Good Big Sister Books for Toddler

[marymoo86]

Not sure if there is even any that would be useful. DD is 2.5 and will be about a month shy of her 3rd birthday when her sister is born.

Any recommendations for a book to help introduce to her the idea of a sister or new baby? Will she understand? She "gets" the idea of brothers/sisters as her classmates have them :)

Appreciate any thoughts as well as suggestions of how to include her in the celebration of the new arrival.

[lizzywednesday]

I'm not much help, but I got my nephew (who was 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday when his little brother was born) a copy of Joanna Cole's I'm a Big Brother.

What I also did was coordinate with my dad to give my nephew a special "big brother box" that we filled with fun things that only a Big Brother could do.

And, shortly after we outed my sister's pregnancy, I ordered a "big brother" tee shirt for my nephew, ostensibly from DD. I used this site because they had owl designs (DD is in love with owls) but I'm sure there are plenty of cute sites out there:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/siblingspecialtees

As a "big sister" myself, I always liked it when people fussed a little extra over me, so I try to do the same for big sibs when they have a new little.

[jennilynn]

I love the Dr. Sears books for this, Baby on the Way (http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Way-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316787671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368051346&sr=8-1&keywords=sears+baby+on+the+way) and What Baby Needs (http://www.amazon.com/What-Needs-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316788287/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368051402&sr=1-1&keywords=sears+what+baby+needs). My kids (who are 4 and 2) have asked me to read them over and over again. Even the 2 y/o (he'll be almost 3 when the baby is born, so same age as yours) really seems to get it. The first book is all about what mom needs since she's pregnant and what's going on inside her tummy. The second is about after baby is born. They are geared toward attachment parenting, so they show baby being worn in a sling, sleeping by mom in a co-sleeper and breastfeeding. If that's your style, these are the best.

I also got my boys "Big Brother" shirts as gifts from the baby. And I took them to Build A Bear to make their new sister a present.:love5:

[marymoo86]

I'm not much help, but I got my nephew (who was 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday when his little brother was born) a copy of Joanna Cole's I'm a Big Brother.

What I also did was coordinate with my dad to give my nephew a special "big brother box" that we filled with fun things that only a Big Brother could do.

And, shortly after we outed my sister's pregnancy, I ordered a "big brother" tee shirt for my nephew, ostensibly from DD. I used this site because they had owl designs (DD is in love with owls) but I'm sure there are plenty of cute sites out there:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/siblingspecialtees

As a "big sister" myself, I always liked it when people fussed a little extra over me, so I try to do the same for big sibs when they have a new little.


I love the Dr. Sears books for this, Baby on the Way (http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Way-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316787671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368051346&sr=8-1&keywords=sears+baby+on+the+way) and What Baby Needs (http://www.amazon.com/What-Needs-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316788287/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368051402&sr=1-1&keywords=sears+what+baby+needs). My kids (who are 4 and 2) have asked me to read them over and over again. Even the 2 y/o (he'll be almost 3 when the baby is born, so same age as yours) really seems to get it. The first book is all about what mom needs since she's pregnant and what's going on inside her tummy. The second is about after baby is born. They are geared toward attachment parenting, so they show baby being worn in a sling, sleeping by mom in a co-sleeper and breastfeeding. If that's your style, these are the best.

I also got my boys "Big Brother" shirts as gifts from the baby. And I took them to Build A Bear to make their new sister a present.:love5:

This sounds perfect! I'm an only so this is all new territory for "big" and 2 kids :D

[jjordan]

My oldest dd got "A Baby For Grace" before #2 was born and it is a beautiful book. I think perhaps somewhat hard to find...? But if you can find it for a reasonable price, definitely consider it.

[bostonsmama]

We're going to get Joanna Cole's I'm a Big Sister and Liz Rockwell's Hello Baby. I'm also searching around our library for any books since I don't know how long DD will be into 1 specific book about waiting for baby.

Have you told DD yet? DH already spilled the beans to DD, and she's ecstatic! She talks about the "baby in mommy's belly" all the time. My DD has a really nurturing spirit and loves all babies, so she just can't wait for the baby to hurry up and get here. We role play things she might be able to do to help if the baby cries or needs mommy--like fetch me a cloth diaper, find a pacifier, stroke the baby's head while s/he nurses, add another blanket (but not over the face or head) if baby is cold, play with baby's hand or foot, etc.

I'm also slowly teaching DD how to do things that will help me out tremendously once baby arrives, like how to make her full sized bed, how to let the dog out (our sliding door is heavy), how to feed the dog (she already does this well), how to go potty and wipe w/out mommy's help (she's getting better at this, too), how to set a table with plates and silverware, get and put on her bib, sit patiently in her tripp trapp and some general routine things like putting discarded clothes in her hamper, taking her hamper to the laundry room on weekends, cleaning up toys before we go to bed, and such. These are the ways I'm preparing DD. I think there's no way she'll truly be able to conceptualize what adding another child will be like, just as there's no way I'll be able to truly appreciate it until it's reality.

[megs4413]

take this fwiw, we didn't do any books. we talked about the baby a lot. we bought DD a gift from the baby when he was born. Everything went fine. It was really a non-issue for us. She was 23 mos.

[rin]

We got Joanna Cole's "I'm a Big Sister", as well as "When I was Inside Mommy". DD really enjoyed them both, and especially after the baby arrived they were both in maximum rotation.

[BabbyO]

We also had Joanna Cole's book - well, for big Brother, though. We also talked about baby and once my tummy was clearly bigger, he'd give his little brother kisses almost every night before bed, he felt when baby was moving, he gave his brother a gift when he was born (picked it out at the store himself) and little bro had a gift for big brother when he was born.

They adore each other and pretty much always have. Stachio definitely like to read "I'm a big Brother" after Peanut was born - for at least 6 mo....but now we haven't used it in a while.

[MommyAllison]

We really like God Gave Us Two http://www.amazon.com/God-Gave-Lisa-Tawn-Bergren/dp/1578565073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368132014&sr=8-1&keywords=god+gave+us+two but as you can guess from the title, it comes at it from a Christian POV. I'm probably the only one who isn't a huge fan of the Joanna Cole big brother/sister books - it's probably me reading more into it than is there, but I feel like the older sibling is annoyed about the baby being too little to play for most of the book. I like that God Gave Us Two takes a really positive view of having a new baby sibling.

ETA: Oops! I didn't mean the Joanna Cole books! I don't care for the "I'm a Big Sister/Brother" by Ronne Randall and Kristina Stephenson.

[marymoo86]

We're going to get Joanna Cole's I'm a Big Sister and Liz Rockwell's Hello Baby. I'm also searching around our library for any books since I don't know how long DD will be into 1 specific book about waiting for baby.

Have you told DD yet? DH already spilled the beans to DD, and she's ecstatic! She talks about the "baby in mommy's belly" all the time. My DD has a really nurturing spirit and loves all babies, so she just can't wait for the baby to hurry up and get here. We role play things she might be able to do to help if the baby cries or needs mommy--like fetch me a cloth diaper, find a pacifier, stroke the baby's head while s/he nurses, add another blanket (but not over the face or head) if baby is cold, play with baby's hand or foot, etc.

I'm also slowly teaching DD how to do things that will help me out tremendously once baby arrives, like how to make her full sized bed, how to let the dog out (our sliding door is heavy), how to feed the dog (she already does this well), how to go potty and wipe w/out mommy's help (she's getting better at this, too), how to set a table with plates and silverware, get and put on her bib, sit patiently in her tripp trapp and some general routine things like putting discarded clothes in her hamper, taking her hamper to the laundry room on weekends, cleaning up toys before we go to bed, and such. These are the ways I'm preparing DD. I think there's no way she'll truly be able to conceptualize what adding another child will be like, just as there's no way I'll be able to truly appreciate it until it's reality.

We haven't told her yet. Waiting until later when it is very obvious and you can feel the baby kick on the outside. Hopefully that will make it more real. Also I am just a nervous ninny about it and would like to wait until after the 24 week mark to tell her and get her excited about it. I know there are no guarantees but can't process having to explain should something go wrong.

[lizzywednesday]

We haven't told her yet. Waiting until later when it is very obvious and you can feel the baby kick on the outside. Hopefully that will make it more real. Also I am just a nervous ninny about it and would like to wait until after the 24 week mark to tell her and get her excited about it. I know there are no guarantees but can't process having to explain should something go wrong.

I understand - my grandmother (who had 7) & my aunt (who has 5) felt the same way about telling the other kids ... you wait 'til the latest time possible with the little-little ones.

One of the ways my aunt used to tell her children (2 girls and 3 boys) that another baby was on the way was to sew them a Waldorf-style baby doll of their very own ... and tuck it into a basket as a surprise. The kids took care of those "babies" so well! And to this day, my cousins Will & James are great favorites of my nephews' because of their experience with their younger siblings.

I don't remember when my parents told me my brother Ger was on the way (he and I are 3.5 yrs apart) but I do remember my mom's friend from church taking me to the florist to buy "mums for Mum" when we went to visit them in the hospital. I was nuts about him until he started walking. (Then, well, he got into my stuff!!)

My sister also likes to use the term "your baby" for her older son about her younger son - for them, it fosters a sense of togetherness and connection. IDK how you feel about that, but it might be something to take into consideration when you do start talking about the baby with your DD.