| I have three children.My daughter was 1yr.,7 mos when I had my son.And my son was 1yr.,2WEEKS when I had my second daughter.In my opinion you can't prepare them much.I'm only 21, and my greatest concern was that my 1st daughter would feel neglected because a baby demands attention.It was even greater my 3rd time around because my son is very needy and whiney.So, once again it's even worse for my oldest daughter.But they've both handled it preety well.My son didn't uderstand my being pregnant but my daughter was old enough to know that there was a baby coming.THERE IS NO WAY TO PREVENT THE NATURAL SIBLING RIVALRY THAT THEY ARE GOING TO DEVELOP!They WILL be jealous at one time or another.You just have to keep reminding yourself that and try to keep your sanity. ↑ |
| one peice of advice I got from people was to tell the older one that it is his baby. We know how much they love the word MINE. I have been using this with my 1 yr old who will be 2 by the time the new one arrives. So far it has helped her understand that all the changes are directly related to her. Children think the world revolves around them so if you present the new little one as just another part of it , it may help. ↑ |
Bless your heart! Hang in there. I am a mother of five, ages six and under, the last four of which are all boys. I was scared to death when I learned I was pregnant with our second, and my daughter was only 8 months old.
I learned quickly that our children pick up on our fears and expectations... meaning, if you fear your oldest will resent the baby, or you expect him to, then he probably will. If you go into it with the attitude that he will be a great big brother, then he will feed off of that and will probably do great.
All of our children have had to make adjustments when a new baby was born. Some have adjusted better than others. Guilt creeps into my heart each time, and I just have to remind myself that siblings are a BLESSING to the other child. I don't know what I would do today without my brothers and sisters, so I know that my children will feel the same down the road.
Take it all one day at a time. You'll do fine. And so will your son! ↑ |
