Gift for Older Child When Sibling Arrives?

[MarieBunny]

My mom asked me today for ideas of gifts for my 2 year old DS when our new baby arrives. He just had a birthday and got a sand table, bucket swing, slide and a mini roller coaster. he also already has a trike and a Cozy Coupe car as well as a rocking horse. I don't feel like we are lacking for anything!

But I would like to think of some special ideas for him for when the baby comes. He is a typical boy and loves vehicles. He is also quite obsessed with the alphabet as of late. A train set crossed my mind but we have a pretty small house without room for a train table. I prefer wooden stuff but we obviously have our fair share of plastic toys. Any suggestions?

[willow33]

Not sure if it's a "big" enough toy, but we bought Reed some floor puzzles (firetruck, alphabet train & number train) when Evan was born. He had just turned 2 and loved them.

My boys don't seem to be lacking for anything either! I'm already starting to brainstorm for Xmas ideas :)

[Jenn98]

I would want something like art supplies (crayons/paper) or books/DVDs - things to keep him busy while I'm nursing or rocking or just plain exhausted. Maybe some smaller cars? I would prefer a lot of littler gifts where I could pull them out one by one when I needed them as the days went by. But my DD will only be 17 months when DC#2 comes, so I have no BTDT experience.

[HallsofVA]

My husband and I were just talking about this the other day. Our son will be almost 3 when the new baby arrives, so may be a bit older than your son. He's been asking for a watch, so we're thinking about getting him a Mickey Mouse watch as the sibling gift from the baby. He's had an interest in Mickey since we took a Disney cruise last December, which has only grown since they introduced the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney channel this year. So, that's what we're thinking about.

I may also get him a "Big Brother" t-shirt of some sort.

[JBaxter]

DS 1 got his very first Thomas ( figure 8) train set when his brother was born. He was most impressed and asked how his brother was hiding that present in my belly. He REALLY though his brother brought his present LOL.

[Joolsplus2]

My son got a pile of hotwheels cars when his first baby sister was born (he was 2, I liked hotwheels better than some larger cars, because the wheels stay on them and I figured he's unlikely to choke on a whole car like that, versus a chewy little rubber wheel). You definitely don't need a whole train table just for a wooden figure 8 set... we have a huge huge box of trains like that and never even bought the table after 8 years of lots of playtime :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[annasmom]

I got both of my dc Waldorf dolls from the recent coop as gifts from our new baby. A bit much in retrospect, but I was looking for a reason to get the dolls for them.

I think some trains are a great idea, and you definitely do not need a train table, just a simple figure eight set. I got my dc the Costco set last year and ended up putting away everything and buying a Thomas figure eight set instead. I was going to suggest a Tonka truck but since we are coming into the Fall & Winter and you say your place is small, maybe some smaller vehicles would be a good idea. Viking toys makes some really good trucks and toys, and kidsurplus has some pretty good prices:

http://www.kidsurplus.com/intaw1250.html

http://www.kidsurplus.com/intaw41040.html

http://www.kidsurplus.com/intaw41040.html

I don't know how you feel about t.v., but perhaps a video would be a good idea too. That way he can watch his new video while you attend to the new baby.

Good luck, and congratulations!

[zoestargrove]

These aren't Big gift ideas

My oldest son was really into the alphabet when ds2 was born too. One of my tricks for playing with DS1 while I was nursing DS2 was to spill out a bunch of foam letters (the kind you can stick to a bathtub wall) onto the rug...and play I Spy a letter B...and he had a blast looking for each of the letters.

I was just at Barnes and Noble and noticed that I SPY has a series of board books, one of them is Letters. Both my sons love the I Spy books. I think a package letters and the book would be a fun present.

ellabee baby has a really cute tshirt for a big brother and you could package it with the book "I'm a big brother book" by Joanna Cole My older son liked reading this book before his brother was born, but afterwards he requested it over and over again.

Lastly, those Bee and ME movies (currently a special for $9.95 that is a thread on the baby bargains board)would be a great present for a sibling...because it would be a personalized video of him, only him..not his brother. My sons LOVE watching their own videos.

[MarieBunny]

Wow! Thanks all for the great ideas! Matchbox cars and case would be a great one. He is obsessed with these at other kids houses. Also I never thought about a figure 8 train set. I was intimidated by train sets because I thought you needed the full setup and place to store it, but he really doesn't need all that. I love some of the smaller gift suggestions too - books, videos. Also the idea of getting some little gifts and giving them one by one. Thanks so much!

[dules]

That is soooo cute! :)

Best,
Mary

[JBaxter]

If I may offer another suggestion ( that worked for me) When DS 2 was born DS1 had a hard time adjusting. I had his dad go out and buy probably 20 single matchbox/hotwheel cars and I wrapped each one seperatly. Every day I would hide one in the living room and when I would sit to bf we would play find the present. Sometimes 2 a day he had so much fun looking for his special prize every day his behavior got much better. I took a while to find the gift and he had to unwrap it himself and figure out how to get it out of the package then he would add it to his case.

[brittone2]

I haven't BTDT, but I'm planning to do a lot of smaller gifts to keep DS busy when I'm tied up w/ the baby. DS will be close to 3 when DC2 is born.

I'm thinking of getting a few books and stickers from bookcloseouts.com, as i've been happy with their stuff in the past. Probably some matchbox type cars and art supplies as well. With it being close to the holidays, I don't really want to do a "big" gift, and we do an Advent Calendar as well, so he'll have some of those items to keep him busy. He loves hide/go seek kinds of things so we'll probably do Jeanne's approach and hide his little presents.

I'm not sure if you have an Ikea nearby, but you can get a basic figure 8 train set there for a ridiculously cheap price (15ish?). We started w/ that when DS was just over a year old. Works quite well for the price IMO :)

[mum1day]

If you want a special gift from the baby, I would suggest a nice keepsake book is a great option. My DD got a book from her new sibling and loves it, I even wrote something nice in there from the baby and we gave it to her when she visited us in the hospital.

[saschalicks]

I had a book w/me in the hospital for DS#1 when the baby came so he'd have something to play with when he came to visit (I had a c-section so I was there for four very long days). Somebody brought him the magna doodle and he was in HEAVEN when he came to visit me. Make sure you have "entertainment" for him while you are in the hospital, otherwise he'll want to run around.

Another thing make sure you have little things stashed away for when you have visitors come see the baby. If they bring something for the baby but not for him then you can bust out a new thing and voila you are saved from a possible meltdown. We had matchbox cars, my first drawing set by crayola (all washable), matchbox cars, and other toys in the $10 range. We wound up not using all of them so every once in a while I pull one out when I see that he needs some new entertainment, but like you, he is certainly not lacking.

My DS loves the Signing Time stuff and he's 26 months. Of course he's had them since 12 months, but then over the past 12 months we've added more DVD's. If your DS doesn't have any, they are great to entertain him while you might be busy with the baby.

Since he loves ABC's have you gotten him the Fridge Phonics ABC magnets? My DS loves ABC's and loves this. Yesterday I had to sit on the floor in front of our refrigerator so we could *play* with this. He gets off of his chair after dinner and says "I go figerator". It was really cute.

Hope these help you figure stuff out.

[millerpjm]

Sorry to go OT, but how did you like the Disney Cruise? We're thinking of taking one and would love opinions....

Jen

[MarieBunny]

I love this idea! I am definitely getting the matchbox cars, and I love the idea of wrapping them individually. My mom wants to get him the Thomas Figure 8 set which I am all for. Then we can add to it for gifts later. Thanks for all the cool ideas!

[MarieBunny]

Good idea about toys for the hospital. I hadn't even thought of that. I too have a planned c-section so I expect to be there at least 3 days. My DS loves Signing Time too! We've only gotten them at the library so that would be a good gift too, especially for when we are cooped up inside over winter. We have regular ABC magnets and the Fridge Farm set from Leapfrog. I think he would love the Phonics set too. I will have to think about that one. I don't know if I can deal with MORE magnets all over my kitchen floor!! Thanks for your great suggestions!

[Jen841]

The "car wash" for matchbox cars J recevied when E was born. It was priceless! Some magnet board/books were great too, as well as the I Spy books.... which spin off into I Spy games you can do while nursing.

J still treasures his Big Brother t-shirt and loves anything that matches his baby brother (1 year later still)