Best Way to Get Your Child Ready for a New Sibling

Older children will no doubt be excited at the prospect of a new baby. If you’re still pregnant, you’ll want to explain where the baby is (in Mommy’s uterus—where the older child once was). Talk about how the baby will cry, nurse, sleep, and take a lot of your time.

Preparing the Older Sibling

• Move your older child up a step or two before the baby arrives (to a big bed from a crib, to another bedroom, to preschool for a day or two a week), so these changes won’t be miscon­strued as rejections after the baby arrives.
• Babysit a friend’s or relative’s baby at home to let your older child see what things will be like.

• Take your older child to a prenatal checkup to hear the baby’s heartbeat. Have your doctor or midwife answer any questions your child may have.
• Let your older child help pick out a present for the baby (and one for himself or herself)
• Shop together for new outfits for the baby (and ones for the older child).
• Have older children draw pictures for the baby’s room using bright markers on white poster board. Frame the drawings or hang them with pushpins. Make sure the children sign their names, with help if necessary.
• Have your child talk to the baby using your navel as a micro­phone.
• Make sure Dad or your partner is actively involved with your older child, or whoever will frequently be in charge of your older child after the baby comes home.
• Don’t start any of this too early! Nine months is an eternity to a child. Consider waiting until the second trimester or later, if possible.

While You’re Gone

• Tape-record some stories for your child to listen to while you’re in the hospital.
• Leave a photo of yourself in your child’s room.
• Prepare some gifts to be given to your child while you’re gone.
• Ask your older child to take care of something special for you while you’re at the hospital (perhaps a scarf or piece of jewelry).

• Call your child frequently from the hospital or birth center, especially if children are not allowed to visit.
• Let your older child bring small treats to school, such as gra-nola bars or suckers wrapped in pink or blue ribbon, to pass out to classmates to announce the birth.
• Avoid carrying your new baby when you first arrive home or when greeting your older child at the hospital. Let someone else hold the baby so you can devote some reunion time to your older child.