These are the things I did to help my toddler prepare for her baby sisters' arrival to help the transition go more smoothly.
One of my biggest concerns when we found out we were expecting our second was how our first daughter would transition so I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to help get her prepared. So, here I'm going to tell you what we're doing and hopefully this will give you some ideas if you're also expecting your second or more.
1) Baby Doll:
The first thing we did was introduce to her a baby doll. This has helped her start practicing what actions are appropriate and which are not and has helped her practice being gentler since my daughter is, "a brute" as my husband calls her. All he means by this is that she's tough and strong and doesn't realize how strong she is.
We did this at the very beginning of my pregnancy and now 6 months into my pregnancy she is starting to get the idea and has mostly stopped holding the baby by the leg and throwing it on the floor and mostly holds her whole body at the waist, so I think this has helped her a lot.
2) Big Sister Books:
The second thing I did was get her a book (now she has 2) about what being a big sister means and what it will be like to have a baby around. She really has loved these books and I think it's getting her excited for her new sister. The one book immediately became her favorite and was the first book she had me read all the way though to her and she usually wants me to read it several times.
3) Talk About the new Baby:
The third thing we do is I frequently mention her sister and include her in things were doing. what I mean by this is I will say things like, "Do you like your lunch? Mommy and baby sister do." This gets her used to the new wording she will be hearing and when we settle on a name, we will probably start referring to her sister by that name too, so she starts getting to know it. When I do this, I also will often point to or put my hands on my belly, so she starts making the connection between my growing belly and her growing sister. This has also been so helpful because she now will point to my belly and wants to touch it almost every time I say, "baby sister" which has been the most adorable thing to watch.
4) Encourage Independance:
The fourth strategy I've added is that I encourage her independence whenever possible. I encourage independent play, I encourage her to play with our dog, so they entertain each other when I can't, I've been also encouraging her to do other things I know she is capable of like picking up her toys when I ask or cleaning up a mess she has made. These things are going to not just help her transition but also make things easier for me as well because I will be able to tell her to throw something in the trash or put it away while I'm occupied with her sister, and she will know how and be able to do it.
5) Pull out the newborn things:
The fifth thing we plan to do is get out all the new baby things about a month before my due date. I plan to do this so she can get used to them, mess with them and no longer really be that interested in them once her sister arrives and starts using them. I am hoping this will help her feel less like, "oh there's this new person that not only is taking mom and dad's attention but also, she gets all these cool new toys and gadgets too?"
6) Make routine times special:
The sixth thing is by making routine things special. I plan to do this by being silly and playing with her during diaper changes. Not neglecting to eat meals together as much as possible. Not rushing things like bath time and keeping a consistent bed and nap time routine. These will be ways I can show my toddler throughout the day that she is still special and important to me and to fill her love cup too.
A Few Other Things Were Considering:
We are also thinking about doing a few other things. One of those things is getting a gift for newborn to give our toddler but also having our toddler pick out something for her new sister something too. Something else I plan to do is purposefully blocking out some time each morning to spend with my toddler doing something special just the two of us but I'm not sure yet if my husband will be able to get very much time off work, so I am unsure how best to execute that yet, I also have been practicing this now to work it into our routine and trying not to let the business of the day get in the way. This is usually something like us sitting down and reading a few books, or I will play with her and tickle her on the couch. I have also thought about having a special basket for while I'm nursing but I probably wit do this because her books and toys are all in easy places for her to get to so she will probably just bring me some books to read her while I nurse her sister.
I hope these 6 tips were helpful to you and give you some ideas to try with your toddler to welcome a new baby to your family too.
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