I am currently 8 months pregnant with another little girl. I have a son who will be 7 in the fall and my daughter will be one year old later this month! So she and her sister will be less than 13 months apart. Preparing my son for his first sister was easy. But how on earth do you get a BABY ready for a BABY?! I have experience in helping get older kids to know but a baby?! Ugh!
She LOVES little babies... but she doesn't know how to be soft. She tried to poke their eyes and wants to pat their heads but does it with force. I know it is not meant for being mean, she just doesn't understand soft touch yet. We are working with her on it though!
Any advice?!
SERIOUS answers only please! I would appreciate it if you do not use my question just to get yourself points! I really truly want ADVICE!
2006-07-03 17:35:17 · 14 answers · asked by GroovySmurf 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Other - Pregnancy & Parenting
At 13 months old my son was livid when introduced to the new baby at the hospital. He is such a good kid but he hated that baby because he wasn't ready to give up the seat in the family. There really isn't much you can do because a child's mind is so unpredictable! Our boy loves other kids but whoa nelly he had a scream fest with the new one! You can try dolls, videos and books but it that too is going to depend on your child's personal growth habits and perceptions. (Isn't it funny that they can remember where they stuck that cheerio last week but when you ask them not to touch something they are so clueless lol!) Don't worry about it too much though because as luck has it they do grow up and relations change. Our boy is just great now and even helpful. As with everything involving child rearing expect the worse and if it doesn't happen then consider yourself lucky! LOL!
2006-07-04 00:56:04 · answer #1 · answered by mistress_lilas 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The biggest advise I have is if you need to make changes, such as where she sleeps, etc., do them now. Anything you can do ahead of time will help with the transition.
Buy her a baby doll. She can take care of the baby (even though she is one) and learn soft touch on the doll without having to practice on her sister.
Babies at one year don't do things to be mean or anything of the sort, so punishing her wouldn't really be appropriate, but making a HUGE deal of when she does use soft touches and NOT making a big deal out of accidentally hurting her sister would be best.
Good luck :)
2006-07-03 17:42:23 · answer #2 · answered by Christine 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My daughter-in-law was smart. She gave little Ann a doll that was the right size, and started playing pretend with Ann before the real baby came. The doll wore a blanket and diapers, had a bottle, etc. The little one was allowed to do things for the "baby." It was called "HER baby." This helped when Mom's baby came. Then Ann would go and get HER baby and she and Mom would "play babies," side by side, each with their own. It doesn't mean that she was never allowed to touch the real baby, just that she did have her own to be busy taking care of, while mama took care of hers.
Something I did when my kids were little, was to shower the older one with extra mom time, whenever the new one was asleep. As a grandma, I try to pay more attention to the older one, so that mom can have a break at trying to divide herself. Dads can help with this also. I just had to be generous with the fact that I did have two legs to my lap. We simply have to watch the older one's hands, etc., as if we were holding them near anything else that is delicate.
2006-07-03 17:53:47 · answer #3 · answered by magpie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's not going to be easy. I think giving the 1 year old a lot of attention while there is a newborn will be hard to do and hard for a one year old baby to deal with. I'm not sure there is so much you can do to prepare, but you will have quite a task on your hands in just a very short time.
I think your second child is getting short-changed of her baby time, but I'm sure that you'll work it out and make it up to her.
2006-07-03 17:44:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations!!You must be so excited.Well you could make the whole thing exciting for her.Get her involved in the whole thing.I understand about the thing about her being on the rough side.At that age kids don't have full control over their bodies.but get her involved like asking her to pass you the nappies when changing her & saying what a great sister she's gonna be.try & let her help feeding the baby by allowing her to hold the bottle.show her how to play with the baby like tickling her with a teddy.She will love it.But unfortunitly you will have to deal with jelousy.Here's a little tip of mine,When the baby starts to cry,relax her by gently stroking her brow & the bridge of her nose.It puts kids to sleep like a light! ssshh!!
2006-07-03 17:47:30 · answer #5 · answered by princess joanne 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dont Worry. I am sure you will have this problem with her being rough per say. By the time you new little one is 6mo. old they will be so close in age, you won't have to worry her. The only thing is jealousy. My daughter will be 1 on 07/15/2005 and when she is around babies she gets "pissy". I can't hold another one or else she screams and screams. Good Luck, and I hope all goes well.
2006-07-03 17:41:03 · answer #6 · answered by houstonmom77064 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when i was 3 my little brother was born and my dad said that after a while i asked him when the baby was going back. your 1 year old will eventually notice you're getting "fat". when you tell her that there's a baby it might take a while for her to understand. maybe you should try to teach her how to be soft with babies with a doll.
2006-07-03 17:43:04 · answer #7 · answered by livelaughlove<3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried using stuffed animals with her? (The really soft/plush stuffed animals) Maybe you could tell her to be gentle with it! And also let her gently pet it! It's just a suggestion, but it may work! Congratulations on the new baby and good luck with everything!!!
2006-07-03 19:19:03 · answer #8 · answered by krazy_gal04 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok here is what I did I bought my baby a doll that looked real and told him how nice and little the baby was and was only allowed to be gentle when playing with the doll. It seemed to work.
2006-07-03 18:57:46 · answer #9 · answered by okfy9 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what i honestly think you should do.. is when the baby is born.. have the daddy hold her and you hold the newborn.. and work together... have dad or you hold her hand and gently touch the baby.. and say nice.. or soft.. touch and visual work best together. make sure to pay equal attention but you know that.. otherwise the older will do things just to aggravate you to get attention.
2006-07-03 17:40:59 · answer #10 · answered by tansyangeni 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋