arrived to get Elyse excited and ready to be a big sister.
-Read the book, I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole
-Moved her into her own room and big girl bed (should do at least 6-8 weeks out)
-Had a big girl party when Caleb got home. Caleb got gifts too but we didn't open them until after she went to bed.
-Talked about how she could help
me out when Caleb arrived
-Prayed for Caleb everyday
-Once Caleb arrived, had her do as much as possible to feel included and important.
I by no means know the answer to your question, but do know that the following things worked for us and made the transition really easy and enjoyable on all of us.
Good luck, I know you will do great with both girls.
Well, we brought our Norah home when Audrey was 21 months old, so I have been there!! I think that honestly the one thing that helped her transition so well was me being on bedrest for the last 6 weeks, not being able to get anything for her or do anything with her or pick her up at all...but obviously I don't recommend that!
Since we thought Norah was going to come early, we got all the baby stuff out over a month ahead of time...baby toys, baby swing, baby bathtub, and Audrey thought it was SO fun to play with and mess around with, and by the time baby arrived she was a little bored with it all, which helped. I think it would have stressed me out if she was all over all that stuff right when Norah was born. She kind of got it out of her system.
We kept Audrey in her crib until a few months after she was born, because I liked the idea of keeping her contained for awhile longer. No reason to rush your Nora out of her crib if you don't think she's ready.
The other awesome idea I read about on a blog was to put together a nursing basket for the big sister. I purchased a bunch of new Melissa & Doug toys, puzzles, Color Wonder markers & coloring books, stickers, etc. over the last few months and had them ready in a basket in the baby's room. Audrey never saw them until the first time I fed Norah and didn't have anyone else around to entertain her. ;) When it was feeding time, we would all go into the nursery and close the door and Audrey got to play with new exciting stuff and was never jealous or fussy while I nursed. And then I didn't have to worry about her running around tearing up the house.
Anyways...whoa, sorry about the novel. ;) Hope that helps! I LOVE the age spread of our girls, and while it was a lot of work at the beginning, I personally think it's a great age to make the transition.
hey stephanie... as a mother of six, just let me say that every new child is different... there are a couple of things that i've done during my pregnancies to help prepare the other kids..
1. i talked about the new baby ALL the time, like he/she was already a part of our daily lives.
2. i had the other kids talk to their brother/sister.
3. i had them pick out some baby stuff (clothes, blankets, etc.)
4. when the baby was born, i had the kid(s) introduce the baby to people.
5. i also had a gift ready to give the other kids FROM the baby when he/she was born.
nora is at a great age for this! laura was 4 1/2 when my next was born and it's been a battle ever since! nora will probably be a little jealous, but i'm sure she and her sister will be best friends! good luck!
ps. i LOVE reading your posts!
Honestly, we didn't do a whole lot.
We would talk about the baby and try to "practice" with baby dolls, but she would lose interest pretty fast :)
We got Addy a gift from the baby...but I'm pretty sure she didn't really understand that it was from the Mason...she just knew she got a new toy! ;)
Ours was a pretty easy transition :) and I don't have a whole lot of advice other than take it a day at a time and you will soon figure out a routine...
I think Nora will be fine (she loves "bebes"!) and adjust pretty well---as well as an almost 2 year old can :)
you could always ship Nora out here for a few days! :)
you know me . . . i'm a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl so we really didn't DO anything. we talked about her baby brother coming to live with us, but she didn't really get it. we did move her into a big girl bed (as in full twin size bed) beceause sammy was going to be sleeping in the pack n play. i also really wanted her potty trained before sammy was born which thankfully, she was ready for.
my only advice that i heard from someone. have daddy or someone else carry in the car seat so that when you walk through the door (or whenever the first time is that you see Nora) your arms are free and able to hold her. i liked that.
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